Designing a Website

The Internet• The origins of the Internet reach back to research of the 1960s, commissioned by

the United States government in collaboration with private commercial interests to build robust, fault-tolerant, and distributed computer networks.

• The funding of a new U.S. backbone by the National Science Foundation in the 1980s, as well as private funding for other commercial backbones, led to worldwide participation in the development of new networking technologies, and the merger of many networks.

• The commercialization of what was by the 1990s an international network resulted in its popularization and incorporation into virtually every aspect of modern human life.

• As of 2011, more than 2.2 billion people — nearly a third of Earth's population — use the services of the Internet.[

Pre-Internet

Network A

Network B

Network C

Post-Internet

Network A

Network B

Network C

Owning a Website v Owning a Shop• Similarities

• If you are stuck, think of it in terms of a shop.

• The internet is worth £100bn to the UK economy, more than 7% of national income, according to a report out today.

• If it were an industry in its own right, the internet would be more than twice as large as the UK hotel and restaurant market and nearly as big as the financial services sector, which accounted for 9% of GDP in 2009, the study says.

• The findings come in a report for Google, the internet's most successful company. The study, by Boston Consulting Group, US consultants, places a value on the UK internet market for the first time.

A Bit of History• Adam Smith, founder of modern economics, in his Wealth of Nations,

1776, wrote:• "To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of

customers, may at first sight, appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers, but extremely fit for a nation whose government is influenced by shopkeepers. “

• Napoleon I, who was familiar with Smith's work, is reported as later using a French version to dismiss England's preparedness for war against France:

• "L'Angleterre est une nation de boutiquiers.“

• Similarity to owning a shop.

Key Design Elements

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Key Design Elements Presentation

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Key Design Elements Presentation

Information N

Key Design Elements Presentation

Information Navigation

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Presentation• Colour• Amount of Information• Intuitive features• Page Height• Aspect ratio and size on page 1024 x 768?• No horizontal scrolling• Fixed size or percentage width• Size of website – How many pages• Time to load a page• Thinking like the audience• Hand-held devices• Language

Information

AudienceDifference between what you want to tell the audience and what the audience wants to get from you.Freshness

Audiences• How many different audiences do you have?• 1. Students• 2. Parents• 3. Prospective Students• 4. Prospective Parents• 5. Staff & Governors• 6. Teachers at other schools• 7. Community• 8. Suppliers• 9. Ofsted• 10. Relatives

Navigation

• Blind Alleys• Global Site Navigation• Local Site Navigation• Search Engines

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Maintenance

• Making life easy for yourself• Is all your time being taken up maintaining

your website instead of your business.

Laws and Websites

• Disability Discrimination Act• Colour Blindness• Colour Intolerance• Cookie Laws

Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)

• Problems in different browsers• Flash in Apple platforms• Hand-held devices• Reduction in amount of code• HTML5• Global changes easier

Search Engine Optimisation

• Google .co.uk & .com• keywords• Statistics• Getting higher position on Google• White Hat, Grey Hat, Black Hat• Use of Download Statistics• Use of H1 & H2

Good Site / Bad site?

• http://www.sullivanfurnishings.co.uk/Carpenter%20Essex/Carpenter%20Essex.html

• http://pacarpentrylimited.co.uk/default.aspx

• http://www.veritascarpentry.co.uk/?gclid=CK2Dj-u5ia8CFc4LtAodJUmk_g

• http://www.d-w-carpentry.co.uk/?gclid=CJKZ84m7ia8CFcYntAodSjvu_w