http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Presentations/Web-Design A listing of the most recently indexed works about Presentations and Web Design in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Presentations/Web-Design http://tc.eserver.org/35769.html http://tc.eserver.org/35769.html Which pages have the search engines crawled? What kind of pages are they? Has the search engine Indexing indexed all of the crawled pages? How’s the search engine ranking traffic? http://tc.eserver.org/35440.html http://tc.eserver.org/35440.html Community is discussions, people, passion, alignment, emergent, support, connections, and relationships. http://tc.eserver.org/35396.html http://tc.eserver.org/35396.html A presentation which shows examples of best-practices in web design for accessibility to users who interact with sites exclusively through the keyboard. http://tc.eserver.org/34648.html http://tc.eserver.org/34648.html When we as web designers create screens we are defi http://tc.eserver.org/34504.html http://tc.eserver.org/34504.html This presentation describes how creating an accessible website takes care of its (organic) search engine optimization to a very appreciable extent taking reference from the WCAG 2.0 working draft and the Google webmaster guidelines.This presentation was created and presented by Abhay Rautela to the Sapient creative community at the New Delhi office in February 2007. http://tc.eserver.org/34376.html http://tc.eserver.org/34376.html People are doing business differently today; the intranet of yesterday is not sustainable. Make your intranet work the way people work. http://tc.eserver.org/34047.html http://tc.eserver.org/34047.html Get creative. Expand your font choice. Mix fonts. Use weights, font-styles, small-caps. Mind variations in size and legibility. http://tc.eserver.org/34014.html http://tc.eserver.org/34014.html Talks about the importance of usability for businesses communicating with both new and potential customers. Featuring a case study of how a company improved their revenue-per-employee by 95% over a 2 year period, along with some attendee participation, this 17 minute presentation touches on a wide variety of websites and activities, such as lead generation sites, information portals and search engine marketing campaigns. Most significantly conversion rates for e-commerce websites are discussed, where usability can have a remarkable affect on a companies bottom line, if the right decisions are made in making improvements. http://tc.eserver.org/33805.html http://tc.eserver.org/33805.html Several Web service discovery technologies including Universal Description, Discovery and Integration (UDDI), Web Services Metadata Exchange (WS-MEX) and other lightweight protocols and techniques can be used for particular scenarios. This presentation will discuss the status of each of these technologies and how they relate to the Web services stack as well as which technology should be employed to solve certain types of Web service integration problems. http://tc.eserver.org/33442.html http://tc.eserver.org/33442.html The information architect focuses on how things are structured within the user experience: looks “up” to the user interface – how the navigation and page layout convey the structure; looks “down” to the content management to make sure it can enable to right user experience. http://tc.eserver.org/33237.html http://tc.eserver.org/33237.html Discover what "faceted browsing" is and other Web-focused terms for old ideas. http://tc.eserver.org/33205.html http://tc.eserver.org/33205.html Research on breadcrumbs as presented at the 3rd Annual Information Architecture Summit. Three types of breadcrumbs used on the Web are defined, examples given, and a set of research questions is presented. http://tc.eserver.org/32889.html http://tc.eserver.org/32889.html In this presentation, the authors report on a survey and testing with screen reader users designed to determine how the placement of navigation in the source order (before or after content) affects accessibility. http://tc.eserver.org/32947.html http://tc.eserver.org/32947.html Building designs with CSS is no longer a fringe activity practiced by standards geeks and early-adopters. Creative pioneers and highly skilled designers are bringing CSS to the mainstream. The explosion in popularity is ushering in a new wave of possibilities for web design. CSS provides greater design control, allows more flexibility, and enables sites to become attractive, accessible, and faster-loading, all at the same time. http://tc.eserver.org/32948.html http://tc.eserver.org/32948.html What do you do when you feel like you’ve hit a brick wall? When it seems your creativity is limited by how much CSS you know how to beat into submission? How do you resist the temptation to give it all up and go back to tables? Why does it feel like the pros are constantly inventing new techniques each week, when you’re still struggling to keep up with the stuff you read about last year? Understanding how and where CSS fits into the design process is key to knowing how to push your own limits. Reviewing the principles of existing techniques — and learning why or how they came about — can extend your capabilities and help you gain confidence in solving future problems on your own. http://tc.eserver.org/32686.html http://tc.eserver.org/32686.html Conversation is a theme that flows through all the work we do as technical communicators. Every use of your web site is a conversation started by a busy site visitor. http://tc.eserver.org/32544.html http://tc.eserver.org/32544.html A PowerPoint of a presentation about podcasting, and the things to consider when planning to produce an audio podcast. http://tc.eserver.org/32265.html http://tc.eserver.org/32265.html More accessible documents through authoring tool supports. Exploit mainstream tools for easier information retrieval and document manipulation. http://tc.eserver.org/29534.html http://tc.eserver.org/29534.html A look at how to quantify or measure the benefits of a better user interface built with Ajax. http://tc.eserver.org/29535.html http://tc.eserver.org/29535.html An overview of web design methods, including a survey of questions one should ask during the process. http://tc.eserver.org/29536.html http://tc.eserver.org/29536.html By utilizing techniques and design principles that support flow, small screen interfaces can further increase user satisfaction and minimize the sense of time on task. Lesson methods include 'Using progressive disclosure' and 'Balancing Visual and Structural Simplicity.' http://tc.eserver.org/29533.html http://tc.eserver.org/29533.html Web developers, designers and community managers have a more challenging role than ever before. They are designing for and facilitating important online activities like communication, collaboration, sharing and socializing. However, it's hard to know how users are really interacting with websites. They can't easily observe users in their natural environments interacting with these systems. How many web developers actually get a focus group of target users in a room and watch them navigate their websites? We're obsessed with helping developers build better user experiences on the web, and we knew there had to be a better, cheaper and faster way than traditional usability testing. http://tc.eserver.org/29525.html http://tc.eserver.org/29525.html The Semantic Web is coming and it's bringing major changes to the ways that people create, manage, deliver, consume, and share technical information. This session introduces Web 2.0 and its tools and technologies, and examines how they are changing the landscape of technical communication. Discover how Web 2.0 methods make it possible to deliver "content as a service" and to empower customers to personalize technical content in useful and exciting new ways. http://tc.eserver.org/28753.html http://tc.eserver.org/28753.html This is presentation Keith Hoffman gave on writing and Web 2.0 at the University of Wisconsin. If you recall, Keith wrote the feature article in January's Intercom on Web 2.0. http://tc.eserver.org/27592.html http://tc.eserver.org/27592.html Presentation software has been stuck in neutral forever. Web applications, however, are firing on all cylinders. Some say Word and Excel are about to be Web 2.0 roadkill. Not me. The browser can’t yet substitute for those applications. But for PowerPoint? Any day now. http://tc.eserver.org/27495.html http://tc.eserver.org/27495.html A presentation about online community and experience design in modern web design. http://tc.eserver.org/27392.html http://tc.eserver.org/27392.html Get the flavor of an Expert Review as Dr. Schaffer points out the strengths and weaknesses of 11 award-winning Web sites. http://tc.eserver.org/27393.html http://tc.eserver.org/27393.html Discusses the effect of drop-off and how usability initiatives reduced drop-off at Staples.com by 73%. This discussion begins with a definition of drop-off and moves into an explanation of the value of drop-off data. Then we delve into the correlation between drop-off and return on investment. Finally, we highlight two examples of Staples.com initiatives that were focused on reducing drop-off by using a systematic process of customer research and redesign. http://tc.eserver.org/27391.html http://tc.eserver.org/27391.html Discuss their initiative to make user-centered design a central part of RBC Royal Bank's Online Banking. http://tc.eserver.org/27389.html http://tc.eserver.org/27389.html The practices and processes that facilitate the organizational development needed to create a successful Web design standard. http://tc.eserver.org/26943.html http://tc.eserver.org/26943.html Men and women don't browse the Web the same way; one should design for both feminine and masculine webs. http://tc.eserver.org/26944.html http://tc.eserver.org/26944.html There are problems with non-user-centered/system-centered design. We must know, understand, and work with actual users so that the people who use the product can do so quickly and easily to accomplish their own tasks. http://tc.eserver.org/26945.html http://tc.eserver.org/26945.html The integration of technology into education includes increased educational Internet and web use. However the websites used in and for education are rarely critically examined, especially in regard to gender equality, design, and use. Print has been argued to carry with it certain attributes that disturb gender equality, so it is likely that electronic writing might cause similar problems. http://tc.eserver.org/26212.html http://tc.eserver.org/26212.html The documentation conversion tool market is relatively new, but several vendors have established reputations in the market. http://tc.eserver.org/24481.html http://tc.eserver.org/24481.html The Dreamweaver Timeline uses layers and JavaScript to create animation and interactivity. To create a series of rotating images, prepare each image at the same size in a graphics program first (i.e., Photoshop, Fireworks, ImageReady, etc.). Then insert a layer on the page. This layer will serve as a placeholder for the rotating images. http://tc.eserver.org/21992.html http://tc.eserver.org/21992.html ASPs, Java Servlets/JSP, Perl, ColdFusion, PHP. The landscape is filled with languages and technologies to make dynamic web applications. This talk contains a survey of the pros and cons of each technology as well as where to get good examples of key applications most every website needs on each platform. http://tc.eserver.org/18797.html http://tc.eserver.org/18797.html A presentation covering some techniques for using WebWork Publisher to produce online versions of FrameMaker documentation. http://tc.eserver.org/18249.html http://tc.eserver.org/18249.html With the arrival of the World Wide Web, traditional methods of controlling the quality ofpublished information have been overcome by a technology that allows almost anyone to create and publish information. With this new found freedom in publishing, the quality of information available to the public has decreased when measured by traditional publishing standards. Technical communicators must meet new challenges in monitoring and ensuring that information produced in their organizations and companies is of the highest quality. This paper discusses how the problem evolved and how taking ownership of information on the Web may solve it. http://tc.eserver.org/14402.html http://tc.eserver.org/14402.html Many FrameMaker users need to publish their documents on the World Wide Web. The best approach is to use a converter, which preserves the format and organization of the original FrameMaker document. Good converters can handle long, complex documents that contain elements such as table of contents, index, line drawings, bitmap graphics, tables, footnotes, and equations. We discuss the benefits of having a single source document for paper and Web, the techniques for creating documents that can be converted easily, and the powerful conversion tools available today. http://tc.eserver.org/14398.html http://tc.eserver.org/14398.html Complexity theory offers a way of understanding our role within the World-Wide Web. Postulating a rhetorical object based on object-oriented analysis and design, we can harness a number of ideas from complexity theory to gain a new perspective on the Web. This paper reviews a number of complexity ideas that may help technical communicators grapple with the exponential growth in the volume of inter-related and interacting rhetorical objects on the Web, viewing the rhetorical situation as the result of the law of increasing returns, which has brought us through a phase transition to a new environment, with its own emergent properties, creating new roles for writers, and new work for managers. http://tc.eserver.org/14381.html http://tc.eserver.org/14381.html Assessing Web site usability can be complex, because the medium can be both a document and a 'software product.' Documentation usability testing asks how headings, page elements, and index entries help users find the content they need, and whether that content is useful. Software usability testing asks how well the user inteface supports users’ job-task activity, indicates functionality, provides navigation signposts and program status, and prevents errors. A Web site must meet a combination of these goals—links should lead to the content that users seek, through pathways that users can easily follow without reaching a dead-end or getting lost. http://tc.eserver.org/14357.html http://tc.eserver.org/14357.html The principles discussed here are part of a general technique we refer to as "'DIDDS" (Dynamic Information Data Delivery System). This approach is useful for organizations or groups who want Web pages that can be changed quickly, easily and consistently by individuals unfamiliar with HTML. The key to this strategy-keeping data separate from display-involves a suite of customized CGI programs whereby data requested by a client is passed through a "display jilter" that attaches the HTh4L tags and generates the page "on the fly." http://tc.eserver.org/14390.html http://tc.eserver.org/14390.html The Cascading Style Sheets standard returns some control of style to web authors. HTML describes only the structure of information. CSS, though incompletely implemented as yet, adds a style sheet where an author can specify fonts, colors, margins, alignments, indentations and other elements for any HTML tag or class of tag. An introduction to CSS shows the status of the CSS standard and various browser implementations, how to generate HTML and style sheets, the use of CSS compared to PDF, and the role of style sheets in HTML Help. http://tc.eserver.org/14358.html http://tc.eserver.org/14358.html Interpreting web statistics has been described as “trying to nail Jell-o to the wall.” Web log files trackfile accesses on the server. They do not track users; they do not track interest levels, they do not track success or failure communicating information. Caches “hide” site accesses from the server log and “hits” provide a poor mea sure of interest in particular content. Some people argue that there is really no meaning to server logs other than a measure of server load. However, even with all their flaws, some find web statistics useful in identifying how best to allocate resources in web site development. http://tc.eserver.org/14356.html http://tc.eserver.org/14356.html The trend to online delivery of information means new challenges for developers. New skills must be learned. Large-scale conversion projects must be completed while new materials are developed. Though conversion can be a monumental task, research and planning are the keys to a smooth transition. Five steps are critical to the conversion process: (1) Analyze the needs for developers ard end-users. (2) Develop a design document to outline how the hypermedia system should work. (3) Develop a transition plan. (4) Implement the Plan. (5) Update and maintain the system. http://tc.eserver.org/14359.html http://tc.eserver.org/14359.html The ever-increasing popularity of the World Wide Web has created another assignment for the professional writer-the need to turn hardcopy documents into HTML coded documents. This paper discusses some of the translation tools available, the problems to watch when converting documents, and the benefits of using special translation tools for converting your original hardcopy documents into HTML documents for online viewing. http://tc.eserver.org/14371.html http://tc.eserver.org/14371.html When a company uses the World Wide Web for internal communication, the web is called an intranetwork, or intranet. Companies are turning to this solution because of a number of advantages. However, as with any change that involves technology and corporate culture, the advantages of an intranet come with several challenges including introducing the intranet successfully, managing it without chaos, getting the employees to use it and use it properly, as well as maintaining the web of corporate information accurately. http://tc.eserver.org/14345.html http://tc.eserver.org/14345.html Paper (low-fidelity) prototyping is a popular and useful method for gathering input on the usefulness of a user interface while the sofnvare product is in the early stages of development. Coded user intetiace (high-fidelity) prototypes givepotential users a better idea of the$nished product, but can be time consuming to create and diflcult to change. Using HTML (medium-fidelity) prototupes, we can quickly code polished user interface prototypes to use in customer sessions. These web-basedprototypes, which combine the strengths of both low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototvpes, can also be easily modtBed during the customer session, allowing customers to see and interact with their proposed changes. http://tc.eserver.org/14074.html http://tc.eserver.org/14074.html Realize that reading online at low resolution reduces reading comprehension significantly. Think in terms of nuggets, not chunks. Be prepared to display text in larger type than you are accustomed to seeing in documents designed to be read on the desktop. Apply bold, italics, and color with caution. Don’t expect to have access to a large variety of fonts. http://tc.eserver.org/14077.html http://tc.eserver.org/14077.html In this paper, we report preliminary findings from an experimental study in which twenty-eight users answered questions by performing strategic information searches on web pages. Pages, which varied in length from 100 to 850 words, were displayed on either a standard, desktop monitor (full-sized) or a palm handheld interface (small-screen). Overall, users took more time to perform the tasks on the small screen interface, with the break in efficacy appearing between 225 and 350 word-lengths. Finally, contrary to our hypothesis, participants were similarly accurate across conditions. http://tc.eserver.org/13685.html http://tc.eserver.org/13685.html Usability testing can be planned and executed at various levels of complexity to enhance your Web site throughout stages of development. Include usability testing in the front-end planning and set Web site usability goals. Test early prototypes and then test again to quantify improvements. Assemble a team to plan the testing even if it is just two people. If you follow a planning and testing checklist, you should be rewarded with valuable data to analyze and upgrade your Web site. The process and outcome can enhance your company¶s reputation or improve your credibility as an information designer or developer. http://tc.eserver.org/13678.html http://tc.eserver.org/13678.html My paper discusses the specific challenges associated with designing a Chinese-English Web site in Taiwan for both local and English-speaking audiences abroad. My paper seeks to answer this umbrella question: How can we integrate the Chinese and English portions of the site into a single, consistent presentation? Using an example of a Taiwan-based company, I explore how technical communicators working on this bilingual Web site project (1) developed content in English that is suitable both for native English speakers around the world; (2) reconciled different audience responses to visual communication strategies; (3) tackled the technological challenge of a bilingual Web site; and (4) addressed the cultural and political challenges of developing a Web site for diverse audiences. http://tc.eserver.org/13388.html http://tc.eserver.org/13388.html It would be difficult to find a credible source that argues against the position that (all other things being equal) the best online documentation results when you develop text explicitly for the online medium. And not just the online medium but more precisely for a particular display program and hardware environment. However, for one of any number of reasons, the development of text for online display may have to be the product of an automated process on text that was either developed originally for some paper-based document publication program or from text that contains generic markup (such as SGML). Regardless of how the text itself is generated, there remain several aspects to designing an online display that must be considered by all information developers. http://tc.eserver.org/13387.html http://tc.eserver.org/13387.html Large documents are among the most suitable documents for online viewing. This paper will look at the process of converting large printed documents to online documents. It will discuss the role of hypertext, SGML, and other technologies in their creation, This paper will then look at the process of designing large online documents from the traditional analyses of audience, task, and information to implementation concerns such as determining the design requirements, evaluating electronic publishing software and prototyping the design. http://tc.eserver.org/13306.html http://tc.eserver.org/13306.html The problem with any poorly designed web site is inconsistency. As a web designer or developer, one must create a web site as a finite, predictable universe with a specific set of standards and design specifications. When visitors go to any given page on a site, they should be able to recognize that they’re in the same site. The main focus of this paper outlines how a unified web site design was created for the School of Technology at Purdue University. In developing unified web sites it is important to have visual hints throughout a given site such as consistent typefaces for specific needs, consistent color palettes, and consistent placement and layout. http://tc.eserver.org/13296.html http://tc.eserver.org/13296.html Personalization, which allows a web user to choose the content and layout of their own portal web page, is one of the most popular ways of increasing traffic at web sites, and helps to ensure return customers. But to be successful, it must be simple and it must be intuitive. This paper presents common personalization features used by top portals and reviews the design of the interfaces of three top portals: My Excite, My Yahoo and MSN. This paper provides examples of good and bad design techniques used in the portal sites, and gives tips on how to design usable personalization features. http://tc.eserver.org/13293.html http://tc.eserver.org/13293.html The burgeoning eCommerce industry has redefined not only traditional business processes, but the technology required to impart them. Roles are being created or redefined, where programmers, systems analysts, and engineers now have to have almost as much knowledge of business process development as they do of their technical specialty. The same can be said for technical communicators. Technical communicators involved in eCommerce today need to have an understanding of the major issues involved in eCommerce. This paper addresses five of these major eCommerce areas: the statistics behind eCommerce issues, eCommerce infrastructure providers, managed electronic commerce, business object technology, and data mining. http://tc.eserver.org/13291.html http://tc.eserver.org/13291.html Editing copy is more than fixing commas and typographical styles. Although many of the same editing strategies apply to both print and online copy, editing Web copy requires carefully considering the Web site’s functions, thinking about reading strategies, making heads and links clear, and considering Web structures. http://tc.eserver.org/13290.html http://tc.eserver.org/13290.html When designing a complex online system, thoughtful use of appropriate prose style, information architecture and interface design all play a part in establishing a useful link between the designers of an online environment and the users of that environment. To keep users interested and engaged with the information in an online system, creating an engaging ethos for the site is essential. To learn how to apply ethos not only in prose style, but also in overall design, we must look to how ethos has been put to use in the past with the written and spoken word. http://tc.eserver.org/13281.html http://tc.eserver.org/13281.html Accessible design goes beyond accommodating the mentally or physically impaired. With new technologies and greater global access, accessible design now includes technological as well as user considerations. http://tc.eserver.org/13280.html http://tc.eserver.org/13280.html The rampant growth of the WWW has resulted in a very large number of web sites being produced and used before standards and guidelines for appearance and interaction could be developed and accepted. Two factors that could affect user performance and perceived quality of a web site are: surface blemishes added, and the presence of extra, gratuitous features. The effects of these two factors can be assessed through performance testing and attitudinal surveys. the approach or design criteria for each site. We chose as a basis, a classification presented by Karen Schriver of traditions that have shaped our thinking about, and approach to, document design and evaluation. http://tc.eserver.org/13272.html http://tc.eserver.org/13272.html Most web site designs tend to focus on optimizing for simple information retrieval, “Find the value of X.” Yet, in decision making, the user’s information needs are much greater. As a minimum, they must understand and compare the value of X with respect to Y. Of course, in a realistic situation, several values must be considered. The information design problems involved in effectively addressing complex decision making has not been adequately researched. This research examines web sites to determine which design factors support complex decision making. It also develops guidelines for designing web sites which support complex decision making. http://tc.eserver.org/13210.html http://tc.eserver.org/13210.html XML is one of the hot topics in Web technology. More and more XML sites are being developed every day. You've probably seen XML without realizing it. It's also showing up in specific tools for technical writers: Sun's JavaHelp uses XML components. But when you try to learn about this exciting new technology, when you review the many books that are appearing on shelves, or sites popping up on the Web, you'll find that the information that is available is mostly aimed at developers. This session cuts through the technical detail to the core of XML, to the value that it brings to technical writers and their users. Unlike HTML, which is based on a specific set of tags, XML allows you to define your own tags. This means you have the ability to tag information based on content rather than format structure. http://tc.eserver.org/13180.html http://tc.eserver.org/13180.html Nature provides important basic functions for society. Expert systems for integrated knowledge management, so-called decision support systems (DSSs), are tools to manage vegetation, air, soil, and water, and to assure functional integrity of ecosystems, e.g. river basins. Over the past decade sustainability has became the accepted norm to manage our life support resources. This concept is based on responsibility to the “Other” and on participatory consensus-forming dialogues leading to stakeholder models; before, the predominant school of thought has been utilitarianism. Scientists, engineers and technical communicators are challenged to develop feasible technologies to facilitate management, for example to supplement DSSs with virtual libraries and web-forums. http://tc.eserver.org/13193.html http://tc.eserver.org/13193.html Knowing more about how web site characteristics work to reach non-e-commerce goals can guide web designers working towards some of those goals. Environmental advocacy sites are apt to provide rich examples of how web sites try to educate, change behaviors and values, induce action, and promote participatory decisionmaking. Studying them, then, may help us understand how the characteristics of their web sites work. This paper explores how a particular advocacy group web site, www.seedcoalition.org, educates and induces action in its visitors. The site seems likely to effectively educate and induce action, but could do more to induce deliberation and encourage interpersonal communication and discussion about issues, which might better support the group’s long term goals. http://tc.eserver.org/13199.html http://tc.eserver.org/13199.html Data General’s R&D organization had developed disparate web sites. It was hard to find relevant information and difficult to know what others were doing. We volunteered to create a unified web presence to solve these problems. Taking initiative while building consensus, we crafted a highly used and highly useful intranet. This paper describes how we did it. Our success allowed us to broaden our department’s scope and change its name from “Documentation” to “Documentation and Web Services.” Our experience shows that documentation departments are well suited to create and maintain intranets, and that documentation professionals have the skills to become content developers or information architects. http://tc.eserver.org/13200.html http://tc.eserver.org/13200.html We, Fuji Xerox, implemented an intercultural survey in page design and layout of customer documents for business machines such as copy machines and printers. The research covered the main regions in Asia/Pacific: Australia, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. We studied their preferences in printed colors, typography, page layout, and pictographs. The results show Asia/Pacific audiences share a lot of preferences in page design and layout, though there are some uniqueness in printed colors and pictographs. It also became clear American English is not a serious problem for people who are Queen’s English natives. http://tc.eserver.org/13188.html http://tc.eserver.org/13188.html Although the concept of the internet as a virtual space is not new, after nearly ten years of development, our understanding of web space still remains more textually based than spatial. Because the World Wide Web provides a new kind of information space, we need to understand it in both informational and spatial terms. As such, we can benefit from exploring the shape of cyberspace from an architectural perspective, just as we would other spaces and shapes in our experience. In this discussion I offer a model that views web site design from three architectural perspectives: motion, structure and flow. http://tc.eserver.org/13185.html http://tc.eserver.org/13185.html Online technical documentation can be used as an effective job aid if designed properly. However, in many instances designers put the paper documentation online without concern for usability. To design an effective online technical reference system, technical communicators should understand how users interact with the legacy system and how they will interact with the system once it is converted to an online form. http://tc.eserver.org/13177.html http://tc.eserver.org/13177.html Usable electronic agents are not necessarily ones that have a personality. Instead, they are ones who work in the background doing tasks users want done. Designing such agents means translating abstract user goals into simple, concrete actions that require limited electronic intelligence to carry out. http://tc.eserver.org/13175.html http://tc.eserver.org/13175.html Lotus Notes databases can be used in a wide variety of applications. The Information Design group in DuPont has developed Notes databases for groups of a dozen to many thousand users. We find that a multidisciplinary approach to database design works well - combining the talents of information analysts, application developers, interface and graphic designers, usability specialists, and project leaders. Working with subject-matter experts and end-users, we develop databases that deliver business value, in terms of more accessible knowledge and streamlined work processes. I will present a behind-the-scenes look at how we work as a team to deliver useful, usable knowledge bases in a user-centered design process that involves the users in novel ways. http://tc.eserver.org/13172.html http://tc.eserver.org/13172.html Interactive self-assessments are effective tools for a variety of audiences; from determining one’s Myers- Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) or personality characteristics to self-scoring quizzes of all types for online training. Many Web sites contain such selfassessments that help customers select from among other offerings the type of product or service that meets their requirements. The strategic design and development of interactive self-assessments can also help steer customers to your specific product line or service, or even help them make the decision to buy or award a contract. This paper looks at the effectiveness of self-assessments as a business tool and the use of JavaScript for supporting the interactive elements. http://tc.eserver.org/13167.html http://tc.eserver.org/13167.html As a technical communicator you know how to create material for your audience, but how do you get your audience to read what you wrote? By integrating yourself into the everyday life of the organization, you’ll discover creative ways to get the information to the people and to get the people to the information. Transform yourself into a detective, a teacher and a public relations expert, and you’ll meet your company’s business needs while you expand your own professional horizons. http://tc.eserver.org/13143.html http://tc.eserver.org/13143.html The Chicago Chapter of STC undertook to redesign its web site in 1999. The existing web site structure did not allow growth. It was difficult to add new categories of information without creating long, scrolling pages containing embedded hyperlinks. Users expressed frustration when they were unable to find specific information within the site. A solution was required that would make information more accessible to casual users and enable the site to grow without major reconfiguration. A committee was formed to study the problem and come up with a flexible navigation structure that could grow along with the web site. http://tc.eserver.org/13105.html http://tc.eserver.org/13105.html Manufacturers are currently grappling with determining whether they should put safety information on the Web and if they do how it should be presented. Technical communicators, Web content developers, and Web designers will ultimately be responsible for the presentation of Web-based safety information. This article discusses special considerations that should be given the formatting (HTML, PDF, etc.), design, (font, size, and color), and location of safety information on the Web. Additionally, areas for future research on the issue of Web-based safety information are identified. http://tc.eserver.org/13133.html http://tc.eserver.org/13133.html We describe the challenges of understanding and setting usability requirements for a web site containing a form. We define 'usability requirements.' Ideally, usability requirements should be defined early in a project. In practice, we often find that the first opportunity we have is when we are asked to undertake an evaluation. Collecting the users' opinions of the requirements as part of the evaluation can often prompt the organization into investigating the users, leading to a better set of requirements and, eventually, a better web site. http://tc.eserver.org/13112.html http://tc.eserver.org/13112.html The World Wide Web Consortium, the standards body for all web technologies, describes XML as a “method for putting structured data in a text file” (See www.w3.org/XML/1999/XML-in-10-points.) That’s accurate, but doesn’t really describe what XML is. This session will attempt to cover the basics of what XML is and answer the questions most frequently asked by technical writers.