Continuing Education Institute

Website Development in Three Hours 

1. Study Items A to G on this page.

2. With the help of these resources at A-E, set up a free website that you can use in your work or as a hobby.

3. With the help of the free translation page at G, translate a sentence into another language.

4. If you do not have a current email address, set one up.

5. After that, take the below test and receive an  accredited certificate.

If you want to see my free webpage, go to http://geocities.com/rklimes/

3. FreeWebs Website

Freewebs.com - This service allows you to create a Web site the quick and easy way. Freewebs.com is ideally suited to those unfamiliar with the concept of Web site development. Here, you can create your own online blog or picture album, include polls, create online forms and also optimize your site, all for free. You can also use their services to create an online shop.

4. Webhostme Website

Webhostme.com - Register with this bright hosting provider and you'll receive 20MB of free Web space, FrontPage support, ASP support, MS-Access database support, a Web based e-mail account and unlimited traffic. If you already have your own ".com" name, they provide free, ad-supported hosting for domains as well. Otherwise, your URL is: "yourname.webhostme.com".

5. Bravenet.com Website

A free Web hosting package that provides 50MB storage space, a 1.5GB monthly data transfer limit along with FTP access via your Web browser. It is supported by advertisements.

6. Explore free websites at http://www.freebielist.com/webspace.htm and free email accounts at http://www.freebielist.com/emailaccounts.htm

7. Webpage Basics

1. Title: Often the URL or part of the URL makes a good title that people will remember.

2. Navigation: those are other links mainly associated with your website. Some may include other websites also. One link on each page needs to be to HOME to get the reader back to the beginning. Check out the blue navigation links on the top of this page.

3. The Body. That is the content of the page. That may be very simple or complex. It should tell what you want the reader to do.

4. The Bottom. See the bottom of this page and include similar items but at least the copyright date, owner, address, and email address.

© 1994-2006,  LearnWell Resources, Inc, a California nonprofit public benefit 501(c)(3) corporation, PO Box 944, Camino CA 95709. Updated December 23, 2006  privacy  feedback  email us  login.  After finishing a course, consider taking a related course.

Source: http://www.nrf.ac.za/yenza/building/reqtags.htm

Optional Assignment: Study and write metalinks for your page.

What They Are

Having an effective homepage is one of the best practices for managing your agency’s website. A homepage serves as the front door of your website. You should design your homepage to feature the public's most requested information and services and to serve as a top-level directory to access the primary sections of your website.

Why They’re Important

• The homepage is the main tool for sending your visitors in the right direction.
• Government websites need to focus on helping the public find the services and information they want and need most.
• Research shows that more than half of all web users evaluate websites based on homepages alone. If you have an ineffective homepage, many visitors will immediately be turned off and may never come back to your site.
• Web visitors want fast, efficient service. On homepages, they expect to find what they’re looking for with little or no scrolling.
• Web users are impatient. They don’t want to be distracted by text or graphics that don’t help them find what they want or that increase download time.
• Even if your website is targeted to specialized audiences, your homepage needs to communicate basic information to the general public. Citizens--as a whole--are an audience for federal public websites, funded by taxpayer dollars.

Specific Legal, Policy or Other Requirements for Doing This

OMB Policies for Federal Agency Public Websites (OMB M-05-04) require agencies to (#1A) “disseminate information to the public in a timely, equitable, efficient and appropriate manner,” (#2A) “maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of information and services provided to the public,” and (#4A) " establish and maintain communications with members of the public and with State and local governments to ensure your agency creates information dissemination products meeting their respective needs.”

Getting customers to the information they need right from your homepage helps ensure that you're providing timely, efficient, and useful to information to the public.

The OMB Policies also specify a number of required links for all homepages.

How to Implement

• Assess Audience Needs: There are many ways to determine how to organize and design your homepage, based on audience needs:
  • Customer satisfaction surveys;
  • Focus groups;
  • Email, phone calls, letters, and other contact with the public;
  • Talking with intended audiences;
  • Talking with other web content managers; and,
  • Analyzing web reports, including search terms and statistics.
  
  Read more about assessing your audience's needs

• Test with Users: Usability testing can help you organize your homepage in the most effective way.
   
• Most Requested Information: The most requested information should be featured prominently, including online services and forms used by the public.
   
• Photos and Graphics: Homepages should not feature photos of executives or employees of your organization. Those photos may be appropriate on the "About Us" or "News" page.

• Be Clear about the Purpose: Even if the public is not the primary intended audience of your website, the homepage should provide an easy-to-identify section where the purpose of the website and the value to citizens is explained in terms they understand.

• Required Information: Per the OMB Policies for Federal Public Websites , the following are required information you must provide on your homepage or link to from your homepage. (For example, you could provide the information on a page that you link to from the homepage, such as your “About Us” or “Contact Us” page):

• Your agency’s strategic plan and annual performance plans
• Descriptions of your agency organizational structure, mission and statutory authority
• Information made available under the Freedom of Information Act
• Specific website privacy policies (see Section III, E, of OMB’s guidance memo)
• FirstGov.gov
• Summary statistical data about equal employment opportunity complaints filed with the agency and written notification of “Whistleblower” rights and protections as required by the No Fear Act of 2002 (the current Interim Rule requires that this link be on the homepage; this could change once EEOC issues the Final Rule)
• The agency point of contact for small businesses as required by the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002
• Other cross-government portals or links required by law or policy

Examples   

• U.S. Postal Service has a well-organized, uncluttered homepage that focuses on the top services and needs of its visitors.
• MedlinePlus.gov (National Library of Medicine) has a simple, clean homepage that serves as a directory to the key sections of the site. It includes professional graphics that complement the content rather than distract the user from finding what they need.
• USDA uses its homepage to highlight dynamic content such as the latest news, announcements, and most requested services. It also provides easy access by topic and audience.

Resources    

• Usability Testing and Resources
• Know Your Audience and Do Market Research

• Source: http://www.firstgov.gov/webcontent/managing_content/organizing/homepages.shtml

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11.Ways to Evaluate Your Site

 

There are two kinds of performance measures related to websites:

1. Website effectiveness: First, you should measure effectiveness in terms of visitors’ experiences on your website. For example, you can measure how many people visit your site, how satisfied they are, and how well they’re able to accomplish what they want. The jargon for this kind of measurement is “Web metrics” or “Web analytics.”
    

   Web site effectiveness metrics use both quantitative and qualitative data. They can be separated into several broad categories:

   • “Customer Focus and Experience” metrics, which focus on the user:
      
     • Knowing your audience / market research
        
     • Measuring customer satisfaction
        
     • Conducting usability testing (goes to "Usability & Design" section)
        
     • Analyzing web logs & visitor traffic
        
     • Reviewing links regularly
       
        
   • Quality and Compliance” metrics:
      
     • Measuring technical performance
        
     • Ensuring accessibility / section 508
       
        
   • “Recognition” metrics:
      
     • Applying for awards (goes to "Marketing" section)
        
     
      
2. Achievement of the agency’s mission. Second, you should measure the impact of your website on achievement of your agency’s mission. These performance measures address the extent to which your agency is achieving its mission specifically because of its website(s). Unfortunately, Web site performance measures that tie to achieving agency mission are often difficult to identify, let alone collect and evaluate.

Read more about tying evaluation to agency mission.

Source: http://www.firstgov.gov/webcontent/improving/evaluating/types.shtml

http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/web-content.shtml

http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/508/web2.htm

http://www.usability.gov/guidelines/

12. Assignments

a. Study Items 1-12 on this page.

b. With the help of these resources at 1-6, set up a free website that you can use in your work or as a hobby.

c. With the help of the free translation page at 8, translate a sentence into another language.

d. If you do not have a current email address, set one up.

e. After that, take the below test and receive an  accredited certificate.