1,484 Matching Annotations
  1. Dec 2016
    1. Choosing two or more fonts to use together can be tricky. You want the fonts to complement each other, but not be too similar — different, but so wildly different that they clash. Avoiding these extremes of too little or too much contrast often ends up being a process of experimentation and trial-and-error — like Goldilocks testing out the three bears’ porridge and finding one too cold, one too hot, but one “just right.”

      I learned about combining fonts in my Digital Writing and Publishing class this semester. It was my first intorduction into to typography and "font studies". When creating my OPP and the deliverables for my SLP, it was something I had to actively compare because I wanted everything to look cohesive. Your eye doesn't really pick up on appropriate combined fonts, but it DOES pick up on inappropriate combined fonts and it's jarring.

    2. Most design programs will allow you to adjust letter-spacing/tracking (spacing between whole groups of letters in lines or passages of text), kerning (spacing between pairs of letters), and leading (vertical space between lines).

      I found this really helpful. On my resume, my name on the top of my resume is really spread out. While it is readable by any formal definition, it didn't fit the professionalism that a resume needs to have in order to be effective. I changed the spacing and now it looks very professional and easier to read.

    3. Every designer needs a few neutral fonts that adapt to their surroundings and can be a go-to choice when time is tight or nothing else seems to be working.

      My 'go to' fonts are Arial, Georgia, Calibri, and TNR. I really definitely look into making sure they can be used in all occasions and expanding my list just in case.

    4. Your first concern in choosing a font for a project should be that it matches the message or purpose of your design.

      This shows that rhetorcial analysis is not only used in rhetoric studies, but interdisciplinary. If you can state and argue your purpose and also keep it in mind throughout the creation and evolution of your text, effectiveness is easier to maintain.

    5. You wouldn’t wear a bathing suit to a job interview; then again, you wouldn’t want to wear a suit and tie during your vacation on the beach either. There’s an element of appropriateness to consider.Now, what your clothes do for you, font choices serve the same purpose in a design.

      Wonderful way to understand why fonts are so important! Of course, no one would ever wear such inappropriate clothing to job interview, but it can also be correlated to fonts. If an document is official, academic, or professional in manner, you would want to you a font that is easy to read and professional and mature looking. There is a reason that government documents aren't in Comic Sans.

    6. The typeface is the design; the font is how that design is delivered. typeface + style + size = font A font is what you use; a typeface is what you see.

      I never knew the words weren't interchangeable. This article is providing us with lots of great and useful information that is easy to digest.

    7. The "Font Categories" graphic is an essential reference guide to the four basic categories of fonts. I can definitely see myself using this in my career as a producer of text and content creator.

    8. Though this point is often debated, it’s commonly said that serifs make long passages (in print) easier to navigate visually, helping move your eyes along the lines of text. However, because serifs are usually small and thin, they often don’t display as well on pixel-based screens (looking distorted and “noisy” rather than clear and crisp), so many designers favor sans-serif fonts for web use, especially at small sizes.

      This is great information to know. If a producer of text/content creator can make long paragraphs of text "easier to navigate" that is sure to come in handy. This is especially great to know from a technical writing viewpoint. Oftentimes, we are challenged to make a long text seem not as daunting without compromising any of the information. It's cool to know that the answer might be simply to change the font.

    9. four basic font categories

      It's interesting to me how all the fonts in Microsoft Word can be sorted into, more or less, four basic categories.

    10. So if you’ve ever felt a little lost when it comes to fonts, then you’re in the right place.

      I, for one, didn't even know about the effectiveness of typography and font styles until I started this semester. One would think that with so many font options that are readable and "nice" that it wouldn't matter. I'm excited to read about how to "use" fonts effectively. Isn't that what rhetoric is all about?

    11. This article is a guide on font terminology, application, and general rules and guidelines.

    12. Where to Find Free Fonts

      Be aware that fonts that you download might not necessarily be accessible to other computers. Thus, sent data to other computers in your downloaded font might encounter format errors.

    13. But how many fonts are too many? There are those in the design community who would say that one font will do for most projects, and that three is the maximum number you should include in one design to avoid an overly busy or confusing layout. While that’s a good starting point if you’re new to design, there really are no rules — at least, no rules that can’t be broken in the right situation. Some designs will call for a certain aesthetic or an extra-decorative look that would benefit from a wider range of fonts.

      There's never a one-size fits all to this. I recommend playing around with everything until something looks right. Generally, I endorse two fonts, Header and Body, because they reduce headaches.

    14. Choosing two or more fonts to use together can be tricky. You want the fonts to complement each other, but not be too similar — different, but so wildly different that they clash. Avoiding these extremes of too little or too much contrast often ends up being a process of experimentation and trial-and-error — like Goldilocks testing out the three bears’ porridge and finding one too cold, one too hot, but one “just right.”

      This is my biggest headache.

    15. Spacing: Adjusting the spacing of your text so that it’s appropriate for your design is a big contributor to enhanced readability. In most cases, generous spacing improves readability. But if you’re tight on space, you’ll need to experiment with different combinations of font size and spacing to optimize readability. Most design programs will allow you to adjust letter-spacing/tracking (spacing between whole groups of letters in lines or passages of text), kerning (spacing between pairs of letters), and leading (vertical space between lines).

      This is also one of the biggest design flaws of 60 percent of the resumes I see.

    16. If you’re including text in your design, it’s likely that you have something important to communicate. Readability becomes an important quality to look for in a font to make sure your message comes across. How can you tell whether a typeface is readable, other than your own visual assessment?

      My go-to test for this is the "zoom" test. Generally, if I can zoom out to a large extent and still read the text clearly, it probably is readable to most people.

    17. Every designer needs a few neutral fonts that adapt to their surroundings and can be a go-to choice when time is tight or nothing else seems to be working. These types of fonts, sometimes referred to as “workhorse” typefaces, are usually basic serif or sans-serif fonts that can be used pretty anywhere because they don’t draw a lot of attention to themselves.

      These are the default "professional" fonts that tend to have a lot of universal design elements. For example, Word tends to offer these before all else: Calibri, Times New Roman, Verdana, Arial, etc.

    18. Display or decorative typefaces (briefly mentioned at the beginning of the article), on the other hand, are never suitable for reading at length. These are the type of fonts that scream, “Look at me!” They come in various degrees of usefulness, from the bold, all-caps fonts that might be used for headlines, to the fonts that are very literal or obvious — such as snow-capped letters that seem to say “I’m supposed to be used at Christmas!” or letters that look like they’re made of made of logs or twigs that supposedly give your design an instantly outdoorsy look.

      There's a lot of trends where people mix and match sans serif and serif fonts for this reason. The contrast really serves to highlight the serif headers and catch attention.

    19. The Basics

      Now, we begin the guide parts.

    20. Consider context and audience.

      Fonts are one of the most important visual elements of rhetoric; of course, it's going to be audience driven. My general basis to choose fonts is kind of like universal design criteria. Meaning, "which font is going to grant me the best accessibility to a broad audience demographic?" Afterwards, I narrow it down to fit the context. For example, I am more likely to use Arial for a blog, but Verdana on a resume. Both have about the same accessibility elements in terms of readability, but Verdana's slightly narrower design gives it a more polished feeling.

    21. Do the elements of your font “outfit” clash, or do they complement each other? Are they effectively communicating the qualities you want to project? These considerations are part of what makes choosing fonts such an important part of the design process, one that should be approached thoughtfully.

      They're also one of my biggest headaches when designing anything with written content. I'm always having the hardest times matching Header fonts to Paragraph fonts, even if they're the same typeface.

    22. All that to say, that for most graphic design purposes today, the terms are more or less interchangeable; fonts are the digital representations of typefaces, and we can change either with a simple click on our computer screens… So unless you’re talking to a typography expert who you want to impress with your superior knowledge, no need to worry about the differences.

      Ah, I got it. So the font "family" would all be the same typeface, but the specific format of it (appearances, like size and boldness) would be the font.

    23. You may have heard the text you use in design projects referred to as both fonts and typefaces and wondered if the two terms mean the same thing. Technically and historically (in terms of typesetting) they’re different, but today, they’re often used interchangeably. If you’re interested in understanding the difference, a few snappy definitions might help:

      I wasn't aware that there was a difference either. I guess typeface would be a category of font, wouldn't it?

    24. rpose.

      The below image is a nice example to people who may need it.

    25. 3) Script: Scripts are what we might think of as cursive- or handwriting-style fonts. They generally have connecting letters. You’ll find that script fonts come in many different styles, from elegant, to fun and casual, to hand-drawn.

      I mostly see these in logos, rather than regular type. They're very hard to read and limit accessibility to people with good sight.

    26. classifications, each with their own historical and technical definitions

      I wasn't aware that there were more classifications beyond serif and sans serif. Huh, this is pretty new to me.

    27. 1) Serif: Serif fonts have little “feet” or lines attached the ends of their letters. They’re generally thought to look more serious or traditional.

      A while back, this was the usual for any "serious" document, such as a research paper. Nowadays, sans-serif tends to be the usual- such as verdana and arial due to their readability.

    28. Short answer: there are many, including some crazy ones that defy categorization.

      A lot of these are pictographic, too.

    29. This guide is designed to offer a comprehensive overview of fonts: their different categories, how to choose them, how to use them, and even where to find free font downloads.

      This is our genre- a guide. That means it's 2nd person perspective, right?

    30. there are plenty of fonts available that are free to download or commonly available on many operating systems that will do very nicely for everyday design projects. In the serif category, try Georgia,

      I actually use Georgia on my resume. It is a lot better than Times New Roman. I think they mention that you should avoid Times New Roman as it often is overused. I agree. I think it also subtly makes people upset because it reminds them of writing essays in school.

    31. Display or decorative typefaces (briefly mentioned at the beginning of the article), on the other hand, are never suitable for reading at length.

      I wish I could go back in time and tell my middle school self this when he was working on Power Points.

    32. One of the most common mistakes that beginners make is not realizing what various font categories are most suitable for — for instance, body typefaces versus display typefaces.

      Learning what kinds of fonts are best for body text was probably the most useful tip from all the readings in relation to my service learning project. As making a presentation all the text had to be treated as a visual element.

    33. Consider context and audience.Where and how your design will be viewed should also figure into your font choices.

      It is interesting how the rhetorical situation has so many applications, from politics to design, thinking about context and audience will always be crucial. Aristotle would be proud.

    34. every typeface has its own mood or personality.

      This ties in with the Kimball article on design lore, as it brings up the debate about whether design can be measured scientifically or is more of a matter of intuition. As in what personality does this font have to you? Or does a certain design always have a certain effect on people? I feel like this also has to do with the culture that one is in.

    35. bad typographic choices always distract from your design’s message and intentions.

      This is interesting, as some people argue that worrying about design is superfluous. As long as something is functional then why should design matter? But this makes a good point that bad design choices, even if they do not get in the way of usability, can still distort clarity, which is an aspect of functionality.

    36. Is your font saying “beach vacation” when it should be saying “job interview”?

      I think the equivalent of beach vacation font would be comic sans. Although, maybe not since there is almost no situation where comic sans is an appropriate choice of font.

    37. Think about what your clothes might say about you: based on what you wear, people might rightly or wrongly make assumptions about your style, your personality, your socio-economic background, your age (or the age you wish you were), or the kind of impression you want to make.

      It is also a little sad that this is the case. Also, I feel like women get judged a lot more based on what they wear, which I think ties into sexism talked about in the Durack article on gender in technical communication.

    38. Jessica Hische

      Jessica Hische is also a famous designer. Here is a link to her wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jessica_Hische And here is a link to an interesting/funny flowchart she made called "Should I work for free": http://www.shouldiworkforfree.com/

    39. Dan Mayer

      Dan Mayer is another famous designer from the US. Here is a link to his online profile: http://portfolio.danmayer.com/

    40. Erik Spiekermann

      Erik Spiekermann is a famous German typographer. Here is a link to his wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erik_Spiekermann

    1. Put simply, the rule of thirds says that if you divide your page into thirds both vertically and horizontally, the points at which the grid lines intersect provide the natural focal points of a composition.

      When designing, for example a table, I always hear its good to have three of something and not an even number. Have three bouquets of flowers. I think with having a layout, there's a similar approach. Something about having an odd number of things is visually appealing on the eyes.

    2. The idea is that by identifying and re-using a motif or design treatment throughout your layout, you can provide a reference for the reader so that disparate areas feel connected and part of the same overall composition.

      This tip is useful because it says that it is okay to re-use design treatments, because it provides a reference for readers and makes the overall content fell connected.

    3. It's common for novice designers to make use of every single bit of space on a page, stuffing in content until every gap has been filled. The more experienced know that sometimes the best bit of design involves leaving elements out, rather than shoehorning them in.

      I think the problem with for some beginner designers is that the try to stuff as much content as they can, which often leaves the website looking crowded. This tip is useful because it tells us that sometimes white space can be help make the layout balanced.

    4. Put simply, the rule of thirds says that if you divide your page into thirds both vertically and horizontally, the points at which the grid lines intersect provide the natural focal points of a composition. By aligning your key elements to these four points, you'll achieve a more pleasing composition than if you, for example, perfectly centre elements on your page.

      I like this tip because whenever I try to create a page layout, trying to find the right balance and focus is always a problem. With this tip I can create better focal points that will make the content more accessible to readers.

    5. One of the most effective ways to provide a sense of balance is to choose a single focal point for your layout. A good example of this in practice is the use of a large image as the biggest single element on a page.

      This reiterates the idea that balance is key to help you get started on your content.

    6. This can help provide a sense of order to your layout, providing the reader with a clear structural reference to fall back on. This is important because when all your page elements have a feeling of connectivity with each other, the overall effect feels more comfortable to the reader, helping to put them at ease, and facilitating their access to the important stuff: the content!

      Grids are more useful for beginner designers, serving as a guide to help navigate the elements of your website, which will ultimately be easier for the reader to understand.

    7. A good page composition should be both pleasing to the eye, but also communicate those key messages clearly to the intended audience.

      As we talked about throughout the semester, with tech writing, it is important to first know who your audience is in order to produce the appropriate content.

    8. Page layout typically involves a lot of placement, rearranging and formatting of elements. Many designers approach this process organically, feeling their way to a pleasing end result. While this can lead to some excellent happy accidents, there is a risk that using a free-form methodology can result in a lack of visual balance on the page.

      I think this is how all page layout start. I remember when I started using tumblr, even myspace, it was a lot of trial and error to get the page layout I wanted. But with tech writing you have to remember that the end users needs are the goal.

    1. According to the 2010 U.S. census, the Hispanic population has reached50.5 million people
    2. ‘as lit-tle as we know about technical communication in other countries, it isstartling how little research has been done on subcultures within the

      It's possible that researchers of technical communication have decided to go the "color-blind" route, as racial and ethnic differences shouldn't play a factor in the technical communication discussion. Research, for them, should focus on the content users as a whole, and not base on the community that they might have came from.

    3. presents data collected from research that used participatory design methods to discuss and address workplace safety and risk discourse in a way that Latino construction workers could more fully understand.

      This article description reminds me of the New London Group article that made a focus on trying to education a generation of people with wide range of ethnic backgrounds.

    4. While theseissues often are overlooked, go unnoticed, or are silenced, the articlesincluded in this special issue ofJBTCdemonstrate the prominence, andmuch-needed analysis, of race, ethnicity, and multiculturalism in technicalcommunication.

      I think some of these articles go unnoticed because people try to sculpt race relations in only certain contexts that the media portrays (i.e. wealth inequality and education). If the media discussed technical communication more, these topics of race would soon follow suite.

    5. While thenation has shown progress by electing its first African-American president,the education, employment, income, and health disparities between WhiteAmericans and historically marginalized groups still exist.

      The problem with people assuming race problems would cease after Obama was elected is due to the fact that Obama is used as a token. If one Black man can have that kind of success, than all Black people could, which is a logical fallacy.

    6. Even though (or quite possibly because) race as a concept and therebyracism still exist, many people, if not color-blind, avoid topics of race, eth-nicity, and culture in their daily conversations.

      As mentioned before, if only a select group of people decide not to mention race in their everyday conversations, while others do, the people who choose not to discuss race will likely look like a problem an indirect instigator of race problems.

    7. As Bonilla-Silva (2003)and others have shown, the color-blind ideology is false and usually trans-lates into societal practices that build on and bestow neutral WEA cultural,linguistic, and racial knowledge.
    8. For example, in some technical communica-tion classes, as in most classes, instructors adopt a color-blind perspective,reiterating the sentiment that race has no place in the classroom

      Similar to the case of the New London Group article, some classes may want to avoid the idea of "tokenism" in which a person is highlighted simply based on their nationality and that the focus on the minorities in the room will create an atmosphere that makes every minority a special case.

  2. techwritingf16.robinwharton.net techwritingf16.robinwharton.net
    1. Her sample structured writing curriculum includes four mod-ules: defining structure, structuring content, analyzing content, and reusing content

      Some of her modules overlap with each other. Each module is like a different step: one would need to understand the context of what structure is before applying this term to content, and so on.

    2. metadata

      a set of data that describes and gives information about other data -google Since the boom of the internet, the term metadata had to be used since codes overlap each other with different information.

    3. there is a glaring lack of involvement in CMS design by technical com-munication practitioners, teachers, and researchers.

      It would be difficult to use a product that was developed without the user in mind. If the technical writers are not involved in the process of CMS, an entire different level of technical communication must take place to understand the developers choices in creating CMS.

    4. Rather than thinking of the end productof their work as tangible products or even documents, they are beginning to see theirefforts as part of an endless flow of information

      Once a technical communicator has done what they are told to do with data, whoever's in charge of the project can simply filter that technical writer's "end result" in with some other content someone else made or they made themselves.

    5. as a solution to the short-term memory problem, theQuintilian tradition’s view of the physical writing surface as a structured space,and thus a means for visual memory,

      Just as technical writers use content management to translate data for content, in order to memorize some this information in short-term is to use visual memory instead of textual.

    6. ROI

      "return on investment"

    7. (a) ascontent being complete texts, and presentation being output structure, navigation,and visual style; and (b) as content being content modules, and presentation beingoutput structure, navigation, visual style, and genre definition

      In this separation, content is the core concept, while the presentation is the ways in which that content is arranged and manipulated.

    8. Changing the way people work is animmensely difficult task, especially if the changes most clearly benefit the organi-zation while doing nothing clearly beneficial for the individual users

      Part of the challenge as a technical writer is the content matters more that the author. Of course the ways an individual technical writer my operate may seem better than the CMS framework, at the end of the day, it is the person who is instructing the technical writer who is the main focus, not the writer.

    9. XML
    10. “process of collecting, manag-ing, and publishing information to whatever medium you need”

      The basis of technical writing: the ability to take information and distribute it in the format that suits the situation

    1. literacy pedagogy

      .My assumption the definition of this term would be the methods of teaching how to write.

    2. We decided

      This is where the main point of the article starts

    3. epistemology

      the theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope. Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion. -google

    4. As lifeworlds become more divergent and their boundaries more blurred, the central fact of language becomes the multiplicity of meanings and their continual intersection

      Even through language, some dialects and pronunciations come from the fact that we mix cultures together (i.e. the English language having influences from languages like French overtime). The more we mix our cultures and communities, the more blurry our original communities become.

    5. When learners juxtapose different languages, discourses, styles, and approaches, they gain substantively in meta-cognitive and meta-linguistic abilities and in their ability to reflect critically on complex systems and their interactions.

      In a way, its like trying to be bilingual. Regardless of the person's native language and dialect, because these students are force to learn in an environment that does not push a "mainstream" agenda, they learn to learn like their fellow classmates without the standard educational background as their instructor. They all learn to think critically like their teacher, so going into the workforce, these students would already have the exposure of explaining something in multiple ways for anyone to understand.

    6. such as electronic mail (Sproull & Kiesler, 1991). These examples of revolutionary changes in technology and the nature of organizations have produced a new language of work.

      As this article was written in the mid-90s, the so called "revolutionary" form of communication to employees, email, is such common practice in the 21st century that it has become the expected form of communication. Of a more recent addition of communication, social media today has a more revolutionary appeal to it in which our working lives, public lives, and private lives all start to fade into one.

  3. techwritingf16.robinwharton.net techwritingf16.robinwharton.net
    1. Document

      Throughout this reading it is interesting how ethics is never defined. It really gives you a chance to see others views of ethics so that you aren't clouded by the true meaning of ethics. The question of the title along is eye catching. Is This Ethical? Because really how do you know if something is ethical or not anymore when there are so many factors to consider?

    2. influence on the ethical decisions of technical communicators, is it because teachers ignore the subject of ethics? If

      This is difficult questions to answer evidently because there are many different factors to consider when discussing this. The educators purpose, the criteria of it. A lot is to be asked on whether teachers are avoiding the topic of ethics or if they aren't.

    3. It depends on who has asked you to evaluate the employee for promotion and why youwant to de-emphasize deficiencies. ”• “ Depends on the size of the font used for the percentages and other characteristics of the graphic. A number of other factors could affect the ‘perceived’ size of each pie slice."• “Whether or not it is ethical depends on the product and the intended users of the product.

      It is interesting to see the different responses that people have towards this. There are some who give exceptions and others who gave none.

    4. consensus

      http://www.dictionary.com/browse/consensus I had to look the word up because for some reason I just couldn't pronounce it or remember what it means. But this means the majority of opinion.

    5. Only 430 people identified their occupation, 420 their sex, and 443 their professional experience and level of education. Relative to the STC membership (Society for Technical Communication 1992), this population has more educators (24% versus 10%), more men (45% versus 38%), more advanced degrees (55% versus 35%), and more job experience (typically 11+ years versus 7 years).

      Although that is a very good turn out of surveys received back it is still not useful information because some did not respond to certain questions. In away it can not be helpful in the long run. But it does bring interesting information to the table to see where the similarities are and where the differences are.

    6. characteristics could be pertinent to the ethics of document design.

      This is a really good point on how to take it a step farther to determine whether or not these specific details have an effect on a persons definition of ethics of document design.

    7. Notice that I offer no definition of the word

      I found this really interesting because he isn't asking them necessarily if they believe these questions to be ethical he is rather seeing what the people's definition of ethics is.

    8. Code for Communicators”

      https://www.stc.org/bodyofknowledge/wiki/stc-ethical-code-and-guidelines/

      I found this website to be very useful while reading over the Code for Communication

    9. ou are preparing an annual report for the members of the American Wildlife Association. Included in the report is a pie chart displaying how contributions to the association are used. Each piece of the pie is labeled and its percentage is displayed. In order to de-emphasize the piece of the pie labeled "Administrative Costs," you color this piece green because cool colors make things look smaller. In order to emphasize the piece of the pie labeled "Wildlife Conservation Activities," you color this piece red because hot colors make things look bigger. Is this ethical

      I would consider this to be unethical. Because by making things appear different from the way they are then it gives the wrong impression to others. The information should be displayed the way that it is given.

    10. ethicalOBLIGATIONS

      An ethical obligation is something that someone is required or compelled to do based on a predetermined set of standards of what is right and wrong. https://www.reference.com/world-view/definition-ethical-obligation-a1bb89f13aa062f4

    11. whereas women are more likely to exercise or integrate a principle of caring (1982, 1987).

      I agree with Gilligan's claim about men and women. Mostly because women are naturally nurturing and more caring individuals than men. Women tend to practice ethics of care. They take into consideration what they are doing and how it could affect them and others before doing it.

    12. Is This Ethical

      The title intrigues readers before even reading the article to get their gears going. This question alone gives the reader a taste of what the article will entail, but what it will mean through a readers eyes based off what ethical is.

    13. thus to gain insight on their thinking as well as their actions.

      I think that what Dragga was trying to prove doesn't really work here. Because, he wanted to gain insight on men and women's thinking and actions but, I believe the only way to actually gain insight on what a person thinks is ethical or unethical is to observe their actions in everyday life. Their thinking my change as well as their actions but simply taking a survey doesn't completely measure the statistics properly.

    14. The pilot testing, however, also revealed that students were tentative in judging the seven situations, preferring “mostly ethical” or “mostly unethical” as their answers, whereas the majority of professional communicators chose either “completely ethical” or “completely unethical” as their answers.

      This relates back to my initial argument about how different types of people would rate ethical and unethical situations, and also supports it.

    15. “Truthfulness requires that although we condense technical data, we should not misrepresent them to our audience

      This is a good point to make. This reminds me of how there are a lot of writers, photojournalist, and videograhpers that have the ability to edit and view their content before the general public can see it. Being the public, we view what these people put out and take it at face value. While for all we know the writers, photojournalists and videographers can edit these pieces of work taking away its truthfulness. There was a report of this doing during the afghan war with a photojournalist who edited a photo for TIME Magazine. The journalist said that the photo didn't convey the right message about the war. He edited the photo so much from the original that it conveyed a different message.

    16. prospective employer asks job applicants for a one-page resume. In order to include a little more information on your one page, you slightly decrease the type size and the leading (i.e., the horizontal space between lines). Is this ethical?

      I found this question a bit humorous because although it may be unethical, I have done this. My current resume is in font 8 while the title is in about a 12 or a 14. I feel like the answers to this questions would vary depending on the level of experience. If you ask a high school student they would probably think why would someone even decrease the font in the first place due to the lack of experience and the need to have a bigger font to fill a page. Whereas a recent college graduate is going to say no because they want to fit all their experience for their future employer to think they are well-rounded. For a seasoned professional they may answer this question saying 5. That doing something like this is completely unethical because they have enough valid experience to fill their resume at a font 12.

    17. Editor’s Note:

      This note from the editor makes me question the upcoming reading. This statement, while it is necessary, makes the author seem less credible due to these mistakes.

    1. acknowledge the varied models ofauthorship

      Shouldn’t this be done when copying/rewriting something that will be shared throughout schools? Do administrators themselves, professors, and teachers break code when copying and pasting text from rules without citing it?

    2. Teaching about plagiarism

      Plagiarism is never taught in depth once you hit a certain grade point within schooling. As some point I feel it become “read this statement” which, as seen in studies is not always done. One in four individuals actually take the time to read through an entire agreement, states NPR. You could agree to sign away your first born, but few read the statements so they would be unaware of that.

    3. ecausethey are publicly acknowledged and accepted as true

      At what point does information become publicly accepted and common knowledge? This has always been confusing to me because it feels like it hits certain generations, and skips others. For example some information that is public knowledge to me, is not to my father, and vise versa. Do generation gaps and lack of minor information being shared affect this acceptance of public knowledge as true?

    4. Plagiarism policies on our campuses

      I find it humorous that the plagiarism policies, or handbooks between campuses, and even high schools are copied and plagiarized from one another. There is no form of reference to another work, instead it becomes the school, or institutions handbook…which fits into the definition of plagiarism.

    5. As a result, many students of professionalwriting fear that they may be “stealing,” or com-mitting intellectual “theft,” whenever they make use of anyexisting material in their writing.

      Another form of stealing is known as patchwriting, a failed attempt as paraphrasing. Rather than copying something word for word, rearranging phrases and changing tensed occurs. This is another fear that is had about intellectual dishonesty.

    6. I suggest that technical communi-cation instructors rethink the teaching of plagiarism, as itoccurs both in the classroom and in textbooks, by 1) incor-porating discussion of legal definitions of authorship and 2)using analyses of workplace scenarios as a pedagogical tool

      I wonder if this idea might also be useful for subjects besides technical writing.

    7. hese same technologies are presentedin these examples as inherently dangerous, as causing a“rise” in cases of plagiarism or “making plagiarism tempt-ing.”

      There is a trend in pop culture to see technology as a dangerous thing, (e..g. the show Black Mirror) which I feel like is unfair. Technology is neither completely bad or good. It just is.

    8. he notionthat all writing is inherently collaborative, intertextual, andsocial even from the point of invention (

      Studying English has definitely taught me that writing is social. My best writing is my best because multiple eyes have scanned it. John Donne says "no man is an island", well neither is an essay.

    9. One basic rule underlies the mechanical steps describedin the rest of this chapter: With the exception of “com-mon knowledge,” you should cite sources for ALL bor-rowed information used in your final document. Thisincludes quotations, paraphrases, and summari

      I sometimes struggle with deciding what to cite in a paper. What counts as "common knowledge"? Here is an article talking about common knowledge and what sort of information does not need to be cited: http://isites.harvard.edu/icb/icb.do?keyword=k70847&pageid=icb.page342055

    10. patchwriting”

      Here is a short article that talks about patchwriting in more detail: https://www.poynter.org/2012/patchwriting-is-more-common-than-plagiarism-just-as-dishonest/188789/ They give an example of patchwriting,however, they are a little bit judgmental about the practice, which this article seems to be saying the opposite: that we should realize that what we consider plagiarism is complicated, especially in technical communications.

    11. This four-factor fair use analysis, however, is oftenonly narrowly interpreted in academic settings. One ex-ample is the adoption of the “Agreement on guidelinesfor classroom copying in not-for-profit educational insti-tutions with respect to books and periodicals” (1976),originated by the Ad Hoc Committee of EducationalInstitutions and Organizations on Copyright Law Revi-sion, the Authors League of America, and the Associationof American Publishers. The agreement suggests limita-tions such as allowing only 10% of a prose work to bereproduced.

      It seems arbitrary to set the number at 10 percent.

    12. er or his class,

      I like the use of gender-neutral language.

    13. Scenarios

      The STC's online magazine Intercom has a column about ethics scenarios in technical communication. They are interesting, but unfortunately you have to be a member to read them.

    14. the fair use clause

      Here is an article that goes into more detail about fair use and copyright: https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html

    15. Unfortunately, cases of plagiarism are on the rise. Oneof the downsides of online texts, such as websites, is theease of plagiarism. Some students have learned tech-niques of “patchwriting,” in which they cut and pastetext from the Internet and then revise it into a docu-ment. This kind of writing is highly vulnerable tocharges of plagiarism, so it should be avoided. (1

      I feel like the internet also keeps people from plagiarizing, as all an instructor has to do to check if they got it online is type it into google.

  4. techwritingf16.robinwharton.net techwritingf16.robinwharton.net
    1. the Court did not completely close the door on FirstAmendment restriction to copyright.

      This places a focus on the person, or corporation dealing with the copyright. A simple example of this could be YouTube and its copyright law that you may not have a song more than ten seconds on your channel because it violates the creators work. Another way of looking at it can be censoring, and how certain agencies choose what to sensor, v. others.

    2. certiorari

      An order by which a higher court reviews a lower courts decision, this does not infer that the Supreme court disagrees with the decision made, but instead that at least four justices have determined that the circumstances are warrant to review.

    3. inhibition of content-based speech is scrutinized with much stricterstandards

      Courts are faced with balancing freedom of speech and freedom of the press against other personal rights of society. This is one of the two used mainly in media cases. The court in this case has to ask if the content furthers a compelling gov interest, and if the means used narrowly tailored, meaning it only fulfills its intended goals.

    4. CTEA

      This Extension Act was signed into law by POTUS Clinton in 1998 which extended all copyrights by 20 years in order to be on par with Europe.

    5. intellectual property provision and its goals,then deconstructs the Supreme Court’s decision inEldred v. Ashcroftas a means tounravel the pieces in the complex relationship among the constitutional provision,the First Amendment, and copyright.

      Given Ashcroft favorable outcome, some may expect the Eldred decision to deconstitutionalize the intellectual property law and reduce it to a discourse about limits.

    6. favoring greater public access in the future

      Eldred v. Ashcroft and the debate to regulate should, and will continue to this day, and that the advocates could enjoy some successes in the future, even if they did not do so in this case. Because some state that the CTEA is unconstitutional and will have the boldness to be outright that they believe that the Supreme Court was wrong.

    7. interpreted by the Supreme Court’s decision inEldredv. Ashcroft

      I took this decision as a means to unravel the pieces and complex relationships the first amendment, constitutional provisions, and copyright have.

    8. intellectual property

      This includes technical communication, know-how, copyrights, models, drawings, prototypes, inventions and more.

    9. intellectual property clause

      Also referred to as the patent and copywriter clause, it is simply defined as any form of knowledge created with ones intellect with various forms of statutory protection.

    10. “The Congress shallhave the power...toPromote the Progress of Science and the useful Arts, by secur-ing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respec-tive writings and Discoveries

      This can be an issue for technical communicators and their ability to access information that could better the documents they are writing.

    1. Rationale: W

      While reading through this article, I found it to be extremely helpful, though I have learned a lot of this in a classroom over the years. It really help to clarify many points and to give the proper demonstrations that are needed. It touches points on all different types of graphs as well as the different types of ways to present a presentation by using the proper headings, the typography and more. It was a reliable article to go through.

    2. Flowcharts help writers showthe steps in a process

      Out of all the charts this is the one that holds excellence over them all. It helps to make each point along the way and to make it clear what is going on to the audience. It can be used to share how the flow of a project can work step by step.

      https://www.lucidchart.com/pages/landing/flowchart-creator?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=flowchart_creator_bmm_unitedstates&gclid=CjwKEAiAyanCBRDkiO6M_rDroH0SJAAfZ4KLtWa-NDj2HNd7lME2ew7G5NQOAhjR46SIOPBInZNQShoCyTHw_wcB

    3. Bar graphs

      Bar graphs are just like line graphs with their comparative relationships and show of data. it really is just a preference when it comes to which one you want to use and also what will work better to show your information.

    4. Line graphs

      Line graphs can be very helpful in presentations when you need them. They help to make your data concise and clear and shows the work that was put into the presentation. It can also help to clarify past information to match with current data that was found.

    5. These documents include websites, magazines, photographicessays, and multimedia presentations. In any of these situations,

      This is definitely something that I wish I had known when I was younger when it came to bringing in visual content for presentations. I was never sure what I needed to use for the visual content. Once I got into high school it became more clear what was needed to bring the extra detail to the presentation and that was to make sure that it helped the audience to understand what they were looking t and for it to give clarity.

    6. In effective G e n e ric Headings

      This clearly shows why these headers are ineffective. It doesn't make it clear what the headers are in this example and there is no way to know how the information is being distributed to the audience.

    7. Using Visuals to Inform & Persuade: HeadingsHeadings help document navigation and introduce and describe the ideas contained in eac section

      Here is an example of how to use headers in essays: http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2011/04/how-to-use-five-levels-of-heading-in-an-apa-style-paper.html

      In an essay, headers are useful and like they said help the reader to navigate the essay so that they know what is coming up next in the article. For a group project of mine we had to write out a grant proposal to send out to foundations for a non-profit organization. it really helped to have the headers go along with it so that the foundation understood where the proposal was going.

    8. This presentation discusses five ways in which visuals inform

      Visual aids have great importance in a presentation. Without them it doesn't help for your audience to understand what is going on. Headers, and large fonts are important also and do not have so much information to distract them.

    9. typography,

      https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/typography The definition of typography is the style, arrangement, or appearance of typeset matter

    10. •Information graphics:

      Information graphics or info graphics are extremely helpful when you want to get information across to others in a fast and easy way. You can also create a presentation with them. A great website that I use is Piktochart.com It is very helpful and useful.

  5. techwritingf16.robinwharton.net techwritingf16.robinwharton.net
    1. This article was a guideline piece on how to best represent information, particularly with web designers. However, while a lot of the data is useful, some of it is a bit dated.

    2. QUICKLIST FOR DISPLAYING INFORMATION ON THE WEB

      Basically, this is a summary of the whole article in outline form.

    3. USING ANIMATIO

      Dynamic content can draw the eye, but should be used sparingly. I've seen these work really well in graphical headers and as interactive data, but they can be too distracting or not load some times.

    4. Further confusing the interpretation of iconic signs is the simple fact that, even within a single culture or dis­course community, the logic of the system by which a sign is mapped onto a referent often differs from sign to sign— even in the same icon set. In other words, some icons may be representational, some analogical, some metaphorical, and so on. Does a sign showing a knife, fork, and spoon denote a shop selling silverware or a restaurant? Most icon sets comprise a mix of mapping systems and seldom pro­vide any clues to the user as to which logical relationship is to be used for which icon.Finally, icons are not particularly' good at standing in for verbs (predication). When they attempt to convey action, they typically do so by showing the results of it. Many' actions in a digital environment, however, have no picturable results, and icons then often become no more than little picture puzzles that confuse rather than inform. Other claims include those that icons increase search speed and that they are more memorable than text. This section exa

      Nowadays, icons are typically marketing brands, such as Twitter's birds and Facebook's f. They're used as stand-ins for the company name.

      The other use for icons are "like" buttons, such as thumbs up and hearts. They intuitively mean that somebody agrees with written content in some form or fashion.

      However, a lot of times (like the article mentions) they are bad at conveying certain kinds of meaning. For example, I've seen people push the "like" button on facebook for events are typically really sad. Furthermore, they fail to convey the extent of empathy a person has for the topic at hand.

    5. Supplement visuals with explanatory text ortext labels

      Captions are really important for most visuals because they explain the relevance of a graphic. Without them, people naturally make assumptions about a graphic that doesn't necessarily comply with the author's intent. This is a rhetorical flaw that many make when non intuitive graphical information is present on something.

    6. Major headings, for ex­ample, might be larger or bolder than subordinate headings, or might be centered or displayed in caps.

      I've also seen sites that color headers so that they help users find information faster.

    7. Except, perhaps, for headings, avoid lines oftype shorter than 40 characters and longer than60 characters

      This is very specific. Personally, I think the amount of characters to a line doesn't really matter as long as the visual's margins allow an easy read.

    8. 3.4 Avoid setting type in all caps

      This is another outdated guideline. A lot of modern web designs have all-caps fonts that don't look too bad. Of course, some paragraphs are still a bit hard to read.

    9. Both bold and italic typefaces are used for emphasis and, consequently, should be used sparingly. Bold and italic letterforms also are often poorly formed on a screen—bold because the algorithm that creates them may simply add pixels to a letterform designed for and intended to be displayed at normal stroke widths; and italic because the oblique orientation of the letterforms doesn’t mesh well with the constraints of a vertically and horizontally oriented pixel grid.

      Of course. They should only be used for important/specific points of interests on a page. In other words, use only for emphasis.

    10. 3.2 Use 12- to 14-point type for continuous text

      This is actually kind of ironic, considering that the page looks to be 8 or 10 pt font.

    11. NSURING THAT TEXT IS READAB

      A lot of this section is subjective.

    12. 3.1 Use sans serif typefaces for display onscreen.

      I don't really agree too much with this article. While sans serif is typically easier on the eyes, I don't think serif has too much of an impact on problematic screen viewing with today's technology. I still use it for headers and the occasional website.

    13. s Dillon (1994) notes, the basic finding that people do, indeed, read more slowly from monitors appears to be disappearing as the quality of text displayed on screens improves.

      In the Kliever article, it was really important to choose a readable font in addition to choosing a font that conveyed the rhetoric the user is looking for. This could make or break a website's usability/popularity. Every design element is audience oriented!

    14. Sequences can be “coded” w7ith letters or number

      Or bullets! Like this series here. :) It has logical flow and has structural organization.

    15. Consistency7 has some other advantages for the user, as well. A consistent format speeds searching—it sets up expec­tations about where certain kinds of information or elements such as menus, navigation aids, or site maps can be found (Tullis 1988). Consistency, then, should exist not just within individual screens but among all screens in a Web site; there­fore, secondary7 screens should be logically, visually, and structurally derivative of home or primary page

      Consistency also looks a lot better. That's why designers try not to incorporate too many complex design elements on graphics; the amount of fonts are limited to three max (in most cases) and people strive to keep to a coherent color scheme. Having too many different styles creates chaos.

    16. Graphically reveal the relative levels ofimportance among elements or groups ofelements in a display

      Visual elements affect the rhetoric of anything on the website. They way you alter visual elements affects how people perceive things, so things that are altered can be made more or less eye catching/important to people.

    17. Space is a particularly compelling tool for organizing a display because the visual system automati­cally attempts to group elements that are close together. In fact, elements that fall within five degrees of visual angle (an area that can be processed by the eyes in a single fixation, and one that roughly corresponds to an area equivalent to six or seven lines of single spaced type, 12—14 characters long at a viewing distance of about 18 to 20 inches [45.7 to 50.8 cm]) appear to be grouped automati­cally.

      This is typically why people use things like text boxes, charts, margins, etc.; people perceive things that are close to each other as "grouped." For example, on the first column of this page, the image and caption are close together and separated from the body text. there are columns and spaces to separate paragraphs. People use text boxes on visuals (powerpoints, websites) to show that all the words in the boxes go together.

    18. The display problem is not qualitatively differ­ent from that confronted by the designer of a paper docu­ment, but certainly the parameters within which the de­signer of a screen must work may well be narrower simply

      The display size information is largely correct where it describes how it affects viewers. However, to my knowledge, this problem is gradually solving itself through the development of new website design media. Many common websites are using design tools that allow websites to seamlessly adapt to any screen in ways that very little changes will occur, in spite of size. However, the different screens will definitely still have different perceptions of rhetoric.

    19. Good design reveals structure when it visually mimics the logical relationships that exist among elements in a display. The human visual system attempts to find the structure of information—whether in a scene, on a page, or on a screen—very early in its efforts to process it, and it does so by looking for visual patterns. Importantly, the processing that occurs in this first stage of perception—a stage that takes only a few fractions of a second—occurs automatically and in such a way that interpretation of the display is dictated largely by the characteristics of the dis­play itself rather than by the viewer’s prior knowledge or expectations (Bruce and Green 1990; Goldstein 1996; Wade and Swanston 1991).

      In our website design piece, we did our best to utilize logical structure for our mockup. For example, we were asked to potentially fix the navigation. We redid the order of the navigation so, logically, the most important details were listed first.

    20. Blue is an acceptable background color for other rea­sons, as well. First, while only about four percent of the color-sensitive photoreceptors (cones) lining the inside surface of the eye (the retina) are sensitive to short-wave­length light, they are nevertheless distributed farther into the periphery7 (60 degrees) than are those cones sensitive to medium and long wavelengths. The cones we have that can process blue color, consequently', are relatively far apart, making it difficult for the eye to see distracting patterns (to find boundaries, in other words) in a blue background. (Lansdale and Ormerod 1994; Sekuler and Blake 1990; Thorell and Smith 1990)

      This could also be why a lot of social media websites are blue. Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr are very blue.

    21. figure where there isn’t one. Backgrounds, consequently, should be, as far as possible, devoid of pattern or, if esthetic considerations demand that they be patterned, be very7 subtle or muted (Lynch and Horton 1999)

      This is definitely a must. Some pattern "textures" are typically find as long as they don't affect the readability of the page. Photos tend to be busy, but if they're only visible on the extreme margins, they tend to be fine. At the very least, the text box where words are must be a solid color.

    22. f a display must consist of very' small colored elements, however, the detectability and discrim- inability of those elements can be improved to a limited degree by displaying them on a black, rather than white, background. (Thorell and Smith 1990)

      Even if black and white are the highest contrast, they can still strain the eye if the font is too thin. However, they are the safest choice for readability.

    23. pro

      1- Making display elements legible This is a no-brainer. Websites are largely visual rhetoric oriented, with kinetic, audio, etc. elements weaved within. Without legible visuals, they are inaccessible to a large population and what could possibly be its largest audience.

    24. on

      This is another guideline genre piece- this time on troubleshooting display elements on a website for the purpose of making the webpage easier for users to utilize.

    1. The ability to separate structure from presentation is particularly useful in this regard.

      This sentiment contrasts with the message of the Kliever article on fonts in that Kleiver says you can not separate structure (or functionality) from presentation (or design).

    2. Montfort’s point is historical, but screen essentialism also obscures the diversity of contemporary interfaces used by people with disabilities and, increasingly, by all people.

      This idea reminds me of the "internet of things" which is basically that every item in a house will one day be able to connect to the internet.

    3. “Crowdsourcing” is a term coined by Jeff Howe in 2006 to describe online projects that make use of free or extremely inexpensive labor provided by “enthusiasts” around the world who are interested in donating their time to a project that interests them.

      Language translation work is often crowd sourced.

    4. The Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium

      Here's more info about this organization: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Wide_Web_Consortium

    5. In addition to the United States, the list of nations with laws or policies requiring web accessibility includes Australia, Canada, Germany, Israel, India, Italy, Ireland, Japan, Korea, Portugal, and Spain

      It is sad that there are countries that do not have these laws.

    6. Whether in a physical or a digital environment, designers are always making choices about accessibility.

      I disagree with "always". There are still a great many times when disabled people are not thought of when something is designed unfortunately.

    7. We classify some software and hardware tools as “assistive technology”—sometimes the term “adaptive technology” is used instead—because they have been designed specifically to assist those people with “special needs.”

      This reminds me of the idea of being "colorblind" to race brought up in the Williams race article. Maybe not acknowledge disability does more harm than good.

    8. She demonstrated this software for me, and I was surprised by how quickly the words were spoken by the synthesized voice that came from her laptop’s speakers. In fact, I could not understand anything at all that she was doing.

      Last semester I was the official note taker from the office of disability for a classmate with a visual impairment and the speed of the screen reader surprised me too. I guess it is because when you get used to the screen reader voice you naturally want to make it go faster.

    9. It is imperative that digital humanities work take into account the important insights of disability studies in the humanities, an interdisciplinary field that considers disability “not so much a property of bodies as a product of cultural rules about what bodies should be or do,” in the words of Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, a prominent figure in the field (6).

      This reminds me of the idea in rhetoric that we make up how the world is. I do not remember who said this but it is an interesting quote: "the world can always be recreated linguistically"

    10. To do so, we needed to think about the needs of people who are blind, have low vision, or have difficulty navigating because of the clutter that often accumulates on web pages.

      I am currently learning HTML and an interesting thing i have learned is that sometimes you have to code tags that don't necessarily show up on the webpage, so text will get read by text readers for visually disabled people in a way that emphasizes information. Like an italic text that signifies something important like DANGER!

    11. universal design is efficient

      Universal design creates a smooth navigation through a particular process for everyone including the disabled. This could save on time, money, and resources.

    12. First, ensuring that digital resources created with federal funding are accessible is the law in many countries.

      When thinking on a federal level in the U.S., we understand more of why universal design is important when we think of how diverse and tolerant our country is with people of many different walks of life.

    13. Something created to assist a person with a disability—to make their environment more accessible in some way—might not be affordable or aesthetically pleasing even if it is usable and helpful. Something created using universal design principles, on the other hand, is designed “for a very broad definition of user that encourages attractive, marketable products that are more usable by everyone” (Mace).

      Accessibility caters to the specific, while universal design is broad and thinking of people as a whole.

    14. Mace argues for the importance of distinguishing between universal design principles and accessibility principles. To embrace accessibility is to focus design efforts on people who are disabled, ensuring that all barriers have been removed. To embrace universal design, by contrast, is to focus “not specifically on people with disabilities, but all people” (Mace).

      An important concept broken down, it is important to understand the difference in the two. So overall accessibility can be achieved with universal design in mind.

    15. Wendy Chisolm and Matt May write that to embrace universal design principles is to “approach every problem …with the ultimate goal of providing the greatest benefit to the greatest number of people possible” (2).

      But even if you may not ever be able to reach total usability for all, by keeping a universal design in mind, you can get as close as possible.

    16. The term “universal design” was invented by architect Ronald Mace, founder of North Carolina State University’s (NCSU) Center for Universal Design. According to the NCSU College of Design, the term “describe[s] the concept of designing all products and the built environment to be aesthetic and usable to the greatest extent possible by everyone, regardless of their age, ability, or status in life” (“Ronald L. Mace”).

      A designer could create certain aspects of a web page or digital document to assist someone with a physical disability, like blindness or deafness, but it maybe more difficult to help those who lack in the ability of technology or there status of life disallows them to use technology. So a universal design isn't exactly absolute.

    17. In fact, such tools actually do the work of disabling people by preventing them from using digital resources altogether.

      By not including a large number of people because of the disabilities is a disability within itself becomes it prevents them even further.

    18. While professionals working in educational technology and commercial web design have made significant progress in meeting the needs of such users, the humanities scholars creating digital projects all too often fail to take these needs into account. This situation would be much improved if more projects embraced the concept of universal design, the idea that we should always keep the largest possible audience in mind as we make design decisions, ensuring that our final product serves the needs of those with disabilities as well as those without.

      The idea of attempting to reach the largest possible audience is helpful and will probably result in the best designed resource.

    19. What has remained neglected for the most part, however, are the needs of people with disabilities. As a result, many of the otherwise most valuable digital resources are useless for people who are—for example—deaf or hard of hearing, as well as for people who are blind, have low vision, or have difficulty distinguishing particular colors.

      Often times when we think disabilities, we think of extreme cases. But in fact, having to wear glasses or contacts is considered a disability because without aid, it would be very difficult to engage in the majority of activities. This is why it is necessary to understand disabilities and make sure that digital resources caters to everyone's needs.

    20. Digital knowledge tools that assume everyone approaches information with the same abilities and using the same methods risk excluding a large percentage of people.

      In a ever changing, more accepting world, one of the most important aspects is to remember that everyone does not think the same has you or have all of the same abilities as you. When you have a tool that excludes are large population of people, the product isn't very usable at all which is one of the primary end goals.

    1. The author says that consistency is important for design elements. That is something that I found true when making my presentation for the service learning project. Consistency, especially among headers is important for navigating a document.

    2. The header about "Complexity" is interesting, especially where the author says that the eye naturally seeks out the most "informative" areas of a visual display. First that was kind of poetic, and second that is good to have in mind when you want to emphasize a certain section of a webpage.

    3. Tuller- "Visual groupings have a significant effect on the semantic interpretations that users assign to the information" This quote is interesting and it makes me wonder if how groupings are interpreted also has to do with language. For example, in Hebrew you read from right to left so I wonder if that affects how someone that speaks/reads Hebrew would interpret other visual groupings besides text like groupings of images.

    4. When the author talks about chunking is helpful. In my service learning project I had to do a lot of chunking to make sure all the visual elements fit together well.

    5. Interesting when the author points out how blue is good for contrasts because of how our eyes work. It reminds me of the design lore article trying to find out if there is a basis for "good"design principles in science. Also, it makes me wonder if that is why Facebook makes use of so much blue.

    6. I actually used the tip to use a blue background helpful when I had to present for the final workshop draft because I was showing examples from white slides so I had to use another color to show contrast.

    7. The article talks about the use of a white background for text. This is interesting because I read somewhere that text on a screen actually requires more white space than on a physical page to be read as comfortably.

    8. There is a header on the first page that talks about the importance of legibility of text on the web. I just thought that was funny because this document is kind of hard to read.

    1. In its temporal deferral, UD replicates the unrealized futurity of disability itself. As Robert McRuer notes, disability does not designate a subset of humanity but a spectral prospect that haunts everyone: “If we live long enough, disability is the one identity that we all inhabit” (200).[3] In its deferred arrival, UD, like disability, conjures an elusive future.

      Here, we find some similarities with universal design and disability. Neither are predictable and so to foretell the future for either is a task within itself.

    2. One of the authors, Richard H. Godden, considers how particular experience of disability shapes his use of media and also informs his reactions to prescriptive statements about the use of technology; the other author, Jonathan Hsy, writes as a nondisabled ally who considers some of the discursive and practical complications that arise in efforts to make the web more accessible to people with disabilities. We come from different perspectives, yet both of us ask what it means for any community to establish “best practices” for technology use. Even the most well-intentioned universalist discourses risk effacing crucial particularities of embodied experience.

      The fact that they both come from different sides of the spectrum, Godden considering himself disabled and Hsy claiming to be non-disabled, you get to understand the idea as whole better. And the fact that they can agree on some components shows what is truly working and what is problematic.

    3. While we agree UD is an unachievable goal, we would argue that the goal itself is problematic and ultimately inadequate to the continuously evolving situation of not only the inclusion of more and more disabled/extraordinary/eccentric bodies into “normal” society but also the ever-shifting ableness of any body as it moves toward inevitable failure.

      In order to get as close as possible to the ultimate goal of universal design, the problems within the actual idea and the way its defined must first be resolved.

    4. For example, Williams encourages a reciprocity between user and designer, arguing that “by working to meet the needs of disabled people—and by working with disabled people through usability testing—the digital humanities community will also benefit significantly as it rethinks its assumptions about how digital devices could and should work with and for people.”[17] I would suggest that the goals that animate UD should be and will continue to be a powerful principle in DH, but such a design principle needs to accompany, not supplant, the attention to the particular. Recriprocity could mean mutual care, of and for each other, but it should not need to flatten us out into a universal subject in the process.

      This is extremely important when thinking of universal design. The designer would benefit substantially by hearing from different points of views from different types of users. But instead of replacing, it can simply add-on without making any one group stand out.

    5. As someone with a disability, I feel deeply and urgently the need to be less reliant on other people, but sometimes existing technology can be inadequate—it can break down, be unreliable, or may just be a poor substitution for human help (even if I don’t want that help).

      However, if the system malfunctions or is unavailable to them at the time, it could serve as a disadvantage if the proper person isn't around to assist the person with the disability.

    6. This is, in fact, one of the great benefits of assistive technology and UD – by building environments, physical and digital, that provide barrier-free access, then People with Disabilities can function more independently, and with less reliance on other people

      Universal design is beneficial because it allows a person with a disability to be less independent on others who may have to read something aloud to them or take notes on their behalf.

    7. However, I want to suggest that both positions engender a sense of “best practice” that could obscure the specific sociopolitical and embodied orientation of an individual user

      Sometimes universal design can obscure the idea of what is best for an individual user.

    8. As I reflect on that conversation today, I realize that the uneven media functionality of DSDJ presented an awkward social reality for the workshop attendees: much of this Deaf-oriented journal was inaccessible to a hearing majority (i.e., online content was only partially accessible to non-ASL users). As a hearing person who does not know much ASL, I find it intriguing that a commentary section on the topic of audism or “audiocentric privilege” does not provide a link to a PDF that I can read in written English (perhaps one might appear in the future

      A person who does not consider himself to have a disability can find himself unable to comprehend a design rendered to someone who is disabled and vice versa. So what's good for some isn't necessarily what's good in general.

    9. Media theorist Jane Bringold observes that UD is not a discrete goal but a “Utopian ideal” (47).[1] No platform will ever be accessible across every language (spoken, written, signed), every medium, and every embodied difference (sensory, motor, cognitive).

      To parallel universal design to a Utopian mindset allows me to better understand why the idea sounds, but is not a particularly feasible concept.

    10. 1. UD is a myth

      A compelling way to start the argument of the paper. We would like to believe that there is some way to include everyone, but the truth is that somebody would be left out.

  6. techwritingf16.robinwharton.net techwritingf16.robinwharton.net
    1. One participant who abandoned the sorting exercise responded at length inthis vein:You need to spend time with some designers in an office or out in nature.Design just does not work this way. You are attempting to force a hypothesisand its [sic] just not going to work. People will try but this is missing the point.Imagine applying this to a piece of art for example. Art is no different thandesign in fact its the same thing just with a different outcome. You will thensee the absurdity of this process you are trying to force. Visual designcomes[sic] from seeing or rather observing and feeling how a form, colur [sic],texture peaks [sic] your senses and it is then further developed throughrepetative [sic] experimentation. this [sic] process of understanding takesyears to develop and you cannot just formulate rules—there are none. Iwould suggest you personally do something that removes you from theacademic world for a moment and gets you out into the world where youcan use your hands and mind and experience this for yourself. Take a potterycourse or a wood working course, or an elementarygraphic [sic] design course

      The participant who abandoned the experiment expressed themselves much. They raised valid points. And it is possible that the experiment did not work out in uniform as the conducter of the experiment expected. However, results were made and analyzed, and that can be built upon. I agree that design is like art, but there is more free form art than there is free form web design. It is safe to say that this experiment created an

    2. Two respondents specifically distinguished between “guideline” and“rule,” both saying that situation has an impact on how a design principle shouldbe applied. One elaborated by saying that “Principles are contingent general-izations;. . . their application depends on the particulars of a given situation.” Thissuggests that designers believe design principles should not fully determinespecific design decisions, but can provide a systematic way of thinking aboutthose decisions.

      This gives great clarity to the principles of design. As mentioned they are not set in stone, but they are more so put into play and addressed to explore strategies for website design. You should use the principles systematically or strategically. Content for one webpage may be sorted or should be sorted different for another webpage. Discretion should be used as to what principles are important for certain designs, or set ups but foundation is still yet important.

    3. hough a minority, some participants used these questions to express thatthey did not think that design principles are useful or desirable in educationor practice. Most strongly, one design educator said, “You only have to look atsome of the best designs to see that design prescriptions are for fools.” Othersstressed the importance of a good eye. For example, a design educator said, “Itis imperative for designers to trust their eye and design sense over the influ-ences provided by precise measurement, well-meaning computer algorithms and‘hard-n-fast’ rules.”

      Dealing with website design, I too agree with the importance of a "good-eye." A "good eye" helps to distinguish what's appealing and what is not. With a "good eye", balance, structure, color adjustments, reflections, and much more is noticed. However, I take a different approach to this statement as a "good eye" and the precise measurements on can go hand and hand in designing a website.

    4. In addition, I removed one participant from the cluster analysis who sorted allthe cards, but in such a way as to skew the results. With a sharp wit, this participantcreated only two categories: “Byproducts of nuclear decay,” which containedonly one card,radiation; and “What an academic thinks of when he or shemisinterprets design as the synthesis of a set of design principles,” which con-tained all of the remaining cards. I did, however, include this participant’ssurvey responses, as they reflected an attitude toward design that favored artisticsensibility over using more formal methods such as design principles or designresearch. I address this attitude more fully in the conclusion to this article

      This comment alone lets me know that this experiment was very carefully conducted, and that the person conducting the experiment was a very honest person. As mentioned there was a troll in the experiment, who created outliers, skewing the results, due to the way he sorted his cards and his results were eliminated. The fact that his text based responses were reflected on is important as it adds validity/creativity to that part of the experiment.

    5. Specifically, before the exercise I asked some basic questions about partici-pants’current design activities and roles. I also asked—before showing them the38 principles in the exercise, which might bias their responses—what designprinciples they had learned about in their schooling, training, or reading; whatdesign principles they use in practice; and how they would define what a designprinciple is. I worded these questionsto allow a participant to respond that heor she does not know about or has not used design principles. After the exercisegave participants an opportunity to think about design principles, I asked somequestions about when and how we should use design principles, particularlyin relation to the empirical methods of design research.In introducing these survey questions, I asked participants to focus specificallyon visual design principles. All of the questions asked for text responses exceptfor the first pre-survey question, which gave several options of positions fromwhich to choose. I did not require responses to any question except question 1.

      As stated previously it is impossible to eliminate all bias when conducting an experiment. However, these questions may have created bias, they also added validity, uniqueness, and credibility to the experiment.

    6. If I had used a traditional face-to-face card sorting exercise, however, thenumber of participants would be lower, and they would be less likely to be part ofthe group I wished to study: designers, design educators, and design students.Also, because I have authored a book on document design that includes designprinciples, drawing from my local population might give biased results becausemy colleagues and students have read my book. I also hoped that the surveyquestions would give some qualitative feedback to substitute for the talk-aloudprotocol. Finally, given the exploratory nature of my study, it seemed reasonableto use this online tool to gather information from a broader pool

      I too agree. The anonymous approach is usually always best when eliminating bias, and creating greater variation.

    7. The primary advantage of this online approach was quick and efficient accessto participants. However, there were two disadvantages. First, in a face-to-facecard sorting exercise, the researcher often observes the participant as he or shesorts the cards and uses the talk-aloud protocol to gather further informationabout participants’ thinking during the exercise. Because I would not attend thecard sorting, this kind of observation was not possible. Second, I would havelittle control over who agreed to participate. The possibility for spam is alwayspresent with online media.

      All experiments have disadvantages. However, I believe this was a great approach, as stated it was efficient, it eliminated bias, and provided feedback, as well as offering time to an individual so no one feels rushed, pressured, or influenced in matter.

    8. To expand the reach of my study, I used an onlinecard sorting tool, Optimal Sort (http://www.optimalworkshop.com). Instead ofindex cards, this online tool displays digital shapes that participants can dragand drop on screen to create groups, which they can then label (see Figure 2).This tool also allowed participants to provide feedback through before and aftersurvey questions.

      I too like the idea that the experiment was conducted online. This gives further credit to the research as computer analysis comes into play. This idea also provided feedback that could be useful for the experimenter and the experimentee (person controlling the experiment) with a preliminary and post reference.

    9. Card sorting is typically conducted in one of two ways: closed sort or opensort. In a closed sort, participants sort the cards into predefined categories.In an open sort, participants sort the cards into categories they create themselves.Due to the exploratory nature of my study, I used an open sort so designerscould group the design principles as they saw fit. I also did not require partici-pants to sort all of the cards, but restricted my analysis to those who sorted atleast 75% of the cards

      This further helps us understand how the research was conducted. I too, believe the "open sort" research design was a better idea. The "closed sort" is pre-controlled, and may contradict with the users choice. This gives the individual more autonomy, and also gives greater variation for research.

    10. Having determined which design principles are mentioned most commonlyin literature on design, the next question is, how do these design principlesrelate to one another? Rather than arranging the design principles accordingmy own sensibilities or some separate theory (Ahmed [12], Park [13]), Idecided that it would be more interesting to ask practicing designers, designeducators, and design students how they think these 38 visual principles shouldbe grouped.

      After doing synthetic research, only half of the work was complete. By going outside self, and questioning experts, or experienced workers of website design a qualitative study went into play. Although self observation is important, a second eye or opinion is always suggested/needed.

    11. These results offer some interesting opportunities for reflection. For example,balance, which I have always denigrated to my students as the most vague anddifficult of design principles, actually turns out as the most common, with 27texts (58.7%) listing it. Gestalt itself, despite the very strong influence of thisschool of psychology on two-dimensional design, appeared in only three texts(6.52%), although principles based on the Gestalt laws, includingalignment,proximity,grouping,closure,continuation, andfigure/ground, appeared as wellat a variety of frequencies.

      Noted as well from "Figure 1.Frequencies of principles mentioned by two or more works", the subject of balance seemed to be mentioned in most of the woks researched. I too agree that balance is the most important factor in designing a website, and perhaps it goes into play, and is connected to other ideas mentioned such as (structure, pattern, grouping, and alignment). However, this graph alone sheds so much light on what principles come into play when designing a website. This graph is very informal and useful for those choosing to enhance website design, or even new beginners.

    12. This quantitative review produced a raw list of 198 design principles. Thisnumber might seem discouragingly high except for two outlying works: Leborg[54], which lists 41 principles, 33 of which are unique, and Lidwell et al. [58],which lists 100 principles, 87 of which are unique. Lidwell et al.’s broader focuson “universal principles of design” rather than visual design principles meansthat many of their principles fall outside of the scope of my study. (Some evenstretch the concept of design principle—for example, “uncertainty principle”and “normal distribution.”) If we were to exclude Leborg’s and Lidwell et al.’sunique principles, the list of design principles contracts from 198 to 77—stillhigh, but more reasonable. However, because I included unique principles fromother texts, I retained all of Leborg’s and Lidwell et al.’s principles in the raw list.As might be expected, some of these principles are considerably more commonthan most. Overall, of the 198 principles in the raw list, 160 were mentioned inonly one work. The 198 design principles were listed cumulatively 420 timesin the 46 texts; 61.9% of these listings referred to principles used in at leasttwo works. Despite the large number of unique principles, they were used onlyin 38.1% of texts.

      This is very important in research, as the bigger the size of the study the greater the variation. I can also tell that there were some unique findings, and that great analysis approaches were taken. This experiment is noted to be very profound and useful for other technical communication website designers/ researchers.

    13. This study took the form of two stages: a quantitative literature review thatcatalogued and analyzed visual design principles mentioned in books and web-sites on design; and a card sorting exercise with survey questions (Texas TechUniversity IRB 100407). The first stage investigated what visual design principlespublished experts recommend most often. The second stage asked designers,design educators, and design students what they thought about design principlesand how they thought design principles related to one another.

      These are definitely important questions to ask when improving on a skill. In addition whom you asked these questions to are important. It is important that you ask experts with experience, or someone who has gradual knowledge. These individuals too may care about the subject a bit more than others. However though, questions to the end user may be important. At times experts may know whats best, but end users know what one may want or feel necessary for website design.

    14. So at best, design principles are a kind of lore. Lore is a kind of contingentknowledge based in practice, and as North has argued for composition studies, ithas a value that is often overlooked. However, lore being what it is—anecdotal,implicit, and often idiosyncratic—I think there is good justification to bringresearch to bear on it. Accordingly, in this article I apply empirical techniques tounderstand the lore of design principles more fully.

      Lore seems to be something of extended basic principles for designing websites. Although they are not set in stone, they may be good to note. Bringing awareness to the subject of lore is important, and there should be more writings and research done on the subject.