Public Issue Web Sites
For this assignment, you will create a web site based off of the research and much of the writing you have done for the Public Issue Essay. You will want to target your web site to a specific audience or audiences. "Anyone who is on the Web" is too broad for an audience. As we'll discuss in class, although web sites may be accessible to anyone with an Internet connection some sites appeal more to certain demographics than others.
Each individual should plan on designing and creating at least five pages (most people end up with way more than that) linked in whatever fashion you choose. Each page will need to have at least one image on it, and you will want to design your site so that the visual and verbal elements work together to achieve your rhetorical purpose for your audience(s).
How to build your ethos as an expert on the issue is also an important issue to consider. You want people to know that your site is full of reliable, well-researched information. You do not see many Works Cited or References pages on Web Sites. You may have one if you wish, but it might be better to work your citations into the web site more fully--naming sources in-text or providing the actual external link to the source, etc. Everyone's site shuold include some external links.
We will go over the basics of using Dreamweaver to create web pages over the next two weeks. I have also created a website for you to reference as you work: Basic Instructions for Dreamweaver.
___Main Page (index) clearly sets out purpose for the web site and identifies the person who created the site.
___Main Page is also well-organized and tailored to the specific audience(s) for the site.
___Links (both internal and external) are clearly identified and place appropriately on the pages.
___All claims and statements are supported with sufficient evidence (both visual and verbal).
___Visual graphics complement the rhetorical purpose of the pages and are positioned in a balanced relation to the text (not too big, too small; not too many, too few).
___The font (color, size, and style) fits the rhetorical purpose of the page and is easy to read.
___The backgrounds fit the rhetorical purpose of the page and are easy to read of. [don't forget, white is a color!!]
___The pages exhibit a consistent tone and style that is appropriate to the purpose and intended audience(s) for the site.
___A Works Cited page or References is included for citations of print-based sources. (For web-based sources, simply put the link in the in-text citation.)
___If external links are included (and I suggest you all try to have some), they are clearly labeled so a reader/viewer knows what's an external link and where it will lead.
___Spelling/Punctuation/Grammar conform to Standard English (unless for some reason your page's purpose calls for use of more slang/dialect).