Website Structure Conventions

All professional websites will follow the same basic conventions. At their purest form it boils down to:

• A Logo / Header section
• Well defined navigation
• Content, using a mix of text and multimedia
• A footer section

It's important to note that these are not part of good User Interface design, you can have all these elements and still have a very bad user interface. These are the core structures that any website needs to have in order to function fully as a website.

You can see these conventions in place on the BBC news website:

Header Section:
Typically the logo will be situated on the left, in this case BBC News. There may also be a graphic, as you can see on the right in the form of the signifier of the red atlas with the white circles. I feel this works well, as all the most important information and links are placed at the top, along with a Search Form. It makes it easily accessible.

Navigation: 
There are 2 typical types of website navigation. In this case, they have gone for a horizontal format as opposed to a vertical list style element. Horizontal can be used on websites where horizontal space is available, as depending on how many links are required, it can appear cramped if there are too many elements.

Content:
As this is a News website I am using as an example, the content will differ compared to a TV Channel based site. However the principles are the same: Text, graphics and other multimedia must be used in balance with one another. Too much text is daunting and hard to read, especially on a screen, whereas too many images can mean either long load times, poor search engine optimisation and makes it difficult for the ever expanding mobile browsing market. Too many graphics can also mean that explanatory text and meaning is lost in a sensory overload, leaving the user confused or frustrated. 


You can see more intricate conventions on this website here: http://netaccountant.net/website-design-for-accountants/web-design-conventions/ as well as further deconstructions.

Course Criteria

My media task combines the following two types of media:

• Print
• Web Based

Within these categories of media, certain criteria must be met by myself in order to achieve a successful grade.

Print Media

• Using IT appropriately.
• Showing understanding of conventions of layout and page design.
• Showing awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text size.
• Accurate use of language and register.
• Framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate.
• Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate.
• Shooting material appropriate to the task set.
• selecting mise-en-scéne including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting
• Manipulating photographs as appropriate to the context for presentation, including within text, within particular IT programmes, cropping and resizing.

Web Based Media

• Combining some or all of images, text, sound and video as appropriate for the task set.
•  Using ICT effectively to facilitate the combination of such material.
• Producing material so that it communcates clearly to the "reader".
• Using the conventions of web publishing to enable the "reader" to navigate the material appropriately.

There are also criteria that must be met for the Evaluation of this course:

Evaluative Criteria:

• There is excellent understanding of the forums and conventions used in the productions.
• There is excellent understanding of the role and use of new media in various stages of the production.
• There is excellent understanding of the combination of main product and ancillary texts.
• There is excellent understanding of the significance of audience feedback.
• There is exellent skill in the choice of form in which to present the evaluation.
• There is excellent ability to communicate.
• There is excellent use of digital technology or ICT in the evaluation.

Initial Market Research

In order to present a well informed pitch of my ideas for a TV Channel website, I needed to gain some quantitative data about what the audience will expect from any new website. I did this using an online survey with a simple single question:

What do you feel is important in a TV Channel Website?

This was posted on Social Media websites such as Facebook and conventional methods such as Forums. The results I gathered are what I feel are reflective of the changing way people are using the internet: Expecting good quality content and the ability to share it.

The results break down as follows:

Blue - Quality of Content
Green - Quantity of Content
Red - Design of the Website
Yellow - Ability to share content 

The link to the survey is here: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFQ2NHFvdUlZMmYzS0ZLenVFdFNKN0E6MQ

Pitch Presentation

Here is the video of the pitch I presented to an audience on my initial ideas for the practical production and the two accompanying tasks:

The other option

The other option I've been considering, and am infact swinging towards is the Design a Website for a TV Channel. This is due to my experience in the world of Web Development, of which I do freelance in my spare time away from education.

This task involves:

• A Web Page with original content and minimum of 3 linked pages
• An animated Ident to accompany that would be used on the channel
• A double page spread of TV listings
• A full page newspaper advertisement.

Of these the ones I am looking at are all bar the double page spread of TV Listings.

The reasons for this and not the Short Film task I outlined below, is that I have done film under this course last year and in years prior to AS. I feel it would be good to expand my horizons in a field that I am also confident in as well as encompassing animation, in the form of the Ident.

Soon I will be pitching my initial ideas to an audience, which will be posted here and give greater insight into my ideas.