The reason I haven't been very active....

Pelagrin

Pelagrin

Member
I started a new job at the beginning of the summer and it's kept me from visiting CGAlliance as often as I used to. I'm actually working at the same place, but now I'm the web designer. Unfortunately i'm somewhat limited with what I can do at the moment because I have to use a specific program for creating the web pages and I'm limited to writing everything strictly in HTML at the moment. Fortunately I am able to have some freedom with the graphics and it's given me an opportunity to finally lean Photoshop.

Anyway, I would appreciate getting some opinions of my work. There are a few things I'd like to change (the width of the page for one thing), but like I said, I'm somewhat limited with what I can do. With that in mind, please take a look at the site at your leisure and let me know what you think.

http://www.granitecityschools.org

Thanks!
 
Just fyi, the program I'm using is essentially a web portal program built for school districts (school center) that lets me type html into the blocks. There are some dynamic features built into it such as the calendar, polls, weather, etc. Fortunately the next release is supposed to support flash, so that should help out some. (i just have to learn flash before September)
 
Looks real good for a first site.

My only complaint is the footer (and it is one of the nitpicking type of complaints so it is nothing that breaks or hinders your users from using the site more of a personal thing on my part).  That would be your disclaimer, copyright notice and counter.  They are centered across the left and right pane.  I think it would look better centered in the right pane or seperated like your header graphic is where it extends the width of both the left and right pane.  That way it would flow better as you moved from your centered Announcements, Message, Calendar, Polls and Weather to your footer.

Since this is a district school resource site.  I would also take a look into accesability issues.  For instance some of your text is using fixed font sizes that won't allow a user to resize the text.  You may also want to check how your site works with text to speech browsers if you districts happens to have any services for special needs students like deaf, blind or slow learning.

More on Accessibility:
http://www.w3c.org/WAI/
 
Thanks, I'll look into that. I honestly hate the footer too, but I was told I had to have it. I'll have to see if there's something else I can do with it. I'm anxious to see if the fall release of the program fixes some of the annoyances I have with it.

Of course I really hope that my boss will just give me direct web access so I can design every part of my pages instead of being restricted to using templates. I also would love to have the freedom to use something more along the lines of PHP, ASP, or even javascript. There's a lot that I know how to do, I just don't have the freedom to do it.
 
It looks really good, but here's some things I noticed off hand:

you're lacking alternate tags for a number of your images (list at the bottom)

if you kill stylesheets, your disclaimer from the bottom, magically realigns itself to the right side of the page, mid way up.

for such things as screen readers, there's not an anchor to allow skipping of the header/left navigation menu.

The links, they are sometimes a lightblue, sometimes not.  sometimes text is the same light blue.  Sometimes links underline, sometimes they don't.  You need to have a style for your links, that stays fairly constant. While you can have them have different colors, if one link underlines, make them all underline.  Also, the fact that the main section's link color is the same as some non-link text is very disconcerting. Also such things as when I first pull up the parent's page.  I see a bunch of text.  There's nothign saying that these are links.  They're not the same color as the links on the homepage.  They're not underlined.  They're not italicized.  Basicaly, they look like plain text.  I only know they're links if I happen to mouseover them.


Since this is a government website, you are under 508 compliancy issues.  Here's a worksheet to help you with that  http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/508/web.htm


list of images missing alts.
<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">These images are missing ALTs:
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/images/homepage/1539/back_1539_938192718_5.jpg
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/images/homepage/1539/back_1539_741817037_1.jpg
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/images/homepage/1539/back_1539_282933102_3.jpg
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/images/homepage/1539/back_1539_27901570_6.jpg
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/images/homepage/1539/back_1539_381759146_4.jpg
http://banners.wunderground.com/banner/infoboxtr/US/IL/Granite_City.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
[/QUOTE]
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Kidan @ Aug. 10 2004,8:50)]It looks really good, but here's some things I noticed off hand:

you're lacking alternate tags for a number of your images (list at the bottom)

if you kill stylesheets, your disclaimer from the bottom, magically realigns itself to the right side of the page, mid way up.

for such things as screen readers, there's not an anchor to allow skipping of the header/left navigation menu.

The links, they are sometimes a lightblue, sometimes not.  sometimes text is the same light blue.  Sometimes links underline, sometimes they don't.  You need to have a style for your links, that stays fairly constant. While you can have them have different colors, if one link underlines, make them all underline.  Also, the fact that the main section's link color is the same as some non-link text is very disconcerting. Also such things as when I first pull up the parent's page.  I see a bunch of text.  There's nothign saying that these are links.  They're not the same color as the links on the homepage.  They're not underlined.  They're not italicized.  Basicaly, they look like plain text.  I only know they're links if I happen to mouseover them.


Since this is a government website, you are under 508 compliancy issues.  Here's a worksheet to help you with that  http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/508/web.htm


list of images missing alts.
<table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td>Code Sample </td></tr><tr><td id="CODE">These images are missing ALTs:
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/images/homepage/1539/back_1539_938192718_5.jpg
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/images/homepage/1539/back_1539_741817037_1.jpg
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/images/homepage/1539/back_1539_282933102_3.jpg
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/images/homepage/1539/back_1539_27901570_6.jpg
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/images/homepage/1539/back_1539_381759146_4.jpg
http://banners.wunderground.com/banner/infoboxtr/US/IL/Granite_City.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
http://schoolcenter.granitecityschools.org/education/graphics/trans.gif
Click to expand...
[/QUOTE]
yeah, i do need to add the alt tags. As far as the stuff about the stylesheets, i don't have any control over that. I looked at the footer and I don't think I can do anything about it at all.
 
the footer is controlled by the stylesheet telling it where it wants it. That's why when stylesheets are killed, it moves, so if you don't have any control over the stylesheets, those whose browser either forces a stylesheet, or removes them, or doesn't even use them, will get to see your disclaimer off to the side
smile.gif



but think of it this way, between that type of silly behaviour via their stylesheets, as well as the other various 508 issues, this gives you a good arguement why you need direct control over the html, rather than using templates..
biggrin.gif




Anyways, here's a link to the 508 tools, that I use to check this type of stuff (they kill stylesheets, greyscale the page, and check for alt tags) http://www.508compliant.com/tools.htm. Fun things they are
smile.gif
 
The website is a program that has blocks where I can type code, insert pictures, or select from predefined objects. The reason we have it is because it allows the teachers to easily create their own web pages. I don't think I'll ever have direct access to the code for the program, but in the future I might be able to get them to give me root access on another web server. In the meantime I'll just work to do the best with what I have.

With how the footer works, I might be able to force it over using some tables. I'll probably play with it some today.
 
There's nothing wrong with plain old HTML, as long as it's valid. Flash still has a ways to go so far as accessibility goes ;). If anything, I would push for ditching the CMS and not allowing teachers to make their own pages. That's what they pay you for ;). Also, unless the CMS has some approval/work flow controls, it will be harder to keep track of who's accountable for what. Anyway, I'm finding that one of the best ways to get what you need is to research how it would 1.) Make you more productive or 2.) Save the organization money.

You should see the bohemoth I've inherited. It's a nightmare. Lexington County, SC

All of the pages are over twice as large as they need to be, due to using multiple (deprecated) formatting tags, and tables for layout (!!!!!). Also, they were using FrontPage, which also adds enough folders and files to double the size of the wwwroot folder. And the contractors who were working on it broke every single naming convention (all of which they created) for the site. Right now I'm working on restructuring the directories, cutting out the bloat, and utilizing our license for SQL Server by using a little .NET magic to cut down on the number of pages we need. Oh. I just realized I'm kinda getting away from the topic and rambling. Please forgive me. Right. So where was I? Oh, yes...

Show them why what you want is what you *need*, and why you need it. And also, how much of the site is your work and how much did you inherit?
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (EspressoMachine @ Aug. 11 2004,10:42)]There's nothing wrong with plain old HTML, as long as it's valid. Flash still has a ways to go so far as accessibility goes ;). If anything, I would push for ditching the CMS and not allowing teachers to make their own pages. That's what they pay you for ;). Also, unless the CMS has some approval/work flow controls, it will be harder to keep track of who's accountable for what. Anyway, I'm finding that one of the best ways to get what you need is to research how it would  1.) Make you more productive or 2.) Save the organization money.

You should see the bohemoth I've inherited. It's a nightmare. Lexington County, SC

All of the pages are over twice as large as they need to be, due to using multiple (deprecated) formatting tags, and tables for layout (!!!!!). Also, they were using FrontPage, which also adds enough folders and files to double the size of the wwwroot folder. And the contractors who were working on it broke every single naming convention (all of which they created) for the site. Right now I'm working on restructuring the directories, cutting out the bloat, and utilizing our license for SQL Server by using a little .NET magic to cut down on the number of pages we need. Oh. I just realized I'm kinda getting away from the topic and rambling. Please forgive me. Right. So where was I? Oh, yes...

Show them why what you want is what you *need*, and why you need it. And also, how much of the site is your work and how much did you inherit?
Click to expand...
I had to start pretty much from scratch.  The old site as sloppy, ugly, and disorganized.  As for ditching the school center program, that unfortunately isn't an option.  I have freedom to design things how I want to a point.  I'm pretty much limited with what the program can do.

School Center is written 100% in PHP &amp; MySQL.  I actually spent several months last year developing a content management system similar to it using PHP &amp; MySQL, but my boss decided that he'd rather get this program instead.  (which is actually for the best because they are years ahead of the point I was at).

This program isn't too bad though because it allowed me to create the websites for the district, HR, Technology, High School, 2 Middle Schools, and 7 Elementary Schools in a couple days.  After that I've just been tweaking things, playing with graphics, and adding/modifying content.

As for the reason they want the teachers to be able to create pages, it eliminates the need for me to create and manage thousands of pages. They teachers will easily be able to manage the pages for their classrooms and all I'll have to do for them is to just provide training and support.  Meanwhile I'll have to update information on the district and school sites including maintaining information on the Sports sites.

Thanks for the critiques on the pages too.  I played with the footer some and I think it looks better now.
 
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