Web Sites

Section 2.12.2

Web Sites

The World Wide Web supports the creation and transmission of an unlimited number of multimedia documents composed of text, graphics, animation, video, and audio. Multimedia Web documents are assembled and reside on computer servers scattered around the globe that can be accessed by anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Web communication is different from hard-copy publication because hypertext and the Web support nonsequential navigation through online documents that are in essence "authored" by readers as they follow one of a potentially unlimited number of pathways through a "document."

Guidelines for Composing Web Documents and Web Sites

Provide a graphical map of your Web site to help your audience conceptualize the organization, extent, and usefulness of information available there.

Limit presentation of information to one screenful whenever possible (unless you are maintaining an online archive of reports originally published in hard copy).

Limit the size of video and audio files to be downloaded (downloading video clips even a few minutes long can be a time-consuming process, turning the World Wide Web into the World Wide Wait).

Follow the general guidelines for graphical representation when creating figures and other static illustrations.

Show the context or reason for a link to another file or part of a file (or to another Web site) so that your audience can decide beforehand if they want to go there.

Vast online archives of scientific and engineering reports are now available over the Web.

## Web Sites ##