Achieving my goals

Throughout the semester my goals are to learn about new techniques and approaches to web design and practical knowledge of graphic tools. I think this will be accomplished in several ways throughout the semester. By going back to learning the basics of HTML, I can refresh my knowledge of the foundation of the structured language. I think it is beneficial to revisit how text and HTML editors transform the HTML which is created.

I am looking forward this semester to learning about Photoshop and other graphic design tools. I can modify images and perform basic functions in these programs, but I am hoping to learn how to create images that are creative yet practical to be used in the technical writing field.

When we begin our group projects, I am looking forward to gathering new ideas about web design. I think it is always best to work in a team on a project to gather the best way to approach a task and to gather creative insight on the design of the end result.

I will accomplish my goals of learning more about graphic programs and approaches to web design by learning how to complete one new task in a graphic program and being open to new ideas about web design.

What I hope to learn

In this class I want to learn new techniques and gather a fresh approach to web design. I have been writing online policies and documentation for five years for the company that I work for and I would like to gather some insight. I think it is important to learn tools used in web development and I would like to learn more about graphic and web page design. I am comfortable in Dreamweaver and I understand HTML, but I would like to learn more about common tasks performed in graphical programs that would be appropriate use for technical communication documentation.

As it is important to learn new software to keep up with technology, I would also like to discuss JavaScript, ASP, and other web-based technologies and how these affect technical communicators today. I think that we are heading towards more online documentation and less paper documentation for the future, so I think it is important to discuss how current web sites are being developed and what technical communicators can learn from this.

At the end of the semester, I hope that I have gathered a better understanding of the current tools, technology, and trends in web design and how technical communicators use these ideas.

Online Documentation

I have had several years of experience with online documentation, including the following: Software Experience: - Dreamweaver MX – consider myself an advanced user of this tool, use to organize, setup and create web pages and contain the site- Fireworks MX - consider myself an intermediate user of this tool; use create images for web sites; including manipulating screen shots, creating diagrams or images used for documentation- Adobe Acrobat – consider myself an advanced user of this tool; used to publish documents created in MS Word without converting to HTMLSkills: - Advanced user of HTML – with my undergraduate internship and five years of technical writing experience I have grasped the basic and advanced concepts- Intermediate user of JavaScript – Have taken courses and understand the fundamentals of JS code- Beginning user of ASP – Beginning to use include files and VBScript and understand Active Server pages and how technical writers can use these technologiesWriting: - Understand how to organize information for online documentation
- Understand how to group related information and hide/show information for multiple audiences

In addition to my above experience, I hope to learn more about design elements for web sites. I also hope to learn additional features about HTML, JavaScript, ASP, and other web-based technologies.