Layout

The final item I want to touch upon in this brief paper is layout. The rule is simple. If you have to make a mistake with respect to how much information on a screen or page, always err on the side of putting too little. That is, it is far better to have less information than too much. Having a lot of "white space" is appealing to the eye. Other issues relate to how our eyes are used to reading. Material, whether written or graphic, should be scanned from the top left to the bottom right. If you have a display in which something is added to the screen above where the eye is focused, you run the risk of the reader not seeing the addition. This top left to bottom right design rule is simple and effective. I urge you to look at Web sites to see if they conform or go against this rule. If they violate the rule, does this cause you any problems?

Finally, in terms of layout for the Web, you have to decide whether to break large amounts of information into separate screens or to use a scroll bar that the reader must manipulate to see all that you have offered. Both have benefits and drawbacks. Try both.

In this assignment for this week, you must format this text for printing. Use your word processor to do that using fonts that you think work well. In the second part of the assignment, break the text into chunks that could be put on the Web. I do not want you to put it on the Web itself, but just use your Word Processor to create simulated screens. I want you to calculate how much material should be on each screen and break up the text accordingly.