IT 111 Week 6 Podcast - Fall 2008

This podcast has some announcements, a book recommendation, and some tips for Chapter 6.

The book pictured to the left, Don't Make Me Think!, is one of my favorite books on web design and usability. There are two copies in the library at NSCC if you want to check it out before you buy it.

I encourage you to get your web site critiques posted to our discussion board sooner rather than later since you also need to review and comment on other critiques. Waiting till the last minute to post and review will make it harder for your fellow classmates.

Listen to the Week 6 Podcast (3:12 minutes long)
Or, if you prefer, read the podcast transcript. PDF

IT 111 Week 5 Podcast - Fall 2008

The screen snapshot to the left is from a free web-based image editing site called Photoshop Express. The Chapter 4 Assignment requires you to edit two photos and if you don't own image editing software, you might want to use this service. I have not used it but I've heard good things about it.

This podcast covers some important topics from Chapter 4 and gives a brief overview of the Chapter 5 Assignment due on November 2. In the podcast, I mention screen reader devices used by the visually impaired when they surf the web and the importance of including the "alt" attribute in your image tags. I hope you'll listen to this screen reader simulation as it reads a web page. It's an enlightening experience. Note: it is a large audio file and will take a few seconds to download.

Listen to the Week 5 Podcast (6:16 minutes long)
Or, if you prefer, read the transcript. PDF

Feel free to leave a comment about the simulation.

IT 111 Week 3 Podcast - Fall 2008

This is a picture of an "EnergyPod" used by staff at Google and other high tech firms for short naps. A recent article in the Seattle PI discussed the role of sleep and naps in creativity and problem solving. The article might convince you to get more sleep!

This podcast describes the work flow I recommend when coding and testing your web page files. You might want to print out the transcript for this podcast to have a written description of the work flow, too. It also discusses my communication style and approach to grading.

Listen to the Week 3 Podcast (6:56 minutes)
Or, if you prefer, read the transcript. PDF.