Designing a Fun Site

The goal of my current web project is to present a lot of information in a non-threatening way.

To avoid overwhelming people, I'm trying out some interactive page elements – slideshows that scroll sideways and, hopefully, sections that open and close vertically when clicked.

Here's a picture, but you can visit the draft version at http://telr.osu.edu/teachonline/tour.htm to try it.

The slideshow uses a language called JavaScript, which allows clicks on the screen to cause changes in what appears there. (To be more specific, I'm using some special JavaScript libraries called jQuery that includes prebuilt bits of code (also known as functions) to control different parts of the page in different situations.)

My goal with this design is to encourage people to click to the information that interests them and perhaps read other parts that are within easy reach. The less work it is to move through the content, the more likely our audience will be to learn what we're teaching.

I'll keep you posted as this site progresses.