Santa Susana High School

Creation of Web Pages for Santa Sus Languages

Aidan Chisum
English 12 CP
Mr. White

My project stems from a combination of two of my passions: learning new languages and
web design. The fact that humans have been around on the same planet for so long and still have
such unique and individual cultures and methods of communication is fascinating and mindboggling at the same time, and both spoken languages and the internet are both fantastic tools for
said communication. In addition, my project, bridging two different manners of interpersonal
communication, will allow me to certify in internet development and world languages and
cultures.
For my project, I will be developing web pages for the world languages taught at Santa
SuFrench, Spanish, and German. I hope to make pages that are up to snuff with modern design
techniques and aesthetics, as well as being informative and persuasive to potential students of
each of the languages. The pages will be made with the intention of being responsive, meaning
they will work on both personal computers and mobile devices such as phones or tablets. I do
have some previous experience with web design, however I have forgotten the majority of it, as
it was back in my freshman year with a different teacher. Relearning the languages I learned in
those freshman year classes will be a challenging learning experience, as I will be using them
together at a higher level than I ever have before. In addition, this will be my first time designing
a website for responsiveness, presenting another challenge and learning opportunity. In order to
successfully accomplish my task and finish my senior project, I will need to determine what tools
and languages to use to construct the pages, what content to put on the page, how to lay out the
content, and what aesthetic design to use to draw in and keep peoples attention.
As far as coding languages/tools go, the first priority is responsiveness, as it is currently a
standard. The first language one would use is HTML5, the current standard language in web
design. HTML is the language itself, and HTML5 is the set of standards considered up to snuff

and adequate. HTML5 itself makes the process to create an actual valid page much faster and
more efficient, in addition to making it easier. It uses less code and time to link in other
languages as well, such as CSS3 and JavaScript. It does this by allowing simpler slacker
syntax to be considered valid, allowing for the omission of certain semantic details such as
specific upper and lower case letters or certain symbols, such as question marks in a link to a
JavaScript file. It also helps to diversify the tags used, including new tags such as <nav> and
<header>, which allows the coder to better specify the locations of those elements in the code,
meaning that making edits to a large file or to a file made by somebody else will be easier, as you
will be more easily be able to find the part you want to edit (Frain).
A second integral language to web design is CSS3. CSS stands for Cascading Style
Sheets, which are just that. They are sheets that cascade down the code file and are used to
create different design aspects and styles in web pages. CSS was created in order to have code
for the actual aesthetic design of a website be different and separable from the code for the
structure of the website. I provides many different design tools through its use, such as gradients.
Without CSS, gradients would have to be created as images, and image gradients take much
more time for a person to load over a network. CSS gradients are much more flexible, as the
gradient is generated from the code and not loaded from the server (Zahra). CSS has matured
over time into what we have now: CSS3. While CSS3 is not fully ratified yet, the majority of its
new modules are completely functional. One of its great features is the ability to do things such
as making buttons or backgrounds for links without using any images. The lack of image use is
important as, like stated earlier, generating the graphic from the code saves on loading time, as
the less the client has to get from the server the less the client has to load over the internet
(Frain).

The next issue is what content to put on the page and how to organize it. The page will
need to be organized in such a way that the site visitors attention is captured and held. It is also
important that it be able to convey information about the subject in a persuasive, convincing, and
informative manner. The content must be related to the subject of the page, and must be relevant
to the interests of the viewer. The pages are being created with the purpose of bringing in new
students to Santa Susana High Schools world languages program, so the information held on the
page will need to be specifically targeted towards persuading and enticing potential students or
parents of potential students. With that in mind, it makes sense to include a section about the
classes presented. Keeping in mind that Santa Su holds classes for multiple world languages and
any new students will have to decide on one, it also seems reasonable to include a section about
the language that the page covers. This section would hopefully provide an insight into the
practical applications of the language and help a potential student to make a decision as to which
they would like to pursue. As the previous two sections are not enough content to hold a visitors
attention, It would be prudent to include one more section. Given the informative nature of the
two aforementioned sections, making the next section more geared towards entertainment while
still providing information would be a good choice in order to keep the attention of the reader.
Therefore, there will be a section on what countries around the world speak each of the pages
languages.
The layout and presentation of the information and content in and of itself is a whole
different beast altogether, however. First, we must ensure the content is not monotonous.
Monotony can be fatal to a page, as it reduces or altogether eliminates the readers interest in the
content of the page. We want a page of at least the third generation, not just with text ranging
from one side of the page to the next, but with text in carefully decided locations and

interspersed relevant images to keep the visitors attention (Hassan). In addition, the text will
need to be scannable, meaning that the text is not so dense that the visitor cannot just skim
through it and pick out the main ideas or important points. Non-skimmable, dense text will easily
and quickly turn off a reader without a huge amount of interest, as it is boring (Nielson).
The final aspect of the website that requires attention is the overall aesthetic design.
Aesthetic design can make or break a website, and major component of the aesthetic design of
web pages is color choice. Color choice will determine how easy or hard a website will be on the
visitors eyes, as well as how readable text will be and how easy to find the information that the
visitor is looking for will be. A glaring or obnoxious color choice can result in readers having to
strain their eyes, which is never a good thing. You never want your visitors to have to be in pain
in order to have access to your site. A good color choice, however, can captivate readers
attention and keep it, ensuring that the act of looking at your website is something they enjoy. In
order to create a visually interesting color scheme, one can utilize both warm and cold colors, as
they ensure that the colors will create a contrast with each other (Mills).
Aesthetic design is more than just color selection, though. It also includes the way in
which the content on the page will be laid out aesthetically. There are many different designs,
ranging from compact and dense to possessing large amounts of white space for contrast. One
such design that has been gaining traction lately for both its visual aesthetic and usability
advantages is minimalism. Minimalism utilizes flat, solid colors and patterns, a small dedicated
color palette, and a limited number of functionalities. The solid colors allow for contrast between
what is important and what is interactive on the site, helping to reduce errors from the user. The
small or limited color scheme also allows for a greater deal of contrast, drawing attention to
certain elements of the page while refraining from being obnoxious or straining. The limited

functionality again helps to reduce the number of errors from the user, as instead of being able to
react with everything on the page and not knowing what to interact with to achieve their desired
task, they are able to interact with a select few important things, helping them to find their mark
and leave the website satisfied with the experience (Nielson).
With all of this in mind, I now have a decent idea of what I want to accomplish with these
web pages and how I want to accomplish it. I will begin by gathering content for the website
from the teachers of the classes. This will ensure that the information I receive will be relevant
and valuable to potential students of the class, as the teachers of the classes will be the people
who can best describe the classes they teach. I will lay out the content in a manner that is not
cluttered or too dense, so that the reader will be able to scan it easily. Unscannable text might
turn off the reader from the website, preventing them from learning about the language classes
and potentially from learning the languages themselves. Given that the entire purpose is to get
people enroll in Santa Sus world language classes, giving them an opportunity to expand their
opportunities for the future and their worldview, so dense text seems a little counterintuitive. I
will create three sections from the information the teachers give me: One section detailing the
dynamics and goals of the class, one section giving the applications and facets of the language
itself, and one section listing the different countries in which the language is spoken. The first
section detailing the class will contain comments from the teacher/teachers of the classes for that
specific language, ensuring that the content presented is an accurate interpretation of the
classroom experience. The about the language section will help any potential students to make
a decision as to which of the language classes they would like to take based on the different
attributes of languages that they may like or dislike. The list of countries in which the language is

spoken will prove as an extra indicator of where the skill of knowing the language could be
applied, as well as acting as a small source of entertainment.
Along with the text, I will include pictures of the classroom as well as graphics to make
the page more aesthetically pleasing and keep the readers attention. I will be using HTML5,
CSS3, and JavaScript to create the pages. The up-to-date tags and shorter, more concise code for
links and imports are highly enticing from the standpoint of both a user and a designer, as the
designer saves on coding time and the user saves on load time. Ive also decide to utilize a
minimalist design, as It will serve to highlight the important areas of the web page while also
providing a visually pleasant contrast between colors.

Sources Cited
Meyer, Kate. "Nielsen Norman Group." The Characteristics of Minimalism in Web Design. N.p.,
12 July

2015. Web. 29 Oct. 2015.

Frain, Ben. "Responsive web design with HTML5 and CSS3." (2012).
Zahra, Syeda Binish, and Talmeez Hussain. "AN APPROACH OF GRADIENT IN
GRAPHICS: CSS3." European Journal of Computer Science and Information
Technology 2.3 (2014): 10-16.
Hassan, Carina. "On the Effective Use of a Web Page Design. Recommendation Report.
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Laubheiner, Page. "Nielsen Norman Group." Preventing User Errors: Avoiding

Unconscious

Slips. N.p., 23 Aug. 2015. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.

Mills, Christopher. "Colour Theory." W3C. World Wide Web Consortium, 14 Mar. 2014. Web.
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Laubheimer, Page. "Nielsen Norman Group." Preventing User Errors: Avoiding

Conscious

Mistakes. N.p., 7 Sept. 2015. Web. 17 Sept. 2015

Nielsen, Jakob. "Nielsen Norman Group." Top 10 Mistakes in Web Design. N.p., 1 Jan.

2011.

Web. 17 Sept. 2015.

Nielsen, Jakob. "Nielsen Norman Group." Usability 101: Introduction to Usability. N.p., 4
Jan.

2012. Web. 17 Sept. 2015.