Re: New NIU web site

Eric Behr (behr@math.niu.edu)
Wed, 9 Sep 1998 12:53:09 -0500 (CDT)

Durk E. Brownlee:
>[...]
>>Why is "About the new page" so prominent? Who cares?
>[...]
>attract students . . . shouldn't we try to make our page attractive too?

I'm not arguing about the page itself, just about the large link in the
top left.

>Believe it or not, some people prefer to browse without graphics. You're
>site, Eric, would be a dream for this type of surfer. I think that it's a
>good idea to have the sidecars. Besides, without the use of ALT tags, this

Naturally, ALTs are a must, and - believe it or not - I sometimes do
use lynx myself. But I think that having both graphics and the text is
redundant and a bit confusing.

>>I know I'm nitpicking, but let me repeat myself: let the form follow
>>function! The Web is about distributing information, not "presenting"
>
>In my humble opinion, you are wrong. Gophers were about distributing

OK, "primarily about distributing information". I certainly want to see
elegance, I don't want to avoid graphics altogether! But I think that as
it is now the page is a bit flashy and cluttered with no good reason. I
simply prefer the simplicity of - say - the Webmasters home page.

Thanks for the comments.

-- 
Eric Behr         | NIU Mathematical Sciences      | (815) 753 6727
behr@math.niu.edu | http://www.math.niu.edu/~behr/ |  fax: 753 1112