MAJOR RESEARCH/CREATIVE ACTIVITY SAMPLE #4
"Campaign ď96; a web gallery," interactive web site showcasing work of JOUR 410 Photojournalism I students (www.cc.ukans.edu/~jschool/viz/410/96.html), Dec. 1996.
This web site is the result of research and development into the creation of a dedicated user interface for online journalism content. I utilized JavaScript, which has since become one of the most important Web technologies, while it was still less than a year old. I created the more than 200 individual files necessary to make the site work. Today, JavaScript has been improved and the same thing can be done with much less work.
The theory driving the development of this site was my belief that the navigation controls and the appearance of contemporary journalism web sites were limited too much by the navigation controls and the appearance of the Web browser. I experimented to develop a web site that would prove that web designers could use the new JavaScript technology to break from the traditional navigation limitations and appearance of web sites.
As you look at this web site, either on the Web or on the enclosed printed screen captures, you can see that the navigation buttons, the location bar, and the status bar of the browser are no longer visible. The window is completely dedicated to the presentation, proving the original appearance theory.
When you enter this site, JavaScript takes over and automatically opens the main presentation window and the smaller thumbnail navigation window. The thumbnail navigation window is automatically "blurred", or placed behind the main window. I placed six dedicated navigation buttons around the page. You can move back and forward, of course. You can jump to the very beginning of the site. You can jump to a page containing all the photographs on the site taken by the photographer of this particular page's photo. When you click the thumbnails button, you "focus" the thumbnails window, bringing it to the front. From there you can quickly scroll through all the images on the site, jumping to any one you choose. When you click the "Exit" button, both the presentation window and the thumbnails window automatically close, returning you to the introduction page and your browser's original window format. These features prove the dedicated interface theory. I had successfully produced a web site that provides its own navigation system, independent of the navigation system of the browser.
Newer versions of JavaScript allow the designer to take over the entire monitor screen. I predict that we will soon see online presentations that look like those we usually only see on CDs„or on TV.
In the three years since I first created this site, some of the major online media outlets have begun using this type of presentation format. For example, msnbc.com has begun using both techniques for its Year in Pictures and Week in Pictures presentations. I have attached screen captures from the 1998 Year in Pictures presentation. You can see how they are now utilizing both of these theories.