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Context
Southwest Early College High School, or SECHS, was shut down in June 2020 due to its charter being revoked by the Shelby County Board of Education. Because of this, the website I designed for the school is no longer available for viewing. However, the design strategies I learned in creating the site have been fundamental toward my developing skillset as an editor.
SECHS was the high school I worked at for nearly 2 years. For the first year, I was an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer in the Student Support department. After completing my year of service, I was hired by SECHS to be a leading administrator, the Business Operations Manager. I was attending the University of Memphis while I worked at SECHS, and in the Spring 2019 semester, I took Dr. Lane’s ENGL 6619 Web Design class. As part of my final project for the class, I decided to design a website for the school. Although SECHS had a decent website, I noticed that the information was dated, and there were some sections that were totally blank. With my employer’s permission, I created a website through Weebly that had updated information, functioning hyperlinks, and new images.
This was the first time I had designed a website; as such, I think there were a lot of areas that I could have improved. However, I did my best to utilize the web design principles that I learned in ENGL 6619 while making the website. One principle I needed is called content strategy, which means that I had to align the site’s goals with the content I wrote for it. The principle of content strategy allows for consistent messaging and a strong brand across the site. I used content strategy guidelines to create a site map, a style guide, and a list of key messages, which helped me develop a website that had cohesive and organized pages.
Compared to the school’s original site, I feel that the website I designed was easier to navigate. It had a smoother menu system, with all of the information that both parents and students would be looking for. I also added up-to-date calendars, new hyperlinks, and upcoming events. The biggest strength, in my opinion, was that the images I chose for the pages were far more representative of the school as a whole. The original site was still using pictures from its first year of operation, which I did not think did the school justice, as SECHS had grown significantly since that time.
Lessons Learned & Future Plans
HTML coding was one of the skills that I learned when creating the website. I knew some basic HTML in elementary school thanks to children’s educational games I played online. However, I expanded my knowledge considerably in ENGL 6619. In developing SECHS’s website, I had to use HTML coding to edit certain sections of the site so that they would look exactly how I wanted them to look.
Another skill I learned is how to work with a client. For this particular website, I was familiar with my client because she was my employer. I was able to be somewhat more candid with her regarding the website’s needs and my recommendations for its design. Because my client was the CEO of Artesian Schools (the overseeing nonprofit of SECHS), she was often too busy to discuss the site with me; but, in the interactions I had with her, I gained crucial experience that will help me in future web design endeavors.
Although I am not specifically seeking a career in web design, I learned valuable skills that will help me as I pursue technical editing vocations. I know that having experience in editing a website will be beneficial to my overall portfolio; additionally, I feel that many of the elements of web design translate effectively to other types of editing, such as document design and technical communication. I am especially confident that the knowledge I gained in basic design principles and content strategy will be crucial for me as a professional editor.
