Difference between revisions of "Jtm-pnw-session-low-lit"
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(New page: Maurreen Skowran is a former copy editor at the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer. Last year she moved to Albuquerque, N.M., to help with her family. She realized quickly that there is news ...) |
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| + | =How to plan a site for low-literacy adults? Maureen Skowran (I/AV Room) = | ||
| − | Maurreen Skowran is a former copy editor at the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer. Last year she moved to Albuquerque, N.M., to help with her family. She realized quickly that there is news or media gap in Albuquerque. Low-literacy adults need ways to access the news and important civic information. She believes this is a national issue, and she has proposed a Knight News Challenge project to trial a solution for | + | Maurreen Skowran is a former copy editor at the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer. Last year she moved to Albuquerque, N.M., to help with her family. She's now working part-time at the Albuquerque Journal as a copyeditor. She is working on developing a newsletter for homeless people. She realized quickly that there is news or media gap in Albuquerque. Low-literacy adults need ways to access the news and important civic information. She believes this is a national issue, and she has proposed a Knight News Challenge project to trial a solution for Albuquerque. |
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| + | ==FOUR QUESTIONS FOR THE KNIGHT APPLICATION:== | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Marketing=== | ||
| + | *The name is going to be EZ ABQ | ||
| + | *Propose that legacy media support EQ ABQ's effort to produce a "low-literacy" version | ||
| + | <ul><ul>--They could reach a different audience</ul></ul> | ||
| + | ===What are the steps to get to where you are going=== | ||
| + | *Hire multimedia journalist | ||
| + | *Develop the site -- probably a WordPress | ||
| + | *Connect with funding community in Albuquerque | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===What needs will be fulfilled=== | ||
| + | ===What difference will the project make=== | ||
| + | *One measurement might be able many people wrote in? | ||
Q: What does this have to do with the digital divide? | Q: What does this have to do with the digital divide? | ||
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Q: How would pages look? | Q: How would pages look? | ||
| − | *Skowran: There would be an icon on each page representing the subject matter of a page. Only three to six icons on a page. It might take folks longer to get to the page they want, but they will understand how they got there. | + | *Skowran: There would be an icon on each page representing the subject matter of a page. Only three to six icons on a page. It might take folks longer to get to the page they want, but they will understand how they got there. There's always a home button on every page. |
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| + | Q: What need will this fulfill? | ||
| + | |||
| + | *Skowran: People will be able to get information they weren't able to get before. There ''is'' a national newspaper called News for You, from the New Readers Press, which has some stuff online, that does approach this challenge somewhat. | ||
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| + | Media tends to write about disadvantaged (whether by income or literacy) people, but not for them or about them, Skowran says. A lot of people who are low-literate -- you might not know that. | ||
Revision as of 18:57, 9 January 2010
Contents
How to plan a site for low-literacy adults? Maureen Skowran (I/AV Room)
Maurreen Skowran is a former copy editor at the Raleigh (N.C.) News & Observer. Last year she moved to Albuquerque, N.M., to help with her family. She's now working part-time at the Albuquerque Journal as a copyeditor. She is working on developing a newsletter for homeless people. She realized quickly that there is news or media gap in Albuquerque. Low-literacy adults need ways to access the news and important civic information. She believes this is a national issue, and she has proposed a Knight News Challenge project to trial a solution for Albuquerque.
FOUR QUESTIONS FOR THE KNIGHT APPLICATION:
Marketing
- The name is going to be EZ ABQ
- Propose that legacy media support EQ ABQ's effort to produce a "low-literacy" version
- --They could reach a different audience
What are the steps to get to where you are going
- Hire multimedia journalist
- Develop the site -- probably a WordPress
- Connect with funding community in Albuquerque
What needs will be fulfilled
What difference will the project make
- One measurement might be able many people wrote in?
Q: What does this have to do with the digital divide?
- Skowran: People on the lower level of the economic spectrum -- physical access via libraries at work or elsewhere -- so there is physical access to the Internet. But for low-literacy adults, it is more overwhelming. A lot of sites are fairly complex and there is also document complexity. Newspapers are easier to read than websites, because websites have complex taxonomy.
Skowran cites Jacob Nielsen and his work on web usability. He has studied low-literacy adult usability issues to some degree. Low-literacy adults have to plow through one word at a time.
Q: How would pages look?
- Skowran: There would be an icon on each page representing the subject matter of a page. Only three to six icons on a page. It might take folks longer to get to the page they want, but they will understand how they got there. There's always a home button on every page.
Q: What need will this fulfill?
- Skowran: People will be able to get information they weren't able to get before. There is a national newspaper called News for You, from the New Readers Press, which has some stuff online, that does approach this challenge somewhat.
Media tends to write about disadvantaged (whether by income or literacy) people, but not for them or about them, Skowran says. A lot of people who are low-literate -- you might not know that.
