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Journal 11/4

The articles Accessibility guidelines for UX Designers, and 7 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About Accessibility, shed light on a topic that most people rarely give thought to. The way a website or UI is laid out can make or break how the website/ui is percieved by its vieweres. There are so many considerations that take place when creating a UI. There’s font, color scheme, contrast, accessibility. Each component plays a pivotal role in the users experience.

As stated in both articles, the font has to be at a minimum of 10 points. This is so the user is easily able to read what is being shown. The font should also be legible, and professional (or at least relevant to the topic at hand).

Color scheme and color contrast are vitol, as the wrong color scheme could throw the whole UI off. The author must also take into consideration that their users may have dissabilities regarding color. The contrast ratio should be at least 4.5-1, and graphics should be 3-1 with regards to adjacent colors. This is so that the author is able to easily get information across with no issues for users, regardless of their color difficulties.

Accessibility is something that needs to be carefully considered, and is a must-have if the author wants a smooth running UI. Accessibility umbrellas many terms, such as its layout and design features, as well as other small but noticiable accessories (like if the tab feature is highlighted). If the author wants a successful UI, they must take into consideration. Examples include: forms with clear cut borders and visual indicators for what is interactive.

Design features for UI is something every author needs to consider in order to be at the highest level of their field. Without, users may lack awareness of what is actually available for them, and can cause a lack of interaction with the website in general.

For my modes, I used spactial and linguistic For spatial, I was able to dive deeper into each topic in order to disperse confusion on what was being discussed. For linguistic, I wrote my post in a more formal and summarized form in order to get the information across effectively.

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10/16 journal

tIn the article, Sustaining Critical Literacies in the Digital Information Age: The Rhetoric of Sharing, Prosumerism, and Digital Algorithmic Surveillance. Social media and its usagage/growth were widely talked about. Beginning in 2004 with Friendster, a social medial tool much like Facebook took over. This was what began as the third wave of Prosumerism which is known as the information age. Compared to the previous waves, the information age was set more on doing things yourself, using the tools of the internet to assist and guide you. 

Another topic disscussed in the reading was the idea of a Digital Algorithmic Surveillance, which is basically what cookies are on your computer. Every action you perform on the internet leaves a digital footprint, and that digital footprint gets recognized and picked up by this algorithm. After this happens, you will start to see ads pop that are tailored made to what you were just looking at, or even discussing in person or over the phone/text! 

In the video, the idea of false beliefs was brought up. False beliefs are essentially stretched out truths that get further and further miscontrued by the media. Connecting this to social media, it can turn the world into a dangerous place. If people are not careful they can be easily influenced into believing something that isn’t even true.

In this post, I used visual and spatial. For visual, I used the above gif because I feel it best represents my thoughts when I see something fabricated on the news. For spatial, I used paragraphs to separate each thought.

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10/2 journal

In What is Rhetorical about Digital Rhetoric, the author depicts the convention, explaining the numerous graduate students and full blown professors ready to discuss the topic of Digital Rhetoric. A phrase coined in 1989 by Richard Lanham, Digital Rhetoric has been hotly debated since its debut, and has continued to be questioned to this day.

It wasn’t until 2015 that Digital Rhetoric took over the digital world, as prior to this time, most job descriptions for what is now known as Digital Rhetoric were simply listed as “multimodal composing” or “digital writing/media”. What could be the cause of this is the lack of understanding behind what Digital Rhetoric entails. So what does it entail?

Digital Rhetoric, even by specialists own admission, is extremely difficult to explain in one definitaitve definition. When asked in a cold manner at the start of the interiview, every single student and professor would stutter and have to take a break before even answering. What makes Digital Rhetoric so unique is that it can’t be bubbled up by one idea or one definition. Each person has their own way of using it and explaining it.

For example, several different essays were written by scholrs in Digital Rhetoric studies to get a perspective on how they assessed the topic. A couple of these essays stood out to me personally, those being “Looking Back and Looking Forward: Digital Rhetoric as Evolving Field.”, by Douglas Eyman, and “A Theory of Persuasive Computer Algorithms for Rhetorical Code Studies”, by Estee Beck.

In Looking Back and Looking Forward, Douglas addresses the different types of definitions given for Digital Rhetoric, as well as its evolution in society. What’s unique about this topic is that I believe its the most truthful explaination on what Digital Rhetoric is. It’s never stagnant, and always changing. In A Theory of Persuasive Computer Algorithms, Estee takes a different approach as to what Digital Rhetoric entails. They explain how Digital Rhetoric isn’t just about writing on a digital space, it’s also used in computer science and coding. This is also a great segway into the (CARS) Model of Research Introductions. It establishes a niche (the programming community) and raised a serioius question and counterpoint; programming isn’t just 0s and 1s, it’s persuasive and personal. This stood out to me as I am currently a computer security major and understand that code isn’t just black and white, it’s unique and ambiguous.

Overall, this reading did an excellent job on emphasizing just how broad Digital Rhetoric is, and how it can never be defined or pinpointed into one unique definition.

For my modes, I chose to use Spatial as well as Visual. For Spatial, I felt I could best convey my post by separating each topic into paragraphs. For visual, I decided to always italicize Digital Rhetoric to add emphasis.

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In On Multimodal Composing and Women, Rhetoric, and Politics on Pinterest, the topic of dissucion revolved around different composing places for writing. From emails, a note, tweets, to a job memo; writing is everywhere.

In Multimodal Composing, it discussed the benifits of exchanging topics with others to get multiple outlooks on the topic at hand. This plays a large role in how I write, as I find that my best pieces of writing are typically when I parlay my ideas with a friends after some thoughtful discussion.

In Women, Rhetoric, and Politics on Pinterest, it essentially summarized the benefits of social media and it’s ability to share creative ideas. Ideas such as cooking recipes, a new art project, or even new tattoo ideas. Being able to share creations enables the ability to mix and match different projects and create something unique.

For my modes, I used Visual and Spatial. For Visual, I used the above gif to showcase a typical writing process when done alone. For Spatial, I did separate paragraphs for each different topic.

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9/20 Journal

In the text Multiliteracies for a Digital Age, I was engaged immediately, since technology is a big part of my major. The text notes how computers have become an integral part in all types of education systems. Ranging from loaned laptops, all the way to online classes themselves, the statement by Stuart A. Selber rings true. He also counters this, however, when he discusses the fact that few teachers are truly able to master technology. It's imbalanced, as the need for technology is increasing, yet the amount of educators that can truly understand has stayed stagnant. I hope in the future, proper knowledge of technologoy useage is emphaized to all educators, as technology needed education is rapidy surging.

For my post, I used Linguistic and Visual. For Linguistic, I decided to bring in my personal experience with technology in my major. For Visual, I utilized gifs and italicizing and bolding certain words to create emphasis.

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9/6 JOURNAL

After reading the Care Clinic Journal, I immediately began thinking about the environment I write in. As I’m typing this, I’m laying on my couch with Netflix on (currently watching Bojack Horseman). Would this environment be considered sound and peaceful? By definition it isn’t, but I believe the perfect environment doesn’t exist. It’s all about where the write feels most comfortable. One of my favorite examples that the journal used was the bench and office comparison. The office was neat and organized, however the bench was dishelved and chaotic. In the end both were places of writing, and both had work completed.

In my post, I used the modes linguistic and visual. I used the gif above to describe what typically goes on around me when trying to write. For linguistic, I decided to add a personal anecdote to coorelate with the reading journal.

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Journal 9/4

After reading Spaces for Writing, I instantly thought of an analogy of writing and a game of chess.  Like chess, when writing a paper you need to plan out your every move so that it all comes together. You need to think of every angle and every topic you are going to discuss. This analogy got backed up even more when the topic of facing different challenges took place. It’s true, each writer faces a different challenge with every discussion/paper they develop. These challenges can range from transitions to spacing.

The other discussion that stood out to be was the topic of Visual Literacy. My favorite part about this was the authors integration of their own visual literacy; the mapping out of the steps of writing, the different colors and emphasis on words, and the “discussions” of the individuals on the page. I understand now the importance and impact visual literacy can have on a discussion.

In my post, i used the modes Visual and Spatial. For Visual, I chose the writing gif and chess gif to emphasize the analogy of writing and chess. For Spatial, I separated my topics with gifs to differentiate each topic.

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A little bit about me!

Hi everybody, my name is Spencer Root, I am currently a junior and studying Computer Security. It’s an extremely difficult but rewarding major, as each course and each problem is like its own little puzzle. After graduating, I hope to get a job somewhere in a big city, preferably D.C or New York. Once I settle down and want to start a family I plan on moving to the suburbs just outside of whatever city I end up living in.

Some of my hobbies include: losing too much money at horse racing tracks, trying to break even in any sports gambling game I enjoy watching, and reading (currently binge reading Game of Thrones). I look forward to developing a better writing style, as well as translating it to a more media based society!