English 222: Technical Writing — Practice Task: Web Design

Critiquing University Web Sites

This task will help you improve your web design writing skills. Please do the following:

1. Using a scale of 1-10 where 10 is the best, rank the web sites listed below in each of these four areas:
   • Visual Appeal Web Site
   • Organization of the Web Site
   • Web Site Content
   • Ease of Use
2. Explain the reasons for each of your ratings in these categories.
3. Compare the following university web sites (review the web site connected with your major for each of these):
   • IUP
   • Another State System of Higher Education SSHE university (IUP is part of the SSHE as are Slippery Rock, California, Shippensburg, and 10 other universities)
   • A large public university (like Penn State, Michigan, or Wisconsin)
   • A private university (like CMU, Pittsburg, or Harvard)
   • An international university (like Oxford or Milan)
4. To find the web sites for different universities, try these links:
   • United States University Web Sites
     • Yahoo Listing of U.S. University Web Sites by States
     • University Web Sites in the United States
     • Colleges in the United States
     • U. S. University Web Sites by state location
   • International University Web Sites
     • Yahoo Listing of University Web Sites by Country
     • University Web Sites by geographical locations (includes international universities)