PG 16 Exercise #1

When viewing Northern Illinois University website, I found they achieve technical communication skills through their clarity, accessibility, and professional appearance. On the first page there are links to events on campus and links to most visited pages on the website. The page isn’t cluttered with too many tabs and is very simple in creativity. The simplicity helps the professional appearance aspect and doesn’t bombard the viewer. In the center of the page are some students and pictures of the campus. People are very drawn to photos and is a good advertisement opportunity to show off the facility.

As you venture farther into the website, you will see there are tabs that link to other pages. The tabs are very general but are the most visited parts of the site. For any specific questions, the viewer can utilize their search bar. For me websites with search bars are kings of accessibility because I don’t want to go through every page to find what I’m looking for. I want fast access. Along with accessibility, As soon as you type NIU, the schools main website pops up which.

As for clarity, NIU website gets straight the the point and uses simple words. For many international students or non-English speaking people, this could help them better navigate the website. Each page is very well detailed and clear on their points. There is no unnecessary information on the pages.

The NIU website is very professional but seems to have character to it. It is very orientated towards teens and college kids. There are social media links and information on current students.

All together NIU website has effective technical communication skills and entices people to explore it more.

Human Flow reflection

Reflection on Human Flow

The very first scene of this documentary starts with a drone flying over a raft filled with people in an open Sea. To me that was shocking considering how many people were in there and how flimsy the raft looked. Luckily those people where spotted by a humanitarian organization who were on the look out for incoming refugee boats. After getting those people on land, many looked just weak and sick and in no condition to keep going but they did. One of the Helpers said that these refugees were lucky to have gotten to shore because many die in the sea trying to land in Greece. This was truly sad for me because I have heard news reports of thousands of refugees dying in the sea and I guess its different when you actually see footage of the refugees landing. Almost gives you a sense of relief when they touch land but that’s just the beginning of their journey.

 Ai Weiwei documents refugees journey and struggles trying to get to safety. He goes to visit many refugee camps. My initial response to seeing their living conditions was disgusted. No human should have to endure that living condition. I admire the documentary’s stance. It didn’t preach, it didn’t shame, it just simply showed you and let the viewer create their own opinions. Not only did Ai, the director, show the gloom side of everything, he showed the beauty in these refugees. He showed they were still people who cried, sang, danced, and laughed. He never once told anyone they should be ashamed of themselves but rather showed them the lives of the refugees. I commended Ai for that because he wasn’t pushing his propaganda, just simple showed the facts and stories of real people.  I think the worst part of watching was seeing how these countries so easily disregarded human life. This is all a political game to them and they don’t see the refugees as humans but more of a nuisance. In one part of the documentary, some police were burning the tents and forcing the refugees to leave the country. Another thing that interested me was that there a lot more refugees then we think. For instance, I had no idea about the “ethic cleansing” of Rohingya people in Myanmar.  Everyone is focused on Syrian refugees but don’t know about the refugees coming from Africa, Lebanon, and Myanmar. I definitely would recommend this documentary to friends because it teaches you the importance of life and to give thanks to what you have. Ai Weiwei did an amazing job of portraying the seriousness of this crisis and I believe  politicians should watch this.