Digital Arts & Multimedia Design Relaunched

Finally, the DArt program took down my 1999 design. Although the new site is clean and organized, the use of Flash and frame has ruined the smooth transitions. Furthermore, the site has fall into the trap of usability problems with not only the integration of Flash menu and HTML contents but also the use of frames.

There are two ways that the site could have been designed efficiently. The easiest way is to create everything in Flash and do it in a modular fashion to maintain the smooth transitions. The pages could have been pulled into Flash with HTML and CSS. The recommended way is to break the site out of frames and use Flash elements appropriately. The menu could have been done easily with CSS to maximized accessibility.

Digital Arts & Multimedia Design program prepares students for various career opportunities but the site fails to cover every aspects of the digital world. Visual design and technical skills are important but usability and accessibility also play a major part of digital and web environment. The DArt program should include these aspects into its curriculum.