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| It is difficult to explain in this small amount of space what it took to specifically create the overall plan of action and the necessary steps that led to this website. Nonetheless, here are some of the details: Photoshop 5 was used to create the graphics that are found throughout the site. Given the scarcity of Japanese Language capability on computers among students, a successful website had to overcome that problem if all of the students were to benefit. Photoshop allowed us to create the graphics using Japanese. We created more than 1200 unique graphic images for this site. Photoshop is the most sophisitacted design tool available outside of specialty labs like Disney. It takes time to learn and training is necessary, but the leverage gained in using this tool is unmatched when it comes to producing web-enabled graphics, among others. BBEdit 5 was used to create all of the HTML pages in the site. We created more than 30 pages. This number is deceiving becuse it says nothing of the sophistication of those pages. BBEdit facilitates the custom creation of web pages more than any other HTML Editor available. Without BBedit, this web-project would not exist. It saved so much time and enhanced procductivity so much that it can only be put in the "essential" category alongside Photoshop. Javascript is used heavily in making the graphics switch and change, and in most cases this must be coded and de-bugged by the designers themselves. The same is true for the graphic layout of the many individual graphics that comprise the site. No software package can do this independently. As listed in the credits on the home page, Zac Pessin's KSDesignworks (which includes Sebastian Rossi), managed and created the site in conjunction with Yoshiko Maruyama. Maruyama Sensei, Senior Lector of Japanese and in charge of the Intermediate Japanese program, naturally assumed the lead role in tuning the development to fit the curriculum. Furthermore, she contributed directly to the creation of the site and was willing and motivated to learn to use both Photoshop 5 and BBedit 5 having no prior experience, which is no small accomplishment. It is the real beginning of the department working to acquire the know-how to create online resources. Now that we have finished, and certain that we could do it both faster and better the second time around, anyone interested in learning more about how we created our site is welcome to contact us before, during or after creating their own-- there are bound to be lessons we can share which have not been mentioned here. Zac Pessin |