Since I began this project two weeks ago, Life Skills - Education.com’s website has updated some of the pictures on its site. This indicates that the author is keeping the website current and fresh. Readers will notice this and it will give them a reason to trust the website and the links to articles. Providing assurance of active links (versus dead links) will create a connection between the readers and the web site. Dead links can cause the reader to become annoyed. This is the case with the Life Skills - Utah State Office of Education’s website. In fact, the writer apologizes on the different Bookmarks pages, such as on the Character Bookmark web page: “Note: These bookmarks link to sites outside the Utah State Office of Education. While efforts are made periodically to check the validity and quality of these sites, the Utah State Office of Education claims no responsibility for the content contained on them.” As I was clicking on the different links on the Life Skills - Utah State Office of Education web page, I came across a couple dead links. This can be very frustrating to readers, especially if they are interested in the information that the link promised to provide. When readers discover dead links on a website, it can easily convince them to skip the website altogether and find one that is more up-to-date. Of course having the “warning” helps, but it does not take away the frustration of the reader.

Life Skills - Education.com’s website is packed full of information, especially on the home page. In fact, there is so much information that the reader needs to scroll down 8 times to get to the bottom of the home page. This is compared to Life Skills – Utah State Office of Education’s website where it is not necessary to scroll at all - what you see is the whole web page. Most of Life Skills - Utah State Office of Education’s information is obtained by clicking on the links in the left-hand column or at the bottom of the page. There is still plenty of information (not as much as the other website though), but it is obtained via links from the home page. Life Skills-Education.com has numerous links to choose from on its home page: in the left hand column, articles in the middle of the page, and popular articles and the Activity Finder link in the right hand column. Even though the reader could appreciate all the information on this home page, it could be a little less congested. If the main links, such as “Articles”, “Questions”, and “Related Issues”, were only on this home page, then readers could click on these links and be taken to more information (more hypertext articles) on another web page. Perhaps the writer thought by displaying numerous informational articles and resources on the home page, it would appeal to readers to stay on the website because they would know the site has an abundance of information. There is not enough "white space", and so the website can tend to be very cumbersome and congested, even if the information is helpful.

Life Skills - Education.com also notes on its web page that its featured articles regarding life skills are in line with the same goal as the Life Skills web page, which is to “help prepare your children for independence.“ Life Skills - Utah State Office of Education’s website’s mission statement is on every page of their website: "Provide leadership, vision, and advocacy so that all students have educational opportunities to meet their potential and achieve competency." Since the websites clearly provide their goal and mission, readers will become more engaged in the site. There will be no confusion on the part of the readers, as they will understand the purpose of the information on each site.

Life Skills - Education.com did not have a specific person to contact, even though readers can still send an email to the website author (which is possibly more like a webmaster.) There is still a lot of information on this website that is engaging to readers, such as connecting with the website through Facebook and Twitter or be added to an email distribution list, contributing articles, answering a weekly poll, and answering viewer’s questions, to name a few, even without a specific person to contact for questions or comments. On Life Skills - Utah State Office of Education’s website, readers have a name to specifically email and Alan Griffin is the contact person. His name is located at the bottom of each web page. This could allow readers to become engaged with this website, as they could have personal contact with a specific person.

Another distinction between Life Skills - Education.com and Life Skills - Utah State Office of Education is that the Life Skills-Education.com website features advertisement. Perhaps that is why this site is able to feature so much information; possibly they pay their writers. Readers though will notice that the featured advertisements are in line with the goal of the website – promoting independence of children and equipping parents for the job of parenthood. These ads are then additional educational opportunities for parents.

Life Skills-Education.com’s website has become well known since its inception in 2006. Press Releases announce numerous awards for the site, boasting of four million page views per month (in June 2008.) Through advertisements and media coverage, Life Skills-Education.com’s website now has targeted readers all across the country and possibly even internationally. Life Skills - Utah State Office of Education began in 2007, and its targeted readers are teachers and administrators specifically in Utah. The information though on this site could still be very applicable to teachers and administrators nationwide whose focus is also to teach life skills to students.

Life Skills - Education.com - Click here to read my rhetorical analysis of Life Skills- Education.com.

Life Skills - Utah State Office of Education - Click here to read my rhetorical analysis of the Life Skills - Utah State Office of Education.

Click the mailboxto send me an email. What do you think about the comparison and role of hypertext with these two websites - Life Skills - Utah State Office of Education and Life Skills - Education.com? I would love to hear your thoughts.


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