Client Information Sheet

Welcome!

The Web Development Training Program at SRJC incorporates "hands on" practical classroom experiences into our curriculum. To facilitate this "project based" learning we have developed a program where students work in teams to create Web sites for local non-profit agencies in Sonoma County. This allows students to expand their skills, deal with "real life" situations, and develop an online portfolio.

Non-profit organizations who would not be able to afford a Web site are encouraged to participate in this program. To see examples of projects we have created review the links below.

In order for the experience to be a positive one for both web developers and clients I have outlined your responsibilities below.

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Client Responsibilities
"There's no such thing as a free lunch!"

This advice applies to Web sites as well. It is true we will not be charging you a fee to complete your Web site. However, you will be required to contribute your time, energy, expertise, and provide us with all of the site content. Here is what we need from you.

A contact person who can be reached by phone or email during the 16 week semester. This person must be literate with email and the web.

Someone who will attend 5-6 meetings with students. These meetings will be 1-2 hours long and can be held at your place of business, or at SRJC. If you work from your home we ask that you meet with the students in a public place or the JC. We encourage you to set aside time for either day or evening meetings since many of our students work full time and may not be available during the day. In addition to the meetings, you may need to spend time gathering data, meeting with co-workers to explain the project, and answering student's questions.

We also expect clients to attend the presentation to the community at the end of the semester. In addition if the client is satisfied with the project they need to write letters of recommendation for the students. Finally some organization provide an acknowledement to our Web Development Program.

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Tentative Meeting Schedule
A tentative schedule and description of the meetings is listed below

Meeting Fall Client Dates Spring Client Dates
Preliminary early Sept. last 2 weeks of January
Content late Sept. end of February
Template Approval - (optional) mid Oct. early March
Web Proposal late Oct. mid March
Testing Site late Nov. mid April
Web site Delivery mid Dec. mid May

Preliminary Meeting
During this meeting you will be asked to define your target audience, determine 3-5 goals for the site, provide an outline of the Web site content, and select a template for the style of your site.

This meeting will also be a time begin to get to know the students, set up the 4 remaining meetings and exchange contact information.

Optional - Locate 2-3 other sites you feel are well done and share your evaluations of these sites with the students.

Content Meeting
Client will provide web developers with 80-100% of the content which needs to be included in the site. Students can create the web pages, link them together, include photos and incorporate you logo into the Web site. They CANNOT create the content for you. The best Web sites we have produced were done for organizations that already had a great deal of content in digital form and were able to clearly articulate their needs.

Whenever possible the information needs to be in digital form saved on a floppy disc. We can scan in text, but it is more time consuming. No hand written content please. Pictures will add a tremendous amount to the look and feel of your site. Whenever possible provide us with digitized images. We can scan in photos, negative, or slides. We do not take photographs, and will not sort thru a large collection of pictures. You need to provide students with the specific images which will be displayed on the site.

If you have forms which you would like to display on the web we can replicate the contents as a web page which can be sent electronically, or printed and mailed or faxed to you.

At this time you must provide students with information about the ISP where your Web site will be stored after the class ends. SRJC provides Web accounts for the students which they can use to develop your site, however once the class ends we can no longer store your site and it will need to be moved to a permanent home.

Every semester one of our greatest challenges is getting the content from our clients. Because of the numerous deadlines required in the course we cannot continue to work with you if most of the data is not provided to students during this meeting. We encourage you to consider signing up as a client for the following semester if you feel you cannot meet this deadline.

Template Approval (optional)
Students will present you with mock ups for the opening screen, and the other types of pages required for your site. At this stage these mock ups may be hand drawn and will certainly be incomplete. The meeting may not take longer than 30 minutes. Some groups may not feel the need to meet because the look and feel of the site have already been discussed in great depth.

Web Proposal Meeting
Students will provide you with a web project proposal which contains the following elements:

  • Description of your target market
  • Goals for the site
  • List of Deliverables - This is a detailed description of exactly what the site will include. The pages, graphics, links, and forms which will appear on your Web site will be listed.
  • Storyboard - a flowchart that indicates the site elements and describes site navigation
  • Mock up of opening screen
  • Mock up of sample page
  • Maintenance plan for site
  • Contract - this will require your signature

As you review this proposal you are encouraged to suggest changes, correct misconceptions, and ask for clarification. Our goal is to satisfy the client. Once you sign off on the proposal and mock ups it will be extremely difficult to make major changes in the content or design of the site. So... if you don't like something - discuss it during this meeting.

At this time all of the information which needs to be included in the Web site must be delivered to the students. We cannot guarantee that the content provided after this meeting will be included.

Website Testing /Marketing Meeting
At this time the student developers will present you with a partially completed Web site. This is when you can begin to "click around" and see what the site feels like. You are encouraged to be honest and direct in pointing out elements which you do not like. You cannot substantially change the content or design of the site. If you agreed on green buttons and the designer made buttons which are to big or the wrong shade of green - let them know. If you have a "great idea" about a new section you could add to the website that is beyond what students can accomplish at this time.

If you would like to have assistance in registering, marketing and tracking hits at your site - discuss these issues at this meeting.

Delivering the Web site Meeting
At this time the students will provide you with a finished Web site. You will need to indicate if you want this on floppy disc, zip (you provide zip disc), or loaded onto the web for you. At this time the person who will be maintaining the site will need to sit down with the students and discuss how the site was created and review the files.

We also encourage clients to provide students with letters of reference. Most clients are extremely grateful and appreciative of the student's efforts, they may get so caught up in using their brand new Web site that they forget to write the letter. By delivering them at the final meeting we avoid this problem.

There will be no charge for the services provided by Student developers, however the students may request letters of reference, credit on the web pages, and the use of this site as part of their online portfolio.

After reviewing this information you will also want to review these 2 additional documents

Client Checklist
Client Overview
Client Pitfalls (and how to avoid them)


Content for these teaching materials were developed by Linda Hemenway. If you have questions or comments on the material I can be contacted through
lhemenway@santarosa.edu
(707) 527-4855

Web site design by Jessica Hirsch - jessicahirsch@email.msn.com

Funding for these notes provided by Project FIVE and Project PICTS supervised by Doug Garrison - Dean of the Petaluma Center.

This course is a core requirement for several Web Development Certificates. Learn more at the Web Certification site.

The CIS Department offers courses in the following areas: computer basics, applications, graphics, web development, productivity, networking and programming. Visit the CIS Web site.
 
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