Adirondack Park Website Anne Bailey Fundamentals of Information Technology Spring2010

Purpose of Website The general purpose of this website is to provide visitors with information about the Adirondack Park in New York State. The following information about the Adirondack Park is contained in the website: ▫History of the Adirondack Park ▫Mammals in the Adirondack Park ▫Reptiles in the Adirondack Park ▫Amphibians in the Adirondack Park ▫Birds in the Adirondack Park ▫Native Plants of the Adirondack Park ▫High Peaks in the Adirondack Park ▫Popular Hikes in the Adirondacks ▫Canoe/Kayak Trips in the Adirondacks. ▫Fishing in the Adirondacks. ▫Private Campgrounds in the Adirondacks ▫Public Campgrounds in the Adirondacks.

Targeted Audience The website is targeted towards two primary groups of people. ▫Individuals interested in learning general information about the park, including information about its history and its ecosystem. ▫Individuals interested in participating in outdoor activities in the park that would like to gain information about hikes, canoe/kayak trips, and campsites.

This section describes the structure and features of the website. It also describes what design decisions were made when creating the website.

Navigation Bar The website contains a horizontal navigation bar with submenus on each page. The horizontal navigation bar was created with an online template that uses both CSS and an HTML unnumbered list. A horizontal navigation bar was used because it takes up less space on the page, allowing more room for content. Visitors to the website can easily navigate to the sites pages by hovering their mouse over a main menu item and clicking on the submenu item they want to access.

Website Footer Each page of the website contains a footer on the bottom of the page. The footer contains a link to me, a link to a page with information about me, and the date the website was last modified. The me link opens up a new with my address in the to field. This information was placed on the bottom of the page because that is its typical location on most websites.

Webmaster Page The webmaster page can be accessed by clicking the “Webmaster” link on the bottom of any of the pages. This page contains general information about me and the website. The page contains the following information: ▫My First and Last Name ▫My Date of Birth ▫Location ▫ Address ▫Education The page contains the following information about the website: ▫Program Languages Used ▫Launch Date

History of the Adirondacks Page This page contains an overview of the history of the Adirondack Park, including how the forest preserve was established and how the park was later established. The page contains a link to the Adirondack Park Agency so visitors to the site can get more information about the government agency regulates private land use in the park. The page also contains a general map of the Adirondacks as it exists today. This map was included in order to show visitors what areas in New York are within the Adirondack Park boundary.

Mammals in the Adirondacks Page This page includes an unnumbered list of all of the mammals that live in the Adirondack Park according the Adirondack Ecological Center at SUNY ESF. All of the mammals in the Adirondacks were included in order to make the website comprehensive. An unnumbered list was used in order to group the mammals by their scientific order and family. It was also used because of space constraints. Links were added so visitors can click on the name of the mammal and get more information about the mammal from an external site. The links do not go to the same website because I was unable to find a site that had information about all of the species of mammals.

Reptiles in the Adirondacks This page includes an unnumbered list of all of the reptiles that live in the Adirondack Park according the Adirondack Ecological Center at SUNY ESF. All of the reptiles in the Adirondacks were included in order to make the website comprehensive. An unnumbered list was used in order to group the reptiles by their scientific order and family. It was also used because of space constraints. Links were added so visitors can click on the name of the reptile species to get more information about the reptile from an external site. The links all go to pages on the University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology Animal Diversity Website. This site was chosen because it is a managed by a University that is reputable.

Amphibians in the Adirondacks Page This page includes an unnumbered list of all of the amphibians that live in the Adirondack Park according the Adirondack Ecological Center at SUNY ESF. All of the amphibians in the Adirondacks were included in order to make the website comprehensive. An unnumbered list was used in order to group the amphibians by their scientific order and family. It was also used because of space constraints. Links were added so visitors can click on the name of the amphibians species to get more information about the amphibian from an external site. The links all go to pages on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website. This site was chosen because it is a managed by a University that is reputable.

Birds in the Adirondacks Page This site is broken into two framesets, a top frameset and a bottom frameset. The top frameset includes the navigation bar, header, and links to pages that open up in the bottom frameset. The pages that open up in the bottom frameset include unnumbered lists of birds grouped by ranges in the alphabet. The lists came from the Adirondack Ecological Center at SUNY ESF. Framesets were used so visitors to the site could easily locate birds by the first letter of their name. They were also used due to time constraints Links were included so visitors can click on the name of the amphibians species to get more information about the amphibian from an external site. The links all go to pages on the University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology Animal Diversity Website. This site was chosen because it is a managed by a University that is reputable.

Native Plants Page This page contains a unnumbered list of the native plants in the Adirondacks according to the Adirondack Park Agencies Native Plant List. The plants are grouped by tall deciduous trees, small deciduous trees, evergreen trees, evergreen shrubs, perennials herbaceous, ferns, and vines. The top of the page includes links to each of the groups so people who are visiting the site can easily navigate to the section that interests them. Links were included so visitors can click on the name of the plant species to get more information about the plant from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Plant Database.

Adirondack High Peaks Page This page contains a table with all of the 46 peaks in the Adirondacks. The peaks are listed in the table from highest elevation to lowest. The table includes the name of the high peak, the elevation of the high peak, and the distance to hike the high peak. Links were included so visitors can click on the name of the high peak to get more information about the peak from a hiker that has climbed all 46 peaks. The links include an overview of the trail to the summit of the high peak, directions to the trail head, and suggestions on what is the best time of the year to hike the peak. The links all go to the personal site of a hiker so visitors to the site can learn information about an individuals first hand experience climbing the high peaks. A link to the 46er club’s website was also included for anyone interested in joining the club.

Popular Hikes Page This page includes information about fifteen hikes in the Adirondacks that have views or interesting features. The page only includes information about some of the hikes in the Adirondacks because of space and time constraints. A brief description of each of the trails is provided, including its vertical rise, distance, and the estimated time to complete. Directions to the trailhead of each trail is provided. Some of the directions can be somewhat vague because many of the streets are not marked.

Canoeing/Kayaking Page The canoe and kayaking page is separated into two sections, one that provides information about short trips and one that provides information about long trips. Each section contains a brief description of the canoe/kayak trip, a satellite image of the body of water from Google Maps, and directions to the boat launch site. The section that contains longer trips also includes the distance of the tip and the estimated time it takes to complete the trip.

Fishing in the Adirondacks Page The page includes information about the best places to fish for wilderness brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, lake trout, atlantic salmon, pike, and walleye. The page also includes images of the fish that visitors to the site can use to help identify the fish they see in the Adirondacks. A link to the Department of Environmental Conservation’s fishing regulations is included on the website. This was included so visitors to the site can easily access information about how to obtain a fishing license, when the fishing season starts for each type of fish, and what the size regulations are for keeping a fish of a particular species.

Private Campgrounds Page This site includes a numbered list of fifteen private campsites in the Adirondacks. The website is given for each campsite along with the campsites number and the city where it is located. A table like the public campground site discussed in the next site was not used because most of the private campgrounds have flushed toilets, showers, and picnic areas.

Public Campgrounds Page This page includes a table with all of the Department of Environmental Conservation’s campsites in the Adirondacks. The page does not include campsites that are scheduled to be closed in 2010 due to the budget. Those campsites were not included in order to provide visitors to the site with up to date information about what campsites are available. The table indicates whether the campsite has showers, flush toilets, swimming, a picnic area, or boating. This information is included so visitors to the website can easily identify whether a public campground has the amenities they are looking for without having to look at each campgrounds individual website. The table also includes the current camping fee for the campsite and a link to the DEC website where they can reserve a campsite.