Writing Assignment

Part 1(a): Considering Gruene, New Braunfels (Texas) Website for the ClearMark Awards

About Gruene, New Braunfels, Texas

Gruene is located in the Comal Country, a former German town, in Texas,. This town began as German settlers from Europe arrived in the mid-1840s. Ernst Gruene arrived in New Braunfels and purchased land for producing cotton along the Guadalupe River. The architectural style of Gruene’s homes was early Fachwerd, which is made in of German timber framing. In mid 1970s, the town got registration on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Now the backbone of Gruene’s economy is tourism. Three significant buildings of the town are Gruene Hall, Gruene Cotton Gin, and Gruene Family Home.

The scenario here is that the reader has submitted their website to be evaluated, so they know the above information. I think it is fine to leave it because it demonstrates that you did the research and you learned something about the city. But you need to provide the reader with some more context for how you went about judging their entry. I think it is okay to give them their score up here at the beginning but they would appreciate knowing something about the evaluation process.

Evaluating Gruene’s Official Website Using the ClearMark Awards

Scoring Scale: 5 – Excellent (A+)

Audience Needs

The ”About” and ”History” pages of the official website are the same, and fulfils the needs of a diversified audience.

Style or Voice

The style and voice of the website is easy to understand and has the element of clarity. For example, the following ‘Media’ section of town’s website uses concise words coupled with contact number for accessibility, and a photograph to engage engaging audience.

Structure and Content

The following section from ”Plan Your Visit” is a catchy way of attracting tourism.

Information Design and Navigation

As the figure suggest, the guidelines are easy for viewers to navigate. Information design and navigation features are easy to access and digitally accessible.

Pictures, Graphics and Charts

The “About” section of the website explains the history of the town in video, text, and graphical design form for easy accessibility of the audience .

Evaluation

The evaluation methods has the difficult of empirical investigation due to lack of access to website visits per page, and aggregate number of visits. Although the different aspects of the evaluation suggest that the content on the website seems to have carefully incorporated . This website is A+ quality work, and an example for other local city governments .

Overall

A+ grading of the overall section means that the target audience finds it easy to locate, understand and act according to the available information in entries. The business goal of the website is to attract tourists, which the different sections of websites are managing to achieve successfully. The available content is attractive, and vintage in style. Yes, this website is an example of effective plain writing and information design.

References