How to Use www.nchsaa.org
Proposal
Create a “How to Use www.nchsaa.org” page for the North Carolina High School Athletic Association Web site. This page will serve as an instructional tool that advises interactors on what content is available on the site, explains how the site is organized and how to best navigate the site.
Audience
Although the NCHSAA.org is often visited by members of its secondary audience the site is tailored to meet the needs of it primary audience.
Purpose of the Web site
The NCHSAA created its first Web site in 1997 as a tool to communicate with its membership. The NCHSAA site currently found at www.nchsaa.org is an informational site that provides its audience with information about NCHSAA events, decisions and other matter relevant to its membership.
Content
The site houses articles and information concerning rules, and regulations for student-athletes, sports teams and member schools. NCHSAA.org contains information about student-athletes eligibility, special programs available for student-athletes and information for high school sports officials. The site also houses season calendars, play-off brackets, and rules and regulations for all sports and guidelines for NCHSAA members.
Organization
Content posted on nchsaa.org is arranged so that interactors seeking specific information can locate what they are looking for in a simple and logical manner. Information related to a specific sport is listed under the link for that sport on the homepage under the “Select a Sport” drop-down.
Information that is non-sports specific is located under “Select a Topic” which is another drop-down located on the homepage. There are also a number of direct links on the homepage to items of interest to all and needs to be accessible to everyone.
Updates
NCHSAA.org is updated daily or as often as is needed. Once new information that needs to be communicated to member schools is available, it is posted to the NCHAA site immediately. When content that is already posted needs to be updated, it is uploaded and a headline is posted on the homepage, pointing out the change to readers.
Demographic Information
NCHSAA.org’s primary and secondary audiences are very diverse ethnically, social economically and academically. The NCHSAA.org audience also varies greatly in age, ranging from younger siblings of high school athletes to grandparents of these same athletes. The NCHSAA site has to be user-friendly to all these demographics.
Challenges
The state of North Carolina’s diverse computer literacy makes it difficult to establish a site that all possible interactors can easily utilize. The NCHSAA has interactors that are very computer savvy and those who are new to the world of the internet. The availability of internet access and what type of access are additional changes in the state of North Carolina. There are still a number of people that do not have broadband access as will as a number of people that have limited internet access. Hence www.nchsaa.org needs to speak to the elementary level internet user as well as the advance level users, without alienating the other. These challenges can be over come by providing clear, detail instructions on what is available on the site and where it can be found.
Competition
There is minimal competition from other Web sites because www.nchsaa.org provides information that specifically targets NCHSAA members. Since the NCHSAA is the only state organization governing public high school athletics in the state it has a monopoly. However there are a number of Web sites that support student-athletes in North Carolina. For example, HighSchoolOT.com, MaxPrep.com and NCPrep.com provide information that differs from the content on NCHSAA but all cover high school athletics in some form or fashion for the state of North Carolina. All of these sites are focused on sports schedules and game results. NFHS.com offers information on a national level. The National Federation of State High School Association’s site provides information on national high school athletic rules and regulations which are relevant to the NCHSAA target audience. The North Carolina Coaches Association (NCCA) and North Carolina Athletic Director’s Association (NCADA) also offer informative content on their Web sites that would be of interest to NC coaches and school administrators, however it will differ from what is available on NCHSAA.org and will not be related to the information found on the NCHSAA site.
How to Use the www.nchsaa.org Page
I plan to create a page on www.nchsaa.org that provides instructions on how to use this Web site and gives an overview of what information is housed on the NCHSAA site.
The “How to Use www.nchsaa.org” page will give visitors insight on how to navigate this Web site and how it is organized. It will explain where different pieces of information can be found throughout the Web site and the easiest way to get straight to the information he or she is seeking. This page will also explain the logic used to organize content on the NCHSAA Web site. If visitors to NCHSAA.org understand the pattern used to post content to the site, they can find what they are looking for much quicker. The “How to Use” page will contain visuals and examples to illustrate how to maneuver the site.
The “How to Use” page will also explain how the site is organized and hence give visitors the knowledge that will allow him or her to go directly to the content they are looking for in the future without having to search through unnecessary layers. NCHSAA.org interactors should find that reviewing this page will teach him or her how to save valuable time when using the NCHSAA site. The purpose of this page is to make the site user-friendly by simply explaining how it works.
Style Guide
The Associated Press Style Guide will be utilized when editing content posted on the NCHSAA.org’s “How to Use www.nchsaa.org”. This style guide was selected because it is one of the most commonly used and hence the diverse audiences that will visit the site will be familiar with the AP style and it will make the majority of the audience more comfortable.
