Love Episode Six

Can you imagine that 15 million children under 18 have been orphaned as a result of AIDS? Most African countries are facing a great problem with the arrangement of the orphans. The orphans in African have no choice but live without their parents' love. Fortunately, the AIDS orphans are still the beloved ones. Do you know who offers them help? Let's read the articles about AIDS orphans!

When I was reading the articles on this website, I found the AIDS charity, AVERT very effective in designing their website in three ways. First, they have used a top-down approach in the notion of information architecture. As a reader, I read from the top to the bottom automatically in order to get more details of AIDS orphans. The sequence of details is delivered by using clear subtitles which are coloured in purple. Under each subtitle, there are separate key words which help show the ideas in the coming paragraphs in green. Readers may feel convenient and easy in reading hundreds of words. Remember to read the paragraphs under subtitles "country responses" and "the need for action"!

The second effective mean is actually the use of images. Some relevant photographs are inserted between paragraphs. I think the pictures bring a pleasant perception rather than a sense of sadness or grief. For AIDS orphans, hope and care are important. I felt warm and grateful when I saw the picture with a girl standing with a smile on her face. Apart from images, videos are powerful to convey messages. There is a video clip under the subtitle 'family structures' but the link of the video has been removed. This reminds me of the importance of website maintenance.

Third, I appreciate the design of the interface. The algorithm is well-structured with the main story in the middle. The navigation system is designed on the top and left of the page which is user-friendly. However, the search system is not shown obviously. Maybe it is placed in the middle of left column with very light colour. It could be a good idea to show the search system on top of the page. Overall, this website is a good example of information architecture.

How do you feel after reading the articles? I guess the best way to help AIDS orphans is to offer help by supporting organisations like AVERT and UNICEF. May God bless the orphans!