Middle School Language Arts

I stumbled-upon one of the foremost experts in the field of web design and usability in searching the topic “digital divide.”  Dr. Jakob Nielsen’s main site  http://www.useit.com/ contains a complete education in best practices of web design.  And, here’s the bonus:  the man puts into practice what he preaches.  Everything I have read, so far anyway, has been written in a way that is both easy to navigate and understand.  Who knew that such complex concepts could be clear and accessible to the average (that is to say “less than fully-fledged computer nerd”) reader?  In the article “Digital Divide: The Three Stages,” Nielsen identifies “economic,” “usability,” and “empowerment” as the three main components of the digital divide.  He believes that the economic portion will largely disappear within the next five years as computer prices continue to drop to increasingly affordable levels.  He advocates solutions to usability issues by proposing that certain types of web pages, such as government and health information for example, be written at  lower literacy levels (incidentally better-satisfying the needs of other users with high-level literacy skills…a fundamental quality of universal design.)  Finally, Nielsen asserts that the one potentially insurmountable issue is the “empowerment divide.”  For instance, only about 10 percent of internet users are active contributors on the web and only 1 percent contribute regularly, rather than sporadically.  Most internet users also lack the search skills to find the information best suited to their needs.  Most people will allow themselves to be herded around the internet like sheep “by their computer vendor or ISP.”  In my opinion, good teachers with an awareness of this last component of the digital divide are our best hope of bridging it.