Identify the people most likely to visit your web pages, probably students and faculty, and perhaps visitors unaffiliated with the college.  To understand your audience and their needs, answer these questions:

• What is their age group? What are personality traits of this group?
• What will they expect to find in your web site?  Consider these expectations when deciding upon appropriate content. 
• What type of computer and modem will they use to view your web site?
• How will they use your web pages? What are their information needs?
• How frequently will they visit your web site?

Some web sites are organized with their audience's expectations in mind, with different sections designed specifically for different audience groups.  If your webpages provide resources for separate and distinct audiences, you may consider creating a separate sub-web for each audience, linking common pages within the sub-webs.

Your Website
_______|________
|                         |
Student Subweb        Faculty Subweb
 

Many students access GCC's network from home via modem using low-end computers and slower modems.  This equipment makes it difficult, if not impossible, for them to view graphics.  Some accommodations for this are:

• judicious use of graphics, or an all-text alternative page,
• use alt text tags for all graphics,
• place menus and tables on the right so they appear after the page content loads.