Part 1: Prepare

I use many different technologies on a day to day basis. Many of the different technologies I use, I use quite proficiently. There are many technologies that I do not know how to use and would like to learn. In the multimedia area of technology, my skills are not that diverse. In high school, I regularly used ACID, a music studio software, with which I could alter music tracks by making them shorter, taking out different parts, or blending two or more songs together into one for my dance team. Also, I know how to edit digital pictures on certain programs on the computer.

Examples of school-oriented technology that I am good at are Microsoft EXCEL, Microsoft Powerpoint, and various word processors. In Microsoft EXCEL, I have been required to create spreadsheets and create graphs. Microsoft Powerpoint allows me to create a slideshow powerpoint to outline key points during a presentation. I would like to improve in many areas on school-oriented technology. Also, I have many play-oriented technologies that I use on a daily basis. I can use a PlayStation, Wii, and many other gaming systems with ease. I would like to learn how to use sophisticated photo editing programs and I also would like to learn how to edit video clips.

Exploring rhetorical context- "User Centred Design and Literacy Tools for the Deaf"

The purpose of the article "User Centred Design and Literacy Tools for the Deaf" is to inform HCI researchers on guidelines that should be used when creating e-tools for the literacy of the deaf. The authors, Mascio and Gennari, are trying to capture the researchers' interests in order to persuade them to create more web tools for the deaf using the guidelines they outline. The guidelines are put in place in order to ease the entire process of creating new programs or fixing existing programs.

Mascio and Gennari are trying to convince researchers to design the e-tools with the user as their focus. The article evaluates each of the literacy tools for the deaf using the user centred design methodology (UCDM). They point out that out of the programs already created, only a few were created with a focus on the UCDM. There are many different types of users of literacy tools for the deaf, including the end user (the deaf person) and an intermediary (a close family member or friend). Because there are many different types of users, it is important to design the program with that person in mind.