Trying to wrap up everything neat and tidy at the end of an emotionally draining and stressful semester is like being a screen writer who only has one more episode to wrap up the storyline of a multi-season show …can someone say cliffhanger? Except there’s no cliffhanger at the end this time, it all comes down to this last post. (Unless of course I fail this course and have to retake it, wouldn’t that be a PLOT TWIST?! But hopefully that won’t be the case and I will have done enough to skirt by with a passing grade, because even though I actually quite enjoyed this class and couldn’t have asked for a more patient and understanding professor, the idea of failing anything and having to start over from the beginning kinda makes me nauseous and want to cry – and this past year has brought far too many season’s of tears for me already. So, this is what I have to present, though I know I’m capable of more – more ideas, more digital artwork, more funny stories that might make sense to someone out there; what I don’t have any more of is time. Time is a thief of promise that robs people like me of reaching their true potential. But we don’t have time to unwrap all of that now…
Accessibility
▢ Media/source credit
Most of the images I’ve included on my domain and subdomains have been created by me with help from AI occassionally, through my favourite photo editing app for android, PicsArt
▢ Information accuracy
▢ What copyright license you chose for your project site and work (and why you chose it)
▢ Any help you got from AI
▢ The process of making your site and any media you created (software and tools you used)
I tried to tie in all of the different aspects of my story into one central landing page with links and branches that connect to my personal blog, Brave Borderline, my school portfolio (this site) My Beautiful, Messy Mind, and a few hobbies and interests that I’ve started at some point in recent years and never followed through on, such as my Mary Kay side gig (my shop is still open if you need presents for family member or self-care gifts!), and links to various resources and information and community support avenues which really would have wrapped up my website and this final so perfectly! SPOILER ALERT: Not everything made it onto my website in time. But keep checking back if you’re interested bc I will keep working on it, even if it takes me another year to complete!
For my final project I made sure to make my page accessible to everyone. All of my images have alt text attached. I made sure that the alt text was descriptive enough to convey what they image is but not too “wordy”. I wanted to ensure that the colors of my page stood out, but were not so vibrant that it was offensive to the eyes or hard to read. I did this especially when it came to the headers and the font size and color. I wanted it to make the different sections obvious so it made it easy to find each specific topic. I tried to make my descriptive text clear and that it showed what the link was going to lead to. Although some were more difficult than others. All of my audio was transcribed and has captions. However, I had difficulty getting the caption timing to line up with the audio of the video.
Polished and Complete
I would like to think that my site is “polished and complete”. I have my header with my site logo as well as a favicon. I have a landing page that is clear, friendly, and easy to read, understand, and follow. I have my footer with my “lorem ipsum” information. However, I feel that it even if it were “perfect” it would still be wrong.
Information Accuracy
When completing my research and my interviews I spoke with subject matter experts in the field. I wanted to ensure that what I was sharing was true. Although there were some things that I had to use the internet to find, the majority was done through the interview process.
Copyright and Attribution
To determine the copyright I wanted, I chose to use the Creative Commons License Chooser. It was very easy to navigate the site to figure out what you wanted. I knew that I wanted people to be able to use my work but I feel that credit needs to be given. I also knew that I didn’t want my work to be used for commercial purposes. I know that by choosing the next one, I was making it difficult for my work to be improved upon, but I chose that my work could only be used in an unadapted form. That meant that the license that was recommended to me was
RECOMMENDED LICENSE
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
This license requires that reusers give credit to the creator. It allows reusers to copy and distribute the material in any medium or format in unadapted form and for noncommercial purposes only.
BY: Credit must be given to you, the creator.
NC: Only noncommercial use of your work is permitted.Noncommercial means not primarily intended for or directed towards commercial advantage or monetary compensation.
ND: No derivatives or adaptations of your work are permitted.
Media Used
The audio and video that was used in my project was taken with an iPhone 13 ProMax. I do not have access to or the ability to get more sophisticated equipment. However, since I am not majoring in anything that pertains to film making, I felt that this was acceptable and did a pretty good job with both the audio and visual recordings. I also felt, with the topic that I chose, using my phone to take pictures, videos, and recording made people more comfortable. As well as making it safer for me to go into some of the places I did to get pictures and video.
AI
Although I have really enjoyed playing around with the features that AI offers, I wanted to use actual pictures that were taken of the homeless in my town. I felt that doing this drove the point home more than using computer generated images.
Final Thoughts
I came into the start of this semester and this course hopeful. I was hoping to learn something that I didn’t know how to do, that I did, but I wanted to gain more. Although I did enjoy the class I felt that I was a “bothersome” student. I know that I am old school, but I feel that if a student reaches out to a teacher, they shouldn’t be told to contact someone else, the Digital Center. Like I said, I am sure that I was bothersome but I was and am trying to understand what we were doing. I grew up before the internet started and have watched it grow and progress. I can do some things but this was more difficult that I thought it would or should be. Again, I did enjoy the class and I did learn quite a bit so please don’t think that I didn’t.
This has been one of the most useful courses and final project I have taken. I can’t believe I now have a website to give me online presence of what I am very passionate about. Helping families pursue healthy relationships for them to enjoy their lives.
Accessibility:
I initially planned to build the website using the free domain from HOSTINGER but I later realized that the free domain actually comes with 48 months-term contract and have to pay over $100 for that so I used the Canva web publishing services. I created the website from a template and changed them with images and text for 6 pages content on 1. About us, 2. What we do, 3. Our Services, 4. Our Resources, 5. Family Forever School project and 6. Our contact. I included page 5 because it tells a great story of the journey to online services and the vision that became realized as a result of getting the skills to have online presence to do what I like doing. Canva provided the opportunity to publish the website
There is opportunity to migrate the website from Canva to HOSTINGER and I will allocate some funds later to sign up for the 48 months term contract with HOSTINGER so that I can get a domain name as Forever-Family.org
Media:
I created audio visual materials with Canva because it has the capabilities for voice over and caption all built in. I already have the introduction which is on Introduction to Resolving Family Conflicts created for project 8. I created the series on Healthy Family Relationships with voice over and captions. I realized that 15 minutes video will be too long and also difficult to upload so I limited the duration of the videos to 10 minutes. For the infographic, I researched the web for data and information on for example unhealthy family relationships and mental health, emotional and behavioral risks of toxic family relationships, risks and rate of suicide as a result of unhealthy family relationships.
All the elements that are used are supposed to be free without the “crown” which are premium elements, and one has to have subscription to use them. However, I encountered some difficulties when I tried to download them to a google drive to provide a link for access at the website. For the infographic, I provided the works cited in order to acknowledge the sources or provide credits for the sources. I did not use any copyright materials and did not use any AI for the web design or the media. I have not gotten there yet. I will later learn how I could use AI to make the experience better.
I used Canva to create the website all the videos, voiceover, pictures are from Canva. For more information here is the link.
I used Canva to create the infographic. I used a template with font, color, style and format that I wanted and replaced the information on the template with the information on mediation, counselling, family domestic violence and suicide. I downloaded the infographic in a pdf format.
Sources:
I used Canva to create infographics voiceover and videos for my final project.
It’s important to take accessibility into consideration when creating a piece of media so that all the material is equally easy to take in regardless of any disabilities or difficulties. Regardless of whether providing such accommodations requires extra work, it is important that there is not a divide between people who can take in the information and those who can’t. For this website, I used alternate text for images to help those with visual disabilities understand the significance of each picture without having to see exactly what’s happening in the picture. I also did the best I could to use contrasting colors to make text more easily viewed, although all of my pictures were from before color photography and therefore do not contrast well. Thirdly, I used different headers to denote different section of the text so that those with screen-readers could easily orient themselves in the text and skip to where they want to read from; I even tried using headers when including the times on the transcript, so that if someone wanted to skip ahead to minute 3, they would be able to. Lastly, I included a transcript, as mentioned before, with times included, so that those who have auditory disabilities would be able to take in my content as well as a hearing person would.
Media/source credit
When using media from outside sources, it is important to credit the creators appropriately for their work for multiple reasons; firstly, because in doing so you protect yourself from potential lawsuits cause by “stealing” the media without credit, and secondly, because as someone else’s intellectual property, it’s the right thing to do. For my project, I sourced all the music used from Mixkit, all my information from the following websites: Biography.com, History.com, Encyclopedia Britannica, and All That’s Interesting, and my pictures from the following: Wikimedia Commons, which is a website that makes public domain content available, and Wikipedia . Every piece of media I used is sourced and linked on the post for the episode it’s used in, with as much credit given as I was able to find.
Information accuracy
Misinformation has great power in terms of swaying people’s beliefs and feelings about a subject, which is why it is so important to ensure accuracy when sharing information. Although intentional misinformation, such as clickbait or ragebait, to gather more viewers is a common practice on the internet (which, interestingly enough, is related to some of the material I talk about in episode 2), I have done my best to remain as accurate as possible to history so as to provide the best portrayal I can.
Copyright
I chose to copyright my website as CC BY-NC 4.0, which breaks down as follows: CC indicating that my work falls under a Creative Commons license, BY indicating that those who use my work must attribute it to me, and NC indicating that it may only be used for non-commercial purposes. I chose to use this license because it doesn’t bother me that others may use my work or remix it to make their own works; the only important things to me are that a) I get credited for any work they use that I created, and b) they don’t make money off of work that I made for free. As such, this copyright designation works perfectly for my purposes.
AI
I used Microsoft Copilot to create an outline for each script, then did research to fill in the information for each topic it gave me. I also used AI to brainstorm ideas for the podcast name before deciding on “The Dark and the Dangerous”.
The project
Process
I started by deciding on a name for my podcast and creating the website using WordPress. I then used Microsoft Copilot to create an outline for each episode, and did research on each killer to flesh out the outline. I recorded using the same equipment I used for the last audio project, the Voice Memos application on my iPhone 12 Pro. After recording, I entered the audio into Soundtrap to edit and add music, which I got from Mixkit. After editing, I was able to create a post for each episode and embed the audio file. I then used Canva to create a favicon and header image for the website. After entering the images, I went back and personalized the website more, adding different pages and features and getting rid of any that didn’t have anything to do with the podcast. I tried to change the image behind the title of each page, but I could’t find where I was able to do that. I even went into the code of the website and tried to change it there, but although it would change while I remained on the page, the second I left it would revert back to the original and was unable to save. However, I changed everything else that I could.
Favicon, sourced from Lauren Foley and made using CanvaHeader image, sourced from Lauren Foley and made using Canva
For my final project I made a portfolio with some projects I have completed that showcase skills I’ve learned and what I am capable of doing.
I included alternative text for all images, put headings on all pages and posts, added descriptive text with all links, and have high color contrast for all images and texts. The picture included was my own and I created everything included on the pages. The header and site logo I created on Canva. The information I included was all from projects that I completed, so it is my own work. I chose CC BY because I want others to be able to use my work and build off of it as long as they give credit to me. I did not get any help from AI on this assignment. When making my portfolio, I went through recent past projects and chose the ones I was most proud of to include. I added them to my site and added a page about myself.
The process to make my final project was a lot of fun! For my final project I continued with my podcast project and made three more podcast about different books. I started off by making a check list of what I needed to do for each podcast episode so I wouldn’t forget anything and it allowed my to check things off as i went. To make my podcast episodes I used Voice Memos on my phone to initially record my audio and then I used Soundtrap to edit it all together. I find Soundtrap to be very beginner friendly and easy to make adjustments with. I labelled each section of my audio recording with a number so it was easier to put them in order when putting all the clips together. After finishing the podcast portion I would use Microsoft Copilot to create images that I felt represented each book.
Accessibility
For accessibility I included transcripts for all of my podcast episodes and I included descriptive alt text for all images I used.
Media/Source Credit/Information Accuracy
For media and source credit I included links to all the resources I used to make my podcast. I used goodreads and different books wiki pages to ensure my information was accurate and made sure to provide links to all of those resources. For this project I used ZapSplat to include intro and outro music for my podcast episode and I made sure to give them credit in both my podcast episode in a section called credit/attribution at the end.
Copyright Liscense
I used CC BY-NC 4.0 license because it allows other to build off my page as long as it is not for commercial use and acknowledge that they used by information. This would allow people to build off my descriptions of the books and add their own opinions or information about the books.
AI help
I did use Microsoft Copilot to create images for each of my podcast that were engaging and still relevant to the books. I also used Microsoft Copilot to make my icon image.
I researched thoroughly about each movie that I talked about so that the information would be accurate, such as when the movie came out or who directed it. For any images or graphics, I used Canva in order to create them easy. I also have Canva Pro, so I had access to a lot of materials to make my graphics unique. I not only included my own voice in the audio, but I also found audio clips on Youtube, mostly from Movieclips, in order to get my message across better. I found them on the channels listed and linked below. Lastly, I used Pixabay to find background music that would pull the audio together, which is Peace In Every Note-chill background music by u_ew2iqff1co.
When making the podcast, I wanted to make sure that everyone had access to it. I put my podcast on Spotify, which is a widely-used music streaming service. On my website, I included the whole transcript so that people are able to read exactly what I am saying in the podcast. I also hyperlinked the episodes on the website so people could easily access them.
AI and Copyright
For AI, I used ChatGPT in order to help make a script for each episode. It was very helpful in providing ideas for clips I could use or what I should say for an intro or outro. I also used an AI software in order to create the transcript for the episodes. I chose the copyright license of CC BY-NC 4.0 because I want people to be inspired from it and maybe share their own ideas or theories of the movie I am talking about. Although, I do not want people to commercialize it as it is my own work.
I choose to create a subdomain – c.charnicole.net. I used all my own videos and photos to create all video projects. To begin, I added a picture and title – where the header has the cats cut off which I liked better than fitting in frame. Once I attached my Instagram through the widget portion, I began expanding and video projects.
Accessibility & copyright
I used close caption for any videos that had talking and added alternative text to all photos I used. I choose
I didnt use any AI to complete my website but I did use Clipchamp to edit videos. I used voice recordings on my iPhone app then clipped them on top of videos & pictures.
Because I made a podcast, the accessibility was fairly easy. All of my pictures on my website had alt text, and then in each podcast’s blog I included a transcription. To make the transcription, I upload the audio files into Word and then I had to listen to the podcast and read through the transcription to make sure there were no errors.
Media/Source Credit
I credited my sources for each podcast in their own separate blog. Only one episode had information sources that I needed to cite, so I put those links at the bottom of the episode’s blog. Then, every episode had a song that I used to start the episode, and I credited that at the bottom as well.
Information Accuracy
Because 2/3 of my episodes were interviews, and the questions were about their perspective on student involvement, they don’t apply to this. However, my one episode about “Why Getting Involved is Important” applies. I made sure my information was accurate by citing real life experiences and using peer reviewed journals.
AI Help
The only episode I used AI for was the first one, again the “Why Getting Involved is Important.” I used it to make an outline and a script for the episode. I outlined it by myself and then used Microsoft’s CoPilot to turn the outline into a scrift. I adjusted the script once it was generated to make it fit better to my format.
The time has final-ly come (see what I did there?) For my final project, I decided to do a portfolio-esque website. I wanted to create a space where all of my different passions, career paths, and interests could coexist together.
Accessability
I have quite a few photos on my website! For each photo, I’ve attached alternative text. I have no audio elements of my own, except for links to podcasts and videos that already exist. For everything that I’ve linked, the link has descriptive text so that you know what it will bring you to.
Media Credit
Again, a lot of photos on my website. Everything was taken by me unless explicitly stated otherwise (I think there is only one instance of that).
Copyright
I’m going to be so real and honest, I chose the All rights reserved copyright just because from my POV it feels the most secure and legit (most people know what it is whereas I can’t say the same for Creative Commons), but when I input it in my WordPress it doesn’t actually show up? It could just be my view on my laptop I’m not sure. I’ll attach a screenshot of what it looks like on my end so that you see that I had the intention lol.
When I edit it in the left bar and publish it, its supposed to change what shows up at the very bottom of the left panel, but it didn’t, AND I can’t even see the copyright when I open my website. Again, could be how it shows up on my laptop, but I’m not sure. I scoured the internet for answers with no luck. Sigh. Anyways.
My Process!
Before even choosing my theme, I made an outline (more like a brain dump) of everything that I wanted to include in my website. Sections, subsections, pictures, descriptions. Once I dumped my brain, I went onto WordPress and searched for a simple and clean looking template. Once I found one, I committed to it. My theme is “Tamal Portfolio.” The process was rather simple; I feel that the most taxing part was spending time on organizing and reorganizing content. For my photography portfolio, I got really annoyed because I was using the gallery block so that my photos would be displayed in a grid-like configuration, but when I published, on my website they would just be in a long, left-justified line. So, I just decided to make them big images that you can scroll through. I also last minute made a page for pretty coffees, which I am happy about. I added a contact form through WP7 Forms, which was rather painless.
