Final Web Audience Proposal

Elizabeth White
English 102
Instructor: Richard Samuelson
10 March 2011
Website Audience Proposal:
1 &2: The audience for my website will most likely be no younger than eighteen years of age to any age of interest. The information given in the website will be most helpful to those who are seeking help in some way related to drugs or alcohol. Audience members may consist of friends wanting to help a family struggling with substance abuse. The reader may be a parent seeking help and information on the impacts substance abuse has on a family and hopefully searching for a way to change the problem and get better. Lastly, this website could be very useful for adoptive parents or guardians who may be caring for a child whose family was involved in some kind of substance abuse or maybe even has birth defects caused by drugs or alcohol, to better understand and care for the child’s unique circumstances. So, technically, the audience my website is geared to will be anyone qualified to understand the depth and seriousness of the research topic given. I am interested in finding what kind reactions I receive with my topic due to the severity of the subject. This isn’t always an easy topic to discuss, let alone grab a reader’s attention, so I’ll have to be very perceptive as to how I would react to the information provided if I were an audience member. Overall, I believe my website will be fairly successful in giving the facts to those who want to know them, which is my main goal. Not everyone is provided with this kind of background information, so I think it’ll serve as a secondary resource for those seeking help or just wanting to know more on the topic!
3. I envision my audience to be fairly perceptive if not totally enthralled by the topic and facts provided in my website. I hope for them to be oriented to my questions and concerns, and I believe they will be, granted, if they are interested and willing. My topic tends to cover some “tough stuff”, so not everyone may be comfortable or interested in hearing what I, or the research, have to say. To ease the reader’s tension on the subject I am going to make the “tough stuff” as smooth as possible. While working on my website I decided to go with very calm, welcoming colors and provide pictures of family and a couple of quotes about family support, love and trust. These are all things I am trying to push in my website as well as in the community. I don’t just want to give the audience empirical research that I have found on my topic, but give the readers a sense of self worth and family oriented confidence and pride. Many families struggle with all sorts of individual tribulations, the important thing is to learn about these struggles and grow from them. So, in relation to the community I hope the website can persuade my readers/ community members to remember the important things in life, like family and friends. Although many, many families do not have the particular problem of drug or alcohol abuse, it does exist. Boise may be a wonderful, beautiful place to live but there are also people, families in this beautiful place that do share these problems and addictions. I want this website to be a safe haven for concerned users or observers to get the facts and come to the realization that there are other roads to take and help to get on the right track, like Baby Steps!
4. My topic conversation mainly consists of research that has been proven about the physiological, emotional and psychological impact on a family when involved in substance abuse. Not only do I cover my topic and question, but I also provide a source for readers who are seeking help. A couple of my sources do collide due to differences in opinion. For example, one of my sources focuses on the damage that can be done to a child because of the mothers decision to drink or do drugs while pregnant; while another one of my sources attacks that very stigma put on mothers and pregnant women and provides empirical evidence that the father can be just as responsible for any kind of birth defects as the mother. Leaving both sources very informative but very different stories.
5. To strengthen my web medium I will use bold titles and bullets to make reading easier and more accessible to my audience. I will also focus on keeping my information short, sweet and to the point without doing the research or my voice any injustice. Strong yet subtle colors will be helpful and easy to read for the audiences’ eyes. Usually colors like light blue or green can really set up the whole feeling and response for a website, making it easy for the reader to stay interested. Finally, I will be sure to use videos and pictures to capture my readers’ attention.
6. Substance abuse can be very detrimental to the user and the people around them. Although the effects of drugs and alcohol on a family are not always the same, they tend to be a familiar and repetitive result leading to grave setbacks physiologically, emotionally and psychologically for everyone involved. But there is always hope and there is always help. I was brought to this conclusion by the research that I have done and personal experience. I feel very strongly about this problem and I’m not going to sugar coat it for anyone, but I’m also not going to shove these problems in my reader’s face. Drug and alcohol abuse is a very sensitive topic among many families and unfortunately has grown to be a kind of lifestyle for some. But this website can change these habits and give families a reason to get better. Many families struggle with substance abuse and many of them come out of the situation unsuccessful due to lack of knowledge and resources, I believe all they need is the facts and the acknowledgment that they are worth it and we, as a community, do care. These families just need a little push in the right direction to get better and be healthy!