# 1 Introduction
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## 1.1 Purpose
This document specifies the requirements for Revision 2 of the http://getreal.ous.edu website. The purpose of the website is to attract and encourage Oregon high school students to take coursework leading toward a baccalaureate degree in computer science (CS) at one of the seven Oregon University System campuses. The goal is to provide a teen-friendly set of web pages that are easy to navigate while providing sufficient depth and information about careers in computer science, ultimately increasing the number of computer science graduates from Oregon universities.

## 1.2 Scope
The software product to be produced is the second revision (Rev2) of the Get Real website (http://getreal.ous.edu).

The website will provide a set of web pages that are friendly to high school students, easy to navigate, and provide sufficient depth and information about careers in computer science.

The application of the software is to attract and encourage Oregon high school students to take coursework leading toward a baccalaureate degree in computer science (CS) at one of the seven Oregon University System campuses. The goal is to encourage more Oregon students to choose computer science and related majors, eventually increasing the number of computer science graduates from Oregon universities.

Benefits for students using the site will include:
*   Personal and career information from a broad spectrum of CS professionals.
*   CS course and other information from OUS campuses.
*   Timely and up-to-date information that encourages readers to return to the site.
*   A call to action and plans for students to follow to prepare for a CS career.

## 1.3 Product overview
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### 1.3.1 Product perspective
This product is the second revision (Rev2) of the http://getreal.ous.edu website, which is an update to the existing Rev1. The website is an element of the larger Oregon University System (OUS) website and runs as an extension of the OUS domain on Oregon State University (OSU) servers.

#### System interfaces
The Get Real website interfaces with the OUS website infrastructure, operating as an extension of the `ous.edu` domain.

#### User interfaces
The logical characteristics of the user interface are that it must be teen-friendly, easy to navigate, and visually attractive. It should use white space, pictures, diagrams, and charts to break up large blocks of text. Web design conventions must be consistent with the standards used on the main OUS site and adhere to the CSS and style conventions established in the first version of the Get Real website. The site must be compatible with Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape browsers.

#### Hardware interfaces
[N/A]

#### Software interfaces
The website will interface with the following software products:
*   **Dreamweaver:** Used for web page development.
*   **Google search tools:** Used to provide search functionality for both the internal site and external CS-related sites.
*   **RSS technology:** Used to provide feeds of current CS information to subscribers.

#### Communications interfaces
[N/A]

#### Memory constraints
The website is constrained by the available server space.

#### Operations
The system requires ongoing operations to edit and update URLs for the RSS feed. The system must also support the tracking and evaluation of user "hits" and time spent on the site to inform future content and design changes.

#### Site adaptation requirements
[N/A]

#### Interfaces with services
The website will interface with Google search services and external services that provide RSS feeds.

### 1.3.2 Product functions
The major functions of the Get Real website are provided through its various pages and sections. These include existing features and proposed new features for version 2.

The primary functions of the website are:
*   **Exploring College:** Provide a listing of computer science offerings from Oregon University System campuses and other Oregon colleges.
*   **Jobs & Money:** Offer answers to questions about societal contributions and potential earnings with a computer science degree.
*   **Real People:** Outline profiles of recent CS graduates and experienced professionals in diverse fields.
*   **Women in Computing:** Profile women computer scientists and engineers.
*   **Resources:** Provide information on a wide range of pre-college technology programs and courses.
*   **I’m Looking For...:** Present a list of focused questions and answers with links to content within the site.
*   **Articles:** List and link to articles outside the Get Real site.
*   **High School Courses:** Show recommended curricula for high school students interested in CS.
*   **Search:** Allow users to search for information both within the Get Real site and on external CS-related sites.
*   **Professional Organizations:** List and link to national and international CS organizations.
*   **RSS feeds:** Provide feeds of current CS information to subscribers.
*   **Ask a Grad or Prof – FAQ:** Allow users to get feedback on questions in a Q&A and FAQ format.
*   **Consider a CS Minor:** Provide information on the value of a CS minor for students in other professions.

### 1.3.3 User characteristics
The users are typical Oregon high school students, grades 9 to 12. They can be divided into the following groups based on their interests and technical expertise:

*   **Students interested in Computer Science (CS):** This group is actively seeking more concise and in-depth information about CS careers. They are more tolerant of the site's content and are particularly interested in the "Real People," "Resources," and college comparison sections. They are attracted by pictures and well-structured personal stories.

*   **College-bound students not interested in CS:** This group might be attracted to a CS career with the right information. They are less tolerant of a site that feels exclusive to CS students and have a lower tolerance for "walls of text." Their engagement is highly dependent on the site's usability and visual appeal. Key characteristics and preferences for this group include:
    *   A desire for more white space, pictures, color, diagrams, and charts to break up text.
    *   A need for pages to be broken into more readable chunks.
    *   A preference for easier navigation.
    *   A positive response to interactive elements.

*   **Students interested in a CS minor:** This is a potential third group of users who are interested in careers as diverse as protein research, weather prediction, medicine, or law, where a CS minor could be beneficial.

A general characteristic across all user groups is a short attention span, which necessitates a site design that supports fast page reading and quick comprehension.

### 1.3.4 Limitations
*   The website must be hosted on Oregon State University (OSU) servers and run as an extension of the Oregon University System (OUS) site.
*   The project is constrained by available server space and bandwidth, particularly for video streaming.
*   The availability of resources from the Chancellor’s Office is limited.
*   The website must be compatible with and tested against Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape browsers.
*   Development must adhere to the CSS, style conventions, and web design standards established in the first version of the Get Real website and used on the main OUS site.
*   Security measures, including copyright, must be consistent with those of the main OUS site.

## 1.4 Definitions
[N/A]

# 2 References
This section lists the documents and web addresses referenced in this SRS.

## Compliance
*   **Title:** Get Real Version 1 CSS and Style Conventions
*   **Report Number:** [N/A]
*   **Date:** circa Summer 2006
*   **Publishing Organization:** [N/A]
*   **Source:** Local site files for Dreamweaver on `~cn-capctr/share/Get_Real_website/~`

*   **Title:** Oregon University System (OUS) Website Standards, Conventions, and Security Measures
*   **Report Number:** [N/A]
*   **Date:** [N/A]
*   **Publishing Organization:** Oregon University System
*   **Source:** The `www.ous.edu` website

## Guidance
*   **Title:** EngineerGirl Website
*   **Report Number:** [N/A]
*   **Date:** [N/A]
*   **Publishing Organization:** National Academy of Engineering
*   **Source:** `www.engineergirl.org`

*   **Title:** University of Washington Computer Science Video Profiles
*   **Report Number:** [N/A]
*   **Date:** [N/A]
*   **Publishing Organization:** University of Washington, Department of Computer Science & Engineering
*   **Source:** `http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/ugrad/prospective/download.html`

*   **Title:** Women in Computer Science (WICS) at the University of Oregon
*   **Report Number:** [N/A]
*   **Date:** [N/A]
*   **Publishing Organization:** University of Oregon
*   **Source:** `www.cs.uoregon.edu/groups/wics/`

*   **Title:** Women in Computer Architecture Resource List
*   **Report Number:** [N/A]
*   **Date:** [N/A]
*   **Publishing Organization:** University of Pennsylvania
*   **Source:** `www.cis.upenn.edu/acg/wicarch.html

# 3 Requirements
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## 3.1 Functions
The software shall provide users with information about computer science (CS) degrees, careers, and university programs in Oregon through a collection of web pages.

### 3.1.1 Existing Page Functions
*   **Exploring College:** The system shall provide a listing of the computer science offerings from Oregon University System campuses and other Oregon colleges.
*   **Jobs & Money:** The system shall provide answers to questions regarding societal contributions and potential salary with a computer science degree.
*   **Real People:** The system shall present profiles of recent CS graduates and experienced professionals in CS and related careers. These profiles may include video or audio content.
*   **Women in Computer Science:** The system shall profile women computer scientists and engineers and may provide a list of contacts for interested students.
*   **Resources:** The system shall provide information on a wide range of pre-college technology programs and courses for high school students.
*   **I’m Looking For...:** The system shall provide a list of focused questions and answers with links to relevant content within the website.
*   **Articles:** The system shall provide a list of links to articles on external websites related to CS careers.

### 3.1.2 New Page Functions
*   **High School Courses:** The system shall display recommended high school curricula for students interested in CS and related careers, with pointers to recommendations from university sources.
*   **Search:** The system shall provide search functionality. This includes:
    *   An internal search of the Get Real website content.
    *   An external search of CS-related outside sites.
*   **Professional Organizations:** The system shall provide a listing of and links to professional organizations such as ACM and IEEE, with a focus on student sections.
*   **RSS Feeds:** The system shall provide RSS feeds of selected, current CS-related articles.
*   **Ask a Grad or Prof - FAQ:** The system shall provide a question and answer feature where users can submit questions and view answers in a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section.
*   **Consider a CS Minor:** The system shall provide information on the value of a CS minor for students in other professions.

### 3.1.3 Site Analytics
*   The system shall track and allow for the evaluation of website "hits" and the time spent on pages to inform future content, design, and navigation changes.

### 3.1.4 Input Validation and Error Handling
*   Validity checks on the inputs: [N/A]
*   Exact sequence of operations: [N/A]
*   Responses to abnormal situations, including overflow, communication facilities, hardware faults, and error handling and recovery: [N/A]
*   Effect of parameters: [N/A]
*   Relationship of outputs to inputs, including input/output sequences and formulas for input to output conversion: [N/A]

## 3.2 Performance requirements
The website's response time must be comparable to the main OUS website (www.ous.edu) to maintain the attention of the target audience of high school students. The system must provide sufficient bandwidth for video streaming.

## 3.3 Usability requirements
The website must be designed to be "teen friendly" to attract and hold the attention of the target audience of Oregon high school students. The design and navigation must accommodate users with short attention spans and varying levels of interest in computer science.

Based on feedback from the target user group, the following usability requirements shall be met:
*   The overall graphic design must be updated to be visually attractive to teenagers.
*   The design shall incorporate more white space, pictures, color, diagrams, and charts to break up text.
*   Content shall be broken into more readable chunks to avoid "walls of text."
*   Paragraphs shall be shortened, and bulleted lists and charts should be used where possible to facilitate faster page reading.
*   The website must be easy to navigate.
*   Web design conventions shall be consistent with the standards and conventions used on the main OUS site.
*   The website shall be functional and tested on Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape browsers.

## 3.5 Logical database requirements
The following types of information are required to be stored to support website functions:
*   Questions and answers for the "Ask a Grad or Prof – FAQ" section.
*   Profiles for the "Real People" and "Women in Computer Science" sections, including text, photos, and links to video or audio files.
*   Lists of resources, including colleges, courses, articles, and professional organizations.
*   Website usage data, such as page "hits" and time spent on pages, for tracking and evaluation.

Frequency of use:
[N/A]

Accessing capabilities:
[N/A]

Data entities and their relationships:
[N/A]

Integrity constraints:
[N/A]

Security:
Copyright and other security measures for stored data should be the same as the OUS site.

Data retention requirements:
[N/A]

## 3.6 Design constraints
*   The website must adhere to the CSS and other style conventions established in Get Real version 1.
*   Web design conventions must be consistent with the standards and conventions used on the OUS site.
*   The project is constrained by available server space, bandwidth for video streaming, and the limited availability of Chancellor’s Office resources.
*   The website must be compatible with and tested against Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape browsers.
*   Copyright and other security measures must be the same as those implemented on the OUS site.

## 3.7 Software system attributes
### Reliability
[N/A]

### Availability
[N/A]

### Security
Copyright and other security measures for the Get Real website should be the same as those for the OUS site.

### Maintainability
*   Web design conventions should be consistent with the standards and conventions used on the OUS site.
*   The system must adhere to CSS and other style conventions established in Get Real version 1.
*   The system must provide the ability to track and evaluate the "hits" and time spent on the website to inform future content, design, and navigation changes.

### Portability
The Get Real site must work and be tested against Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape browsers.

## 3.8 Supporting information
### User Feedback Summary
Oregon high school students were interviewed to provide feedback on version 1 of the Get Real website. The following common themes emerged:

*   **Students not generally interested in Computer Science (CS):**
    *   Suggested graphic design changes, including more white space, pictures, and easier-to-navigate pages.
    *   Felt the site had little to offer if you were not already a CS student.
    *   Strongly suggested breaking up "walls of text" into more readable chunks of information.
    *   Wanted more visually attractive information, such as color, photos, diagrams, and charts.
    *   Commented positively on the spinning globe and satellite menu.

*   **Students interested in CS and engineering:**
    *   Suggested changes in the Real People, Resources, and Colleges sections.
    *   Spent most of their time using the college comparison chart and the Real People section, which they found positive.
    *   Were attracted by the pictures in the Real People section.

### Problem Description
The purpose of the Get Real website is to solve the problem of insufficient student enrollment in computer science programs. The goal is to attract and encourage Oregon high school students to take coursework leading toward a baccalaureate degree in computer science (CS) at one of the seven Oregon University System campuses, eventually increasing the number of computer science graduates from Oregon universities.

### Examples and Resources
The following resources were referenced as background information and examples:

*   **Related sites for career information:** Google, Yahoo, news.myspace.com, engineergirl.org.
*   **Example video profiles:** The University of Washington's "a day in the life of," "power to change the world," and "Pathways in computer science" videos are examples of profiles conveying messages of CS majors in diverse careers. They can be found at http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/ugrad/prospective/download.html.
*   **Example youth-oriented site:** www.engineergirl.org is an example of a site that shows women in exciting engineering careers and has good use of white space.
*   **Other resources for women in computer science:**
    *   WICS UO: www.cs.uoregon.edu/groups/wics/
    *   University of Pennsylvania resource list: www.cis.upenn.edu/acg/wicarch.html
*   **Example search engines:** The prototype index page at ~getreal.ous.edu/protoindex.html has examples of various search engines.

### Special Packaging Instructions
[N/A]

# 4 Verification
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## 4.1 Functions
The Get Real website will be tested by web designers. All user-facing functions must be verified to work correctly on the following web browsers:
*   Internet Explorer
*   Firefox
*   Netscape

The effectiveness of the website's functions in meeting project goals will be evaluated by tracking and analyzing site usage metrics, including page "hits" and time spent on the site. This analysis will inform necessary changes to content, design, and navigation.

## 4.2 Performance requirements
The performance of the Get Real site will be verified by comparing its response time against the performance of the main OUS site (www.ous.edu).

System performance and user engagement will be verified by tracking and evaluating the number of hits and the time spent on the website over time.

## 4.3 Usability requirements
The usability of the website will be verified through the following methods:

*   The website will be tested to ensure it functions correctly on Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape browsers.
*   The effectiveness of the website's content, design, and navigation will be verified by tracking and evaluating usage metrics, such as the number of "hits" and the time users spend on the site.
*   User satisfaction and the "teen friendly" nature of the site will be verified by gathering feedback from the target user classes (Oregon high school students), similar to the interview process conducted for version 1 of the site. This will confirm that usability issues identified in the previous version, such as "walls of text" and a lack of visual appeal, have been addressed.

## 4.5 Logical database requirements
[N/A]

## 4.6 Design constraints
[N/A]

## 4.7 Software system attributes
Verification of the website's security will be conducted by inspecting the implemented copyright and other security measures and comparing them against those of the main OUS site to ensure they are the same.

Verification of the website's design conventions will be performed by inspection. The site's design, CSS, and style conventions will be reviewed to ensure consistency with the standards established in Get Real version 1 and the main OUS site.

Verification of the website's browser compatibility will be performed by testing. The website will be tested on Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape to ensure it works correctly.

# 5 Appendices
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## 5.1 Assumptions and dependencies
- The website will be hosted on Oregon State University (OSU) servers and will run as an extension of the Oregon University System (OUS) site (getreal.ous.edu).
- The content for the "High School Courses" section is dependent on receiving curriculum recommendations from the University of Oregon (UO).
- The "RSS feeds" feature is dependent on receiving selected articles from the Chancellor’s office daily communications distribution.
- The implementation and maintenance of the "RSS feeds" feature is dependent on the availability of web design resources.

## 5.2 Acronyms and abbreviations
*   **ACM**: Association for Computing Machinery
*   **CS**: Computer Science
*   **CSS**: Cascading Style Sheets
*   **FAQ**: Frequently Asked Questions
*   **HS**: High School
*   **IEEE**: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
*   **IE**: Internet Explorer
*   **OUS**: Oregon University System
*   **RSS**: Really Simple Syndication
*   **SIGGRAPH**: Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques
*   **SRS**: Software Requirements Specification
*   **UO**: University of Oregon
*   **URL**: Uniform Resource Locator
