# 1 Introduction

## 1.1 Purpose
The purpose of this Software Requirements Specification (SRS) is to describe the requirements for Rev2 of the Get Real website, http://getreal.ous.edu. This document outlines the functional and non-functional requirements for the updated website, planned for summer of 2007.

## 1.2 Scope
The Get Real website is a software product designed to attract and encourage Oregon high school students to pursue coursework leading to a baccalaureate degree in Computer Science (CS) at one of the seven Oregon University System (OUS) campuses. The website aims to provide a high school teen-friendly set of web pages that are easy to navigate while offering sufficient depth and information about careers in computer science. The primary goal is to increase the number of computer science graduates from Oregon universities by encouraging more Oregon students to choose CS and related majors.

## 1.3 Product overview

### 1.3.1 Product perspective
The Get Real website (version 2) is an update of the existing Get Real website (version 1). It operates as an extension of the OUS site, specifically at `getreal.ous.edu`.

#### System interfaces
The Get Real site runs as an extension of the OUS site, e.g., `getreal.ous.edu`. Being part of the OUS domain is intended to maximize Google and other search engine hits. The site runs on Oregon State University (OSU) servers.

#### User interfaces
The Get Real site should be compatible with and tested against Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape browsers. The user interface is designed to be teen-friendly, easy to navigate, and visually attractive to hold student attention and guide viewers to information that encourages a decision to pursue a career in CS.

#### Hardware interfaces
There are no special hardware interface requirements.

#### Software interfaces
There are no special software interface requirements.

#### Communications interfaces
There are no special communication interface requirements.

#### Memory constraints
The website is subject to space constraints.

#### Operations
The system requires ongoing tracking and evaluation of website "hits" and time spent by users. Content, design, and navigation changes will be made as needed based on the evaluation of these metrics.

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

#### Interfaces with services
[N/A]

### 1.3.2 Product functions
The Get Real website will provide information and resources through various pages and sections. These include:

*   **Existing Pages/Sections:**
    *   Exploring College: Listing of CS offerings from OUS campuses and other Oregon colleges.
    *   Jobs & Money: Information on societal contributions and earning potential with a CS degree.
    *   Real People: Profiles of recent CS graduates and experienced professionals, showcasing diverse career paths.
    *   Women in Computing: Profiles of women computer scientists and engineers.
    *   Resources: Information on pre-college technology programs and courses for high school students.
    *   I’m Looking For...: A list of focused questions and answers with internal site links (e.g., money, people, colleges).
    *   Articles: A list of external articles related to CS careers.

*   **Proposed New Pages/Sections:**
    *   High School Courses: Recommended curricula for high school students interested in CS.
    *   Search for additional information: Internal site search and external search for CS-related sites.
    *   Professional Organizations: Listings and links to national and international CS organizations (e.g., ACM, IEEE).
    *   RSS feeds of current CS information: Selected articles from the Chancellor’s Office daily communications.
    *   Ask a Grad or Prof – FAQ: A Q&A format for student questions, with answers posted in an FAQ section or a blog.
    *   Consider a CS Minor: Information highlighting the value of a CS minor for students in other professions (e.g., medicine, law, business).

### 1.3.3 User characteristics
The primary users of the Get Real website are typical Oregon high school students, grades 9 to 12. Three main groups of student viewers are anticipated:

1.  **CS-interested students:** Seeking more concise and in-depth information about a CS career. These students tend to be more tolerant of text-heavy content but still appreciate visual improvements.
2.  **College-bound students not necessarily interested in CS:** These students might be attracted to a CS career with compelling information and presentation. This group is less tolerant of "walls of text" and prefers visually attractive, easily navigable, and chunked information with color, photos, diagrams, and charts.
3.  **Students interested in diverse careers:** Those pursuing fields like protein research, weather prediction, neurobotics, medicine, or law, where a CS minor could enhance their understanding of data and information.

User feedback from interviews on version 1 indicated a strong need for graphic design changes, more white space, pictures, easier navigation, and breaking information into more readable chunks to accommodate shorter attention spans.

### 1.3.4 Limitations
The development and operation of the website are subject to the following limitations:

*   Space (storage)
*   Bandwidth for video streaming
*   Limited availability of Chancellor’s Office resources

## 1.4 Definitions
[N/A]

# 2 References
The following documents and web addresses are referenced in this SRS:

*   **Compliance:**
    *   Local site files for Dreamweaver on `~cn-capctr/share/Get_Real_website/~` (for web page development at the Capital Center).
    *   CSS and other style conventions established in Get Real version 1.
    *   OUS site standards and conventions (for web design consistency and security measures).

*   **Guidance:**
    *   `www.engineergirl.org`: Example of a youth-oriented site for women in engineering careers.
    *   `www.cs.washington.edu/education/ugrad/prospective/download.html`: Example videos for "real people" profiles in CS.
    *   `www.cs.uoregon.edu/groups/wics/`: University of Oregon Women in Computer Science (WICS) group.
    *   `www.cis.upenn.edu/acg/wicarch.html`: Resource for contacting women in computer architecture.

# 3 Requirements

## 3.1 Functions

### 3.1.1 Exploring College
The website shall provide a listing of computer science offerings from Oregon University System campuses and other Oregon colleges. The extent of community and private colleges included needs to be determined.

### 3.1.2 Jobs & Money
The website shall offer answers to questions regarding societal contributions and potential earnings with a computer science degree.

### 3.1.3 Real People
The website shall feature a section profiling recent CS graduates and experienced professionals in CS and related careers.
The profiles shall emphasize real people using CS knowledge in diverse fields, avoiding the stereotype of being "cooped up in a cubicle."
The profiles shall cater to student interest in two groups: recent graduates and experienced professionals.
The website shall support the use of video or audio to convey personal messages from professionals.
The profiles should be designed to be visually attractive and broken into readable sections, similar to positive examples noted by students.

### 3.1.4 Women in Computer Science
The website shall profile women computer scientists and engineers, showcasing them as individuals who solve problems, make the world better, and are actively involved in their communities, families, and hobbies.
The design of this section should utilize white space effectively, similar to `www.engineergirl.org`.
The website may include a list for girls interested in contacting recent graduates or women CS professionals, similar to `www.cis.upenn.edu/acg/wicarch.html`.

### 3.1.5 Resources
The website shall provide information on a wide range of pre-college technology programs and courses for high school students.

### 3.1.6 I’m Looking For...
The website shall include a section with focused questions and answers, providing internal links within the Get Real site to topics such as money, people, and colleges.

### 3.1.7 Articles
The website shall provide a list of links to external articles relevant to CS careers (e.g., "50 best jobs in America," "Dream Jobs 2007").

### 3.1.8 High School Courses (New)
The website shall include a section recommending curricula for high school students interested in CS and related careers.
This section shall provide pointers to curricula recommendations from OUS campuses and other university sources, including ACM recommendations for high school CS students.

### 3.1.9 Search for additional information (New)
The website shall provide at least two types of search capabilities:
1.  An internal search function for content within the Get Real site.
2.  An external search function for CS-related outside sites, such as OUS campuses and CS articles.
The search functionality may utilize tools provided by search engines like Google.

### 3.1.10 Professional Organizations (New)
The website shall feature a listing with links to major professional organizations such as ACM and IEEE, including key subgroups like SIGGRAPH.
The links shall emphasize student sections of these organizations to highlight the national and international strength of CS organizations.

### 3.1.11 RSS feeds of current CS information (New)
The website shall provide RSS feeds of selected articles from the Chancellor’s Office daily communications distribution to subscribers on the Get Real site. This feature requires dedicated web design resources for editing URLs to the DSS feed.

### 3.1.12 Ask a Grad or Prof – FAQ (New)
The website shall provide a mechanism for students to ask questions and receive feedback from the Oregon University System in a Q&A format.
Answers shall be posted in an FAQ section for public viewing.
Alternatively, a blog featuring CS careers by a Grad or Prof could fulfill this function.

### 3.1.13 Consider a CS Minor (New)
The website shall provide information for students in medicine, law, business, and other professions, highlighting the value of having a CS minor.
This section should use examples of CS majors in diverse fields, similar to the "Pathways in Computer Science" video.

## 3.2 Performance requirements
The Get Real site shall be hosted on a server capable of providing rapid response times, comparable to the current `www.ous.edu` site. A slow server response time is not satisfactory due to the short attention spans of high school students.

## 3.3 Usability requirements
The website shall be "teen friendly," easy to navigate, and visually attractive to maintain student attention.
Content shall be presented in readable chunks, avoiding "walls of text," and incorporating more white space, pictures, color, diagrams, and charts to enhance visual appeal.
Existing pages shall be redesigned to shorten paragraphs and add bullets and charts where possible to accommodate faster reading and shorter reader attention spans.

## 3.5 Logical database requirements
[N/A]

## 3.6 Design constraints
*   **Resource Limitations:** The website design and implementation are constrained by limited space, bandwidth for video streaming, and limited availability of Chancellor’s Office resources.
*   **Style Consistency:** The website shall adhere to CSS and other style conventions established in Get Real version 1. Web design conventions shall be consistent with the standards and conventions used on the OUS site.
*   **Browser Compatibility:** The Get Real site shall be designed to work and be tested against Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape browsers.

## 3.7 Software system attributes

### Reliability
[N/A]

### Availability
[N/A]

### Security
Copyright and other security measures for the Get Real site shall be consistent with those of the OUS site.

### Maintainability
Web design conventions shall be consistent with the standards and conventions used on the OUS site to facilitate ease of maintenance.

### Portability
The Get Real site shall be compatible with and tested against IE, Firefox, and Netscape browsers, ensuring cross-browser portability.

## 3.8 Supporting information
The website shall incorporate a mechanism to track and evaluate user "hits" and time spent on the student-focused website over time. This data will be used to inform content, design, and navigation changes as needed.

# 4 Verification

## 4.1 Functions
[N/A]

## 4.2 Performance requirements
[N/A]

## 4.3 Usability requirements
[N/A]

## 4.5 Logical database requirements
[N/A]

## 4.6 Design constraints
[N/A]

## 4.7 Software system attributes
[N/A]

# 5 Appendices

## 5.1 Assumptions and dependencies
There are no development assumptions or dependencies explicitly stated.

## 5.2 Acronyms and abbreviations
[N/A]