# 1 Introduction
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## 1.1 Purpose
This document specifies the requirements for Rev2 of the Get Real website (http://getreal.ous.edu) and its associated support pages, scheduled for summer of 2007. The website's primary purpose is to attract and encourage Oregon high school students to pursue coursework that leads to a baccalaureate degree in computer science (CS) at one of the seven Oregon University System campuses.

## 1.2 Scope
The software product is the Get Real website, located at http://getreal.ous.edu, and its associated support pages.

The Get Real website will 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. It is designed 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 application's primary goal is to encourage more Oregon students to choose computer science and related majors, ultimately increasing the number of computer science graduates from Oregon universities. It targets two main groups of students: those already interested in CS seeking in-depth information, and college-bound students not necessarily interested in CS who might be persuaded by relevant information. Maintaining a teen-friendly site is crucial to hold student attention and guide them toward a decision to pursue a CS career.

Benefits for users of the site include:

*   Personal and career information from a broad spectrum of CS professionals.
*   CS course and other information from Oregon University System (OUS) campuses.
*   Timely and up-to-date information, potentially including Q&A, to encourage repeat visits.
*   A clear call to action and plans for students to follow to prepare for a CS career.

[N/A]

## 1.3 Product overview
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### 1.3.1 Product perspective
The Get Real website (version 2) is an update of the existing Get Real website version 1. A future version 3 may be needed to incorporate ideas learned from version 2.

The Get Real site operates as an extension of the Oregon University System (OUS) website (e.g., getreal.ous.edu). Being part of the OUS domain is intended to maximize search engine visibility. The site is hosted on Oregon State University (OSU) servers.

The copyright and other security measures for Get Real are expected to be consistent with those of the OUS site. Similarly, web design conventions should adhere to the standards and conventions used on the OUS site.

#### System interfaces

The Get Real website interfaces with the Oregon University System (OUS) domain and infrastructure, operating as an extension of the main OUS site. It is hosted on OSU servers. Its security measures and web design conventions are tied to OUS standards.

#### User interfaces

The Get Real site is required to function correctly and be tested across multiple web browsers, specifically Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape.

#### Hardware interfaces

There are no special hardware interface requirements for the Get Real website.

#### Software interfaces

There are no special software interface requirements for the Get Real website.

#### Communications interfaces

There are no special communication interface requirements for the Get Real website.

#### Memory constraints

Constraints related to "Space" are identified, which implies limitations on primary and secondary memory or storage capacity.

#### Operations

The operation of the Get Real website is subject to the limited availability of Chancellor’s Office resources. Specific operational tasks include the need for web design resources (X hours per week) for editing URLs for RSS feeds. There is also a requirement for ongoing tracking and evaluation of website "hits" and user engagement time, with subsequent content, design, and navigation changes based on these evaluations.

#### Site adaptation requirements

[N/A]

#### Interfaces with services

[N/A]

### 1.3.2 Product functions
The Get Real website will provide the following major functions to attract and encourage Oregon high school students to pursue computer science degrees:

*   **Exploring College:** Present information on computer science offerings from Oregon University System campuses and other Oregon colleges.
*   **Jobs & Money:** Address questions regarding career contributions to society and earning potential with a computer science degree.
*   **Real People:** Feature profiles of recent computer science graduates and experienced professionals, demonstrating diverse career paths and personal stories, potentially through video or audio.
*   **Women in Computer Science:** Showcase profiles of women computer scientists and engineers, emphasizing their roles in problem-solving and community engagement.
*   **Resources:** Offer information on a wide range of pre-college technology programs and courses for high school students.
*   **I’m Looking For...:** Provide a list of focused questions and answers with internal links to topics such as money, people, and colleges.
*   **Articles:** List external articles relevant to computer science careers.
*   **High School Courses:** Recommend curricula for high school students interested in computer science and related careers, including pointers to university recommendations.
*   **Search for additional information:** Implement both internal search capabilities for the Get Real site and external search functionality for related computer science sites.
*   **Professional Organizations:** List and link to national and international computer science organizations, highlighting student sections.
*   **RSS feeds of current CS information:** Deliver selected articles from the chancellor’s office daily communications distribution to RSS subscribers on the site.
*   **Ask a Grad or Prof – FAQ:** Facilitate a question-and-answer format for students to receive feedback from Oregon University System faculty or graduates, with answers posted in an FAQ section or a blog.
*   **Consider a CS Minor:** Provide information for students in other professions (e.g., medicine, law, business) on the high value of pursuing a computer science minor.

### 1.3.3 User characteristics
The primary users of the Get Real website are typical Oregon high school students, ranging from grades 9 to 12. These students generally exhibit short attention spans and a strong preference for visually attractive, easily digestible content over large blocks of text. Their technical expertise varies, but a common need is for intuitive navigation.

User characteristics can be further categorized into three groups:

*   **Students interested in Computer Science (CS):** These users are actively seeking more in-depth and concise information about CS careers. They tend to be more tolerant of text-heavy content if it provides valuable information, and they are particularly interested in sections like college comparison charts and profiles of professionals.
*   **College-bound students not initially interested in CS:** This group requires a more engaging and visually appealing experience to capture their attention and potentially attract them to a CS career. They are less tolerant of poor graphic design, prefer more white space, pictures, diagrams, and charts, and desire information presented in "readable chunks" rather than "walls of text." They need the site to "speak to them" directly.
*   **Students interested in diverse careers (e.g., medicine, law, business):** This group may not be considering a full CS major but could be attracted to the value of a CS minor to enhance their primary field of study.

These characteristics are derived from feedback gathered through interviews with Oregon high school students, highlighting the importance of design changes to accommodate faster page reading and shorter reader attention spans.

### 1.3.4 Limitations
The following items limit the supplier's options for the Get Real website:

*   **Resource Constraints**:
    *   Limited server space.
    *   Limited bandwidth for video streaming.
    *   Limited availability of Chancellor’s Office resources.
*   **Performance Constraints**:
    *   The site must provide adequate response time to accommodate high school students' short attention spans.
*   **Regulatory and Policy Constraints**:
    *   Copyright and security measures must be consistent with those of the OUS site.
    *   Web design conventions must adhere to the standards and conventions used on the OUS site.
    *   The site operates as an extension of the OUS domain and runs on OSU servers, requiring adherence to their infrastructure and policies.
*   **Compatibility Constraints**:
    *   The site must function correctly and be tested against Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape browsers.
*   **Interfaces to other applications**: [N/A]
*   **Parallel operation**: [N/A]
*   **Audit functions**: [N/A]
*   **Control functions**: [N/A]
*   **Higher-order language requirements**: [N/A]
*   **Signal handshake protocols**: [N/A]
*   **Criticality of the application**: [N/A]
*   **Safety considerations**: [N/A]

## 1.4 Definitions
[N/A]

# 2 References
## Compliance

*   **Get Real Version 1 Style Conventions**
    *   Title: [N/A]
    *   Report Number: [N/A]
    *   Date: [N/A]
    *   Publishing Organization: [N/A]
    *   Source: Established in Get Real version 1.
*   **Oregon University System (OUS) Site Security Measures**
    *   Title: [N/A]
    *   Report Number: [N/A]
    *   Date: [N/A]
    *   Publishing Organization: Oregon University System
    *   Source: OUS site (www.ous.edu)
*   **Oregon University System (OUS) Site Web Design Conventions**
    *   Title: [N/A]
    *   Report Number: [N/A]
    *   Date: [N/A]
    *   Publishing Organization: Oregon University System
    *   Source: OUS site (www.ous.edu)

## Guidance

*   **EngineerGirl Website**
    *   Title: EngineerGirl
    *   Report Number: [N/A]
    *   Date: [N/A]
    *   Publishing Organization: National Academy of Engineering
    *   Source: http://www.engineergirl.org
*   **University of Washington Computer Science Videos**
    *   Title: "a day in the life of", "power to change the world", "Pathways in computer science"
    *   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
*   **Women in Computer Science (WICS) at University of Oregon**
    *   Title: WICS UO
    *   Report Number: [N/A]
    *   Date: [N/A]
    *   Publishing Organization: University of Oregon
    *   Source: http://www.cs.uoregon.edu/groups/wics/
*   **University of Pennsylvania Women in Computer Architecture**
    *   Title: Women in Computer Architecture
    *   Report Number: [N/A]
    *   Date: [N/A]
    *   Publishing Organization: University of Pennsylvania
    *   Source: http://www.cis.upenn.edu/acg/wicarch.html
*   **ACM Recommended Curricula for High School CS Students**
    *   Title: [N/A]
    *   Report Number: [N/A]
    *   Date: [N/A]
    *   Publishing Organization: Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
    *   Source: [N/A]

# 3 Requirements
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## 3.1 Functions
The Get Real website shall provide the following core functions to attract and encourage Oregon high school students to pursue computer science careers:

*   **Content Display and Navigation:**
    *   The system shall display a listing of computer science offerings from Oregon University System (OUS) campuses and other Oregon colleges.
    *   The system shall provide information answering questions about how a computer science degree can contribute to society and its earning potential.
    *   The system shall display profiles of recent computer science graduates and experienced professionals, showcasing their use of computer science knowledge in diverse fields.
    *   The system shall display profiles of women computer scientists and engineers, highlighting their problem-solving roles and community involvement.
    *   The system shall display information about a wide range of pre-college technology programs and courses for high school students.
    *   The system shall provide a list of external articles relevant to computer science careers.
    *   The system shall display recommended curricula for high school students interested in computer science and related careers, including pointers to recommendations from OUS campuses and other university sources.
    *   The system shall display a listing of professional computer science organizations (e.g., ACM, IEEE) with links to their student sections.
    *   The system shall display information for students in various professions (e.g., medicine, law, business) highlighting the value of having a computer science minor.
    *   The system shall display selected articles from the chancellor’s office daily communications distribution via RSS feeds.

*   **Interactive Features:**
    *   The system shall support the embedding and playback of video or audio content within professional profiles.
    *   The system shall provide a "Questions and Answers" section with focused questions and answers, including internal links to relevant content within the Get Real site.
    *   The system shall provide an internal search capability to find information within the Get Real site.
    *   The system shall provide an external search capability to find computer science-related information on outside sites (e.g., OUS campuses, articles).
    *   The system shall allow users to submit questions to Oregon University System graduates or professors.
    *   The system shall display answers to submitted questions in an FAQ section.

*   **Administrative Functions:**
    *   The system shall track and evaluate website usage metrics, including "hits" and time spent on the student-focused website.

*   **Validity checks on the inputs:** [N/A]
*   **Exact sequence of operations:** [N/A]
*   **Responses to abnormal situations:** [N/A]
*   **Effect of parameters:** [N/A]
*   **Relationship of outputs to inputs:** [N/A]

## 3.2 Performance requirements
The Get Real site should be hosted on a server that can provide adequate response time. High school students tend to have short attention spans, so a slow server would not be satisfactory for this application. The current OUS (www.ous.edu) site is a good example of rapid response time.

## 3.3 Usability requirements
The Get Real website must be teen-friendly and easy to navigate to effectively attract and hold the attention of high school students.

The site's graphic design must be visually attractive, incorporating more white space, pictures, color, diagrams, and charts to break up text and enhance engagement.

Content should be presented in readable chunks, avoiding "walls of text" by using shorter paragraphs, bullets, and charts where possible, to accommodate faster page reading and shorter reader attention spans.

Navigation must be intuitive and easy, potentially utilizing interactive table menus for more detailed information while keeping main pages concise.

The site should resonate with students, making them feel it offers valuable information even if they are not initially interested in computer science.

Rapid response time is crucial to maintain student engagement, as high school students tend to have short attention spans.

Web design conventions must be consistent with the standards and conventions used on the OUS site to ensure a familiar and predictable user experience.

## 3.5 Logical database requirements
The Get Real website will store and manage various types of information to support its content-rich pages and features.

a) Types of information used by various functions:
*   **Career and Professional Information:** Profiles of recent CS graduates and experienced professionals, including their backgrounds, careers, and potentially video/audio content. This includes specific profiles for women in computing.
*   **Academic Information:** Listings of computer science offerings from Oregon University System campuses and other Oregon colleges, recommended high school curricula for CS, and pre-college technology programs and courses.
*   **Q&A and FAQ Content:** Questions and answers related to CS careers, colleges, and other topics, including a dedicated "Ask a Grad or Prof" section.
*   **External Resources:** Lists of external articles, professional organizations (e.g., ACM, IEEE) with links, and selected articles from the Chancellor's Office daily communications for RSS feeds.
*   **Informational Content:** Details for students in other professions highlighting the value of a CS minor.
*   **Website Usage Data:** Tracking data for "hits" and time spent on the website for evaluation purposes.

b) Frequency of use:
*   Content for pages such as "Real People," "Women in Computer Science," "Exploring College," "High School Courses," and "Ask a Grad or Prof – FAQ" is expected to be accessed frequently by users.
*   Website usage tracking data will be continuously collected and periodically evaluated.
*   [N/A]

c) Accessing capabilities:
*   The system will provide capabilities for internal search of the Get Real site content.
*   Content will be directly accessible via navigation and internal links.
*   FAQ answers will be displayed for all users to read.
*   RSS feed content will be retrieved and displayed.
*   [N/A]

d) Data entities and their relationships:
*   The primary data entities include: Professionals (with attributes like name, career, story, media links), Colleges (with attributes like name, CS offerings), Courses (with attributes like name, description, recommendations), Questions, Answers, Articles (internal and external links), Professional Organizations (with attributes like name, links), and Website Usage Metrics (e.g., page views, session duration).
*   Relationships are implied through content linking (e.g., professionals linked to careers, courses linked to colleges).
*   [N/A]

e) Integrity constraints:
*   [N/A]

f) Security:
*   Copyright and other security measures for the Get Real site's data should align with the standards and practices of the OUS site.
*   [N/A]

g) Data retention requirements:
*   [N/A]

## 3.6 Design constraints
Constraints for the website include:

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

## 3.7 Software system attributes
*   **Security**
    *   Copyright and other security measures for the Get Real site shall be the same as those of the OUS site.
*   **Maintainability**
    *   Web design conventions shall be consistent with the standards and conventions used on the OUS site.
    *   The site shall adhere to CSS and other style conventions established in Get Real version 1.
*   **Usability**
    *   The site shall be teen-friendly to hold student attention and guide viewers to information.
    *   The site shall be easy to navigate.
    *   Pages shall be designed with more white space, pictures, diagrams, charts, and color to be visually attractive.
    *   Information shall be broken into more readable chunks, avoiding "walls of text," by shortening paragraphs and adding bullets and charts where possible to accommodate faster page reading and shorter reader attention spans.

## 3.8 Supporting information
The Get Real website aims to attract and encourage Oregon high school students to pursue baccalaureate degrees in computer science (CS) at one of the seven Oregon University System campuses. The overarching goal is to encourage more Oregon students to choose computer science and related majors, thereby increasing the number of computer science graduates from Oregon universities. Maintaining a teen-friendly site is considered of highest importance to hold student attention and guide viewers toward a decision to pursue a CS career.

Benefits for using the site should include:

*   Personal and career information from a broad spectrum of CS professionals.
*   CS course and other information from Oregon University System (OUS) campuses.
*   Timely and up-to-date information that encourages readers to return to the site, potentially including Q&A.
*   A call to action and plans for students to follow to prepare for a CS career.

Oregon high school students from several schools and classes were interviewed to gather feedback on version 1 of the Get Real site. Common themes emerged regarding the need to change and update the overall site graphic design and the "Real People" section.

Students who were not generally interested in CS suggested:

*   Graphic design changes, more white space, pictures, and easier-to-navigate pages.
*   A site that "spoke to them," as they felt version 1 had little to offer if they were not already CS students.
*   Breaking information into more readable chunks, avoiding "walls of text."
*   More visually attractive information, including color, photos, diagrams, and charts, to break up text and enhance appeal.

Students interested in CS and engineering suggested changes in the "Real People," "Resources," and "Colleges" sections. They were attracted by pictures and positively commented on the college comparison chart and the structured sections within each person's story.

Based on this feedback, changes for version 2 should include design modifications to all existing pages to shorten paragraphs and add bullets and charts where possible, accommodating faster page reading and shorter reader attention spans.

The primary readers of this document are the web designers contributing to and testing the Get Real website.

# 4 Verification
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## 4.1 Functions
The following approaches and methods are planned to verify the functionality of the Get Real website:

*   **User Interface Compatibility Testing**: The website's functionality will be tested against Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape browsers to ensure consistent operation and user experience across these platforms.
*   **Content and Navigation Evaluation**: The effectiveness of the website's content, design, and navigation will be continuously tracked and evaluated by monitoring "hits" and time spent on the student-focused website. This ongoing evaluation will inform necessary content, design, and navigation changes to ensure the site meets its objectives.

## 4.2 Performance requirements
[N/A]

## 4.3 Usability requirements
Usability will be verified by tracking and evaluating website usage, including "hits" and time spent on the student-focused website over time. Content, design, and navigation changes will be made as needed based on the evaluation of these metrics.

## 4.5 Logical database requirements
[N/A]

## 4.6 Design constraints
[N/A]

## 4.7 Software system attributes
[N/A]

# 5 Appendices
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## 5.1 Assumptions and dependencies
There are no development assumptions or dependencies.

## 5.2 Acronyms and abbreviations
*   ACM: Association for Computing Machinery
*   CS: Computer Science
*   CSS: Cascading Style Sheets
*   DSS: [N/A]
*   ETIC: [N/A]
*   FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions
*   HS: High School
*   IE: Internet Explorer
*   IEEE: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
*   OUS: Oregon University System
*   Q & A: Questions and Answers
*   RSS: Really Simple Syndication
*   SIGGRAPH: Special Interest Group on Graphics and Interactive Techniques
*   SRS: Software Requirements Specification
*   TBDs: To Be Determined
*   UO: University of Oregon
*   URL: Uniform Resource Locator
*   WICS: Women in Computer Science
