DOCUMENT ANALYSIS ACTIVITY
Analyzing Page Designs
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The two pages shown here come from different government reports. Both are printed on 8½ × 11-inch paper. The questions following each ask you to think about page design as discussed in this chapter.

"The page is titled as “Physical Activity Builds A Healthy and Strong America.” The page is horizontally divided into three sections. The first section is labeled as “THE PROBLEM” and it is vertically divided into two parts. The first part shows text “1 IN 2,” two pictorial representations of human beings, and a text beside the pictorial representations that reads, “About 1 in 2 adults live with a chronic disease. About half of this group has two or more.” In the second part of the first section, a pictorial representation of a woman in a circle is shown. The text ½ is written inside the circle toward the right side. Text beside the circle reads, “Only half of adults get the physical activity they need to help reduce and prevent chronic disease.”The second section is labeled as “NOT GETTING ENOUGH PHYSICAL ACTIVITY COSTS MONEY.” Text to the left end of the section titled “dollar 117 BILLION” reads, “dollar 117 billion in annual health care costs are associated with inadequate physical activity.” Four illustrations with milestones, “1 year, 5 years, and 10 years” are shown beside the text. The first illustration shows a man reading a book before the 1 year milestone. The second illustration shows a woman walking a dog and the third shows a man cycling, between both the first and the fifth year milestones. The fourth illustration shows a woman jogging between five years and ten-year milestones. The third section is labeled as “IMPACT ON MILITARY READINESS.” A US map overlaid with a few outlines of humans and an illustration of a boy holding a US flag is shown toward the left of the section. Text below the map reads, “Nearly 1 in 4 young adults are too heavy to serve in our military.” Text beside the map reads, “Long-term military readiness is at risk unless a large-scale change in physical activity and nutrition takes place in America. Mission: Readiness Military Leaders for Kids.”"

"The page is titled as “Physical Activity Builds A Healthy and Strong America.” The page is horizontally divided into three sections. The first section is labeled as “THE PROBLEM” and it is vertically divided into two parts. The first part shows text “1 IN 2,” two pictorial representations of human beings, and a text beside the pictorial representations that reads, “About 1 in 2 adults live with a chronic disease. About half of this group has two or more.” In the second part of the first section, a pictorial representation of a woman in a circle is shown. The text ½ is written inside the circle toward the right side. Text beside the circle reads, “Only half of adults get the physical activity they need to help reduce and prevent chronic disease.”The second section is labeled as “NOT GETTING ENOUGH PHYSICAL ACTIVITY COSTS MONEY.” Text to the left end of the section titled “dollar 117 BILLION” reads, “dollar 117 billion in annual health care costs are associated with inadequate physical activity.” Four illustrations with milestones, “1 year, 5 years, and 10 years” are shown beside the text. The first illustration shows a man reading a book before the 1 year milestone. The second illustration shows a woman walking a dog and the third shows a man cycling, between both the first and the fifth year milestones. The fourth illustration shows a woman jogging between five years and ten-year milestones. The third section is labeled as “IMPACT ON MILITARY READINESS.” A US map overlaid with a few outlines of humans and an illustration of a boy holding a US flag is shown toward the left of the section. Text below the map reads, “Nearly 1 in 4 young adults are too heavy to serve in our military.” Text beside the map reads, “Long-term military readiness is at risk unless a large-scale change in physical activity and nutrition takes place in America. Mission: Readiness Military Leaders for Kids.”"

This is a page that has not had design principles applied. There are no columns or indents or formatted heads to help the user navigate the page.

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How many columns are used in this document? How does the column design affect the readability of the page?

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What type of justification has been used for the text? Was this a wise choice for this page size? Why or why not?

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What alignment features, if any, have been used? What problems with alignment, if any, do you see?
This presents a page using certain design features and asks the student questions about how these design features function. See long description for a detailed description of the page.

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How many levels of headings appear on this page? Are the different levels designed effectively so that they are easy to distinguish? If not, what changes would you make to the design?

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How are rules used on this page? Are they effective? Would you change any of them?

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Describe the design of the body text on this page, focusing on columns and alignment. Is the design of the body text effective? Would you change it in any way?