Interface and Design Overview

TILT was originally written for Netscape 3.0 and Internet Explorer 4.0 browsers and above. It utilizes JavaScript, PHP, and Flash interactions that are compliant with these browsers. Currently TILT also uses an LDAP directory for registration, although this is not necessary for TILT to function correctly. ALT tags have been placed in all images. For more information on PHP please see: http://www.php.net/. For more information on LDAP see: http://www.openldap.org/.

The tutorial is accessible regardless of browser or platform. Updates are tested on both Macintosh and PC computers for both Internet Explorer and Netscape. To reach students with slower Internet connections and those who are unable or unwilling to accept cookies or plug-ins, there is a streamlined version of the tutorial called "TILT Lite".

TILT's standard interface is a three-framed frameset (tilt.htm): top_nav, bot_nav, and content. Most of the links on the top and bottom blue navigation bars target the middle frame named "content". The "Word" item in the top navigation bar opens a smaller, pop-up window.

A new navigational system could easily be designed for TILT content. Currently a "no-frames" version of TILT does not exist, but one could be created with slight alterations to the navigation and the development of an alternative quiz. Since frames are now compatible with the current generation of browsers and devices for the visually impaired, a no-frames version would be most useful for easier printing and search engine spidering.

The following colors are used throughout TILT:

bgcolor - FFFCEB
text - 000333
link - 1F4366
vlink - 1F4366
alink - FFFCEB

The complete text, graphics, and interactions of both the "Full TILT" and "TILT Lite" versions easily fit on a Zip disc at approximately 30 MB. The compressed file distributed in yourTILT is approximately 9.5 MB.

Brent Simpson, simp@mail.utexas.edu
Last updated: March 20, 2001