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Virtual schools are growing fast, though, at an annual rate of about 25 percent. Estimates of elementary and secondary students taking virtual classes range from 500,000 to 1 million nationally, compared with total public school enrollment of about 50 million.

Arguing for the development of aesthetic literacy, Sykes states, "What is at stake is not just another course in the curriculum but the recognition that the qualitative dimension of life, the sense of who we are as human beings, has a place in general education."

Only 4% of the students said they'd ever had an online conversation that made them uncomfortable, and only 2% said an online stranger tried to meet them in person. In fact, after surveying 1,277 students, the researchers found exactly one who reported they'd actually met a person from the internet without their parents' permission — and described this as "0.08 percent of all students."

In fact, 76% of parents expect social networking will improve their children's reading and writing skills, or help them express themselves more clearly, according to the study, and parents and communities "expect schools to take advantage of potentially powerful educational tools, including new technology."

Screen performance data and new research indicate that users will scroll to find information and items below the fold.

<p>The most basic rule of thumb is that for every site the user should be able to understand what your site is about by the information presented to them above the fold. If they have to scroll to even discover what the site is, its success is unlikely.</p> <p>Functionality that is essential to business strategy should remain (or at least begin) above the fold.</p>

"Many people," Kornell noted, "have had the experience of listening to a computer instructor open a menu and go through a series of steps. Then you try to do it, and you don't even know which menu or what the first step is. If you are passively following along, you won't remember it as well as if you're forced to do it yourself. Active learning is much harder, but if you can do it successfully, you will remember it much better in the long run.

<p>I admit to having overlooked <code>alt</code> text. Until a year ago I sniffed at the idea of creating useful <code>alt</code> text for images. “If a user is blind,” I reasoned, “what does he care that I have a photograph of the university tower on my website?”</p> <p>My fellow designer shrugged. “Well, I guess if you don’t really care about what the image <em>says</em>,” she said slowly, “you really don’t need it in the first place.”</p>