By choice, necessity, or accident, you have come to this web space. I am Bill Williamson (aka Dr. Bill, aka William James Williamson, aka W.J. Williamson), a Professor of Technical Communication in the Department of Rhetoric and Professional Writing at Saginaw Valley State University.
Most people visit my site because they are enrolled in one or more of the courses I offer at SVSU. In addition to the materials I provide to students here, I offer information about my other professional commitments, and some personal content for those interested in such things. The site content is in constant flux, so if you are returning, note that there may be changes evident.
In addition, you may recognize that the site is rather simplistic in design. This is deliberate. The site is built on cascading style sheets using code from the html 1.0 strict generation. Because students may interact with this material from tablets and cell phones, as well as computers, I have kept the structure functional for a variety of browsers and contexts. As a result, this site is utilitarian, rather than aesthetically amazing. Despite the functional design, the site is also text heavy. When I teach web design, we are able to examine the advantages and disadvantages of these strategies.
Because I regularly focus on issues of accessible design, you might note that this site is almost 100% ADA compliant. (I know there are occasional anomalies that prevent me from claiming it is 100% compliant. Such artifacts are symptomatic of developing new site segments every semester, sometimes on the fly. But my goal is to meet accessible design standards whenever possible.) If you notice anything that might be an issue for some visitors, please feel free to reach out to me using the contact information provided in the site.
Note, by the way, that you may encounter pages designed with an alternate color palate. These represent earlier generations of the site. I altered the color scheme with the 2021 edition to signal visually when pages represent the latest generation of design thinking. I began a systemic overhaul again in May of 2024 that is more subtle in appearance, but that represents some significant adjustments to the information architecture of the site. The design changes do not represent whim, however. They engage and enact ux-informed design choices, and signify a stage of pedagogical change and user-centeredness. At least, I hope you'll agree that is so if you are a return stakeholder. Please feel free to share your thoughts if you see fit.