Abstract
As online journalism takes on a larger role in informing the electorate about issues of importance, an understanding of how citizens interact with online journalistic content may be as important as what the content is. If a citizen is not able to find or use the information necessary to make decisions about community issues, the information is worthless. The capability to find and use online information is what the concept of usability is about. This paper presents a case study of how usability can be integrated experientially into an online journalism course. This process helps students better connect the needs of the citizens to the design and content of a Web site by seeing directly the basis for many usability standards.
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