design questions

[Kadish, Lesley]

The Historical Society and LMIC are currently working with MapServer and Chameleon to create an online GIS for 5th-12th grade History and Geography classrooms. We've got great content. What we don't have is great design. So. We're in the process of hiring a design firm to make the webpage attractive to computer-savvy kids. What I'm wondering is:  What questions will the designers need to ask the Chameleon/MapServer code writers in order to determine what the limitations are? For example, is the standard Chameleon toolbar something that can be redesigned without programming/code-writing skills? Is it good idea to design using CSS? This may be getting us into hot water, but are any of you familiar with AJAX, and is it compatible with MapServer? Thanks very much for any and all of your thoughts. 

Lesley Kadish
G.I.S. Project Analyst
Collections Department
Minnesota Historical Society
345 Kellogg Boulevard West
Saint Paul, MN 55102-1906
tel: (651) 297-1261
email: lesley.kadish at mnhs.org
website: http://www.mnhs.org/preserve/records/geographyonline/main.htm