Introduction
Designing the website as an art and make it user friendly is an attitude. This blog entry includes 3 criteria to assess the website for ITC-589 assignment. There were few options available to select the particular website for review and suggestions for improvement. I have chosen to go for local community newspaper website in Australia. The URL of the site is http://www.nvi.com.au/
The website contains the news of local community and some important national news. It also includes the sports section which holds the news about local sports and what is happening around the area. The upcoming events section shows forthcoming events in surroundings. There is a page or a link that says Article on the website which indicates there are different articles and another link about Advertisement. The target audience is local people living in that area. The age group I think is between 12 and 65 in other words according to website there is something about everyone.
The aim of the website is to provide information with regards to what happened, what is happening and the coming activities specifically in that area and what are the chances of improvements in the local community. Moreover to provide articles and events details for everyone so more people can read and participate respectively.
Criteria
People access website more nowadays then decade before. Different types of devices available which supports web browsing and easy access to information. According to Morris, T. there are few options or criteria available to get the idea of the website that how well it is designed and how good it is in regards of content and structure. I am going to discuss 3 criteria and match against website and proposed the recommendations for improvement.
Look and Feel
Look and feel of any website is very important and a great chance for a user to visit the site again. According to Joel Sklar, “The look and feel is both the way your Website works and the personality it conveys to the user. The website design must be portable and this is also a secret to be successful. The more portable the website is the better chance for it to gain success around people.
The design of nominated website is good but not portable. You can’t see the same page in Chrome and Opera browsers. Things are slightly different in both browsers as well as on other handheld devices. I think website designer forgot to test on different environments. It is indeed design for the low bandwidth but the information is not easy accessible. The important ingredient is missing on this website and that is “SEARCH” option. There is no search option or page available to search for particular content.
Page Layout
Page layout is most important part of designing a website and for a website. If user lands on the website, is there interesting information available on home page? Is there a company logo, name or tagline which defines the purpose of website visible on the page? Is the navigation consistent? All of these things does matter for a successful website campaign. If the website and information is catchy user will definitely browse the website or visit it again.
Page layout of the Namoi Valley Independent website does not follow basic website design practice by Terry Morris. The site header and logo is there but not consistent and one of the pages got no picture while other got small company name and logo. There is inconsistency in layout and does not follow basic principles. There are lots of white spaces on the page and there is no balance of text, graphics and white spaces. Home page also lacks compelling and interesting information and is not appealing for users / visitors.
Navigation and functionality
Last but not the least the navigation and functionality options are very important for any websites. Navigation help users to find the information they are looking for and also help them to jump from one page to another. The functionality of website covers internal links of the website. The mailto option, hyperlink and bookmark on website should not be broken and work properly.
Navigation and functionality on http://www.nvi.com.au/ is fine. All main navigation links are clearly and consistently labeled and easy to find. Some information is given on the main page but there is no separate navigation link available on site. All main navigation hyperlinks are working but internal links are broken. The functionality of website is poor, internal links are broken and instead of use few words as a hyperlink the whole section was hyperlinked. There is hyperlink functionality for different articles but all of them access the same page. The Navigation and functionality feature is poorly designed for the website.
Recommendations
Well, according to Terry Morris and Joel Sklar the website should follow the basic principles of website design. I think one of the best ways is to design a website portable. XHTML, CSS, HTML5 and Java-script should be use to make it browser compatible. The concept of “Design for Low Bandwidth” should be followed and decrease the size of images used. One of the important features should be added for the website “The Search Option”.
The site header, company logo and there sizes should be the same throughout the whole website. The header and footer should be consistent and follow the basic website design principles. The best think to use proper white spaces, the contrast between the color should be maintained and balance between text and graphics must be sustained. I would love to add important information on the home page and make headings and text clearly visible.
In the end the navigation and functionality should be fixed to make it site user friendly. The main navigation links follow the proper hyperlinks and pages must contain contents. The email option would be a great addition to the current website and it will also maintain the relation between businesses. Broken links internal or external should be fixed and must go on appropriate pages. I would love to add few things for kids so they can also visit the website and learn some interesting things.
References
Designing the website as an art and make it user friendly is an attitude. This blog entry includes 3 criteria to assess the website for ITC-589 assignment. There were few options available to select the particular website for review and suggestions for improvement. I have chosen to go for local community newspaper website in Australia. The URL of the site is http://www.nvi.com.au/
The website contains the news of local community and some important national news. It also includes the sports section which holds the news about local sports and what is happening around the area. The upcoming events section shows forthcoming events in surroundings. There is a page or a link that says Article on the website which indicates there are different articles and another link about Advertisement. The target audience is local people living in that area. The age group I think is between 12 and 65 in other words according to website there is something about everyone.
The aim of the website is to provide information with regards to what happened, what is happening and the coming activities specifically in that area and what are the chances of improvements in the local community. Moreover to provide articles and events details for everyone so more people can read and participate respectively.
Criteria
People access website more nowadays then decade before. Different types of devices available which supports web browsing and easy access to information. According to Morris, T. there are few options or criteria available to get the idea of the website that how well it is designed and how good it is in regards of content and structure. I am going to discuss 3 criteria and match against website and proposed the recommendations for improvement.
Look and Feel
Look and feel of any website is very important and a great chance for a user to visit the site again. According to Joel Sklar, “The look and feel is both the way your Website works and the personality it conveys to the user. The website design must be portable and this is also a secret to be successful. The more portable the website is the better chance for it to gain success around people.
The design of nominated website is good but not portable. You can’t see the same page in Chrome and Opera browsers. Things are slightly different in both browsers as well as on other handheld devices. I think website designer forgot to test on different environments. It is indeed design for the low bandwidth but the information is not easy accessible. The important ingredient is missing on this website and that is “SEARCH” option. There is no search option or page available to search for particular content.
Page Layout
Page layout is most important part of designing a website and for a website. If user lands on the website, is there interesting information available on home page? Is there a company logo, name or tagline which defines the purpose of website visible on the page? Is the navigation consistent? All of these things does matter for a successful website campaign. If the website and information is catchy user will definitely browse the website or visit it again.
Page layout of the Namoi Valley Independent website does not follow basic website design practice by Terry Morris. The site header and logo is there but not consistent and one of the pages got no picture while other got small company name and logo. There is inconsistency in layout and does not follow basic principles. There are lots of white spaces on the page and there is no balance of text, graphics and white spaces. Home page also lacks compelling and interesting information and is not appealing for users / visitors.
Navigation and functionality
Last but not the least the navigation and functionality options are very important for any websites. Navigation help users to find the information they are looking for and also help them to jump from one page to another. The functionality of website covers internal links of the website. The mailto option, hyperlink and bookmark on website should not be broken and work properly.
Navigation and functionality on http://www.nvi.com.au/ is fine. All main navigation links are clearly and consistently labeled and easy to find. Some information is given on the main page but there is no separate navigation link available on site. All main navigation hyperlinks are working but internal links are broken. The functionality of website is poor, internal links are broken and instead of use few words as a hyperlink the whole section was hyperlinked. There is hyperlink functionality for different articles but all of them access the same page. The Navigation and functionality feature is poorly designed for the website.
Recommendations
Well, according to Terry Morris and Joel Sklar the website should follow the basic principles of website design. I think one of the best ways is to design a website portable. XHTML, CSS, HTML5 and Java-script should be use to make it browser compatible. The concept of “Design for Low Bandwidth” should be followed and decrease the size of images used. One of the important features should be added for the website “The Search Option”.
The site header, company logo and there sizes should be the same throughout the whole website. The header and footer should be consistent and follow the basic website design principles. The best think to use proper white spaces, the contrast between the color should be maintained and balance between text and graphics must be sustained. I would love to add important information on the home page and make headings and text clearly visible.
In the end the navigation and functionality should be fixed to make it site user friendly. The main navigation links follow the proper hyperlinks and pages must contain contents. The email option would be a great addition to the current website and it will also maintain the relation between businesses. Broken links internal or external should be fixed and must go on appropriate pages. I would love to add few things for kids so they can also visit the website and learn some interesting things.
References
- Felke-Morris, T. (2012), Basics of Web Design HTML5 & CSS3, Pearson Education: Boston.
- Felke-Morris, T. (2009), Web Development and design foundations, Boston: Pearson Education.
- Joel Sklar, (2009) Principles of Web Design, Course Technology.
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