Considerations for Evaluating a Web Site? - Input Required

Hello One and All,

I hoping to get your input into what factors and considerations I should
include when evaluating web sites?

- For starters, I know I should consider the overall layout of the site
in terms of the '3 click' rule. As I remember, this rule states that
ideally a visitor should have to make no more than three clicks in order
to access the desired information, as presented on the site.

- Following from this, is ease of navigation that often employees a
navigational pane that's consistently presented in the upper left hand
corner of the page. But it depends on the nature of the site's content.

- The use of colours and layout should support and not distract the over
all presentation of the information.

- The over all layout of the site should conform to the corporate
identity of the supporting institution. In the case, the Federal
Government and their On-line initiative.

Are there any other considerations I should be considering?

The two sites I'm evaluating are at:

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/confederation/kids/index-e.html

and the other one is at:

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/confederation/index-e.html

Presently I'm focusing on the kids site dedicated to explaining Canada's
Confederation, then I'll move onto the 'grown-ups' site on Confederation.

As for the kids' site, so far my criticisms are few, but address the
issue of the images and colour.

On any number of pages, the small almost thumbnail images are too small
to see. Naturally clicking on them presents a larger version, but, I'd
prefer that they do so in a manner that the larger images sits on top of
the initial page, in it's own window. Presently, the way they've set it
up, the image simple opens in another page, without any navigational
icons to return to the previous page. A small point, but all the same
one that I think is valid.

The use of the bright red, almost orange colour may bleed on some
monitors.

Does it do so on yours?

I'm wondering if on monitors with lower colour bit depths this will be
more of a problem.

Also, I find the text appearing on this re/orange background a little
fuzzy, then again, perhaps it's just my monitor. I've tried going to a
lower resolution, and apparently the 'shading' around the text on this
red pane gets worse, and almost pixilated when my monitor is set to
lower resolutions.

So, can anyone suggest any other considerations to touch upon when
evaluating a web site?

Any and all input is greatly appreciated

Cheers,

Bill

Bill Taylor's <big.muck.an.tosh (AT) sympatico (DOT) ca> wrote:

I hoping to get your input into what factors and considerations I should
include when evaluating web sites?
[...]
Are there any other considerations I should be considering?

You might want to consider Jakob Nielsen's top 10 lists, such as

Most Violated Design Guidelines:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20031110.html

2003's Top Ten Web Design Mistakes:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20031222.html

The priority 1 checkpoints in the W3C's WAI guidelines are fairly
non-controversial: http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/

The main thing I look for is whether the content adapts gracefully to
whatever browsing environment the reader happens to be using. This applies
very broadly, and includes adapting to the available display area, using
the user's normal font size for body text, avoiding dependence on less
accessible media for content that doesn't require it, etc.

On any number of pages, the small almost thumbnail images are too small
to see.

One option is to use what Jakob Nielsen calls "Relevance-Enhanced Image
Reduction": http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9611.html

Naturally clicking on them presents a larger version, but, I'd
prefer that they do so in a manner that the larger images sits on top of
the initial page, in it's own window. Presently, the way they've set it
up, the image simple opens in another page, without any navigational
icons to return to the previous page. A small point, but all the same
one that I think is valid.

I disagree.

Shift-click opens the full-sized images in a new window just fine, if I
want a new window. If I don't want a new window, then the back button works
just fine when I'm done with the image. You can assume that everyone knows
how to use their browser's back button (or its equivalent).

Many pages where the author tries to open a new window for me don't work
when I shift-click. Ironically, to open a link in a new window, I have to
stop trying to open it in a new window. And of course, the option of
opening it in the original window has been taken from me.

But this has been discussed many, many times in the ciwa* newsgroups. Check
Google if you want to read more.
--
Darin McGrew, mcgrew (AT) stanfordalumni (DOT) org, http://www.rahul.net/mcgrew/
Web Design Group, darin (AT) htmlhelp (DOT) com, http://www.HTMLHelp.com/

"I can take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once."

Bill Taylor's <big.muck.an.tosh (AT) sympatico (DOT) ca> wrote in
news:big.muck.an.tosh-1A91CC.17071523072004 (AT) news (DOT) bellglobal.com:

Hello One and All,

I hoping to get your input into what factors and considerations I should
include when evaluating web sites?

The two sites I'm evaluating are at:

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/confederation/kids/index-e.html

Very slow loading - I don't have the liveheaders plugin installed,
but there is a huge amount of traffic back and forth before the
page appears in Mozilla on my system, on a first load or a refresh,
and I'm on a highspeed connection.

Disabling images blocks site navigation.

and the other one is at:

http://www.collectionscanada.ca/confederation/index-e.html

Disabling images blocks site navigation.

--
Dave Patton
Canadian Coordinator, Degree Confluence Project
http://www.confluence.org/
My website: http://members.shaw.ca/davepatton/