Journal 5 - Web Site Review
The web site I chose to review for this week's journal was found off of Websitesthatsuck.com, so, understandably, it's pretty awful. The first thing I noticed when I came to this site was the background. It's full of clouds -- which is very distracting to the viewer. Personally, I think the choice to have a 'cloud' background also detracts from the site because it makes it look much less professional. When in doubt, keep it simple. Next, when you first open the webpage, you have no idea what type of site it is. There is no title or header explaining the site's purpose! Instead, the first object on the page is the weather. Is that why I came to this page? To check the weather in Ottawa? I don't think so. Now I don't mean to completely discount this. Having a weather update can always be handy and necessary information. But I would recommend they try moving the updater from the top and center of the page. Maybe put it off to the side, or put a link to the weather down below. That would make much more sense than having it front and center, since this is not a forecasting webpage.
Just below the very oddly placed weather updater, is an even more randomly placed logo that says 'No Texting -- Hands Free Only." We still don't know what this web site is for, so this logo does not make much sense. Is it a taxi driving service? A web site against texting and driving? We just don't know. As you scroll down, however, you can see that it's a site for a driving school. This is poorly designed though. The viewer should not have to scroll down the page to find out what the web site they are looking at is about. Instead, it should be apparent immediately upon opening the page. This web site needs a heading that clearly states the title.
The next problem is the quality of the pictures on this web site. Both images appear to be very grainy and low quality. I would recommend they change these to high resolution pictures -- by updating the quality of their pictures, they will update the quality of their website. Also, the organization of the web site is really poor. You have to scroll down a ways to get to the site's mission statement, history, contacts, etc. This is not helpful at all. I would guess this web site loses a lot of potential customers because they cannot find where the links are to more information. In addition, the layout and design of the site is very distracting. Not only are random sentences moving across the screen in a continuous scroll, but the text varies from a bright blue to a bright red, in on and off patterns. Both colors pull at your eye, so it becomes a competition for which sentences of text you will actually read. In my opinion, all the text needs to be one color, or at least similar shades of the same color. This would help calm the site down a bit.
Overall, this site needs some major fixing up. A driving school is an important web site, and I am sure for the people living in Ottawa, Canada, they would like to be able to use such a site. But until the web site is cleaned up, I would not recommend people try and go to it. Even if you have an extra amount of patience, it is not easy to last very long on this web site. If you're looking to learn how to drive, go somewhere else!
http://www.drivingskills.on.ca
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Journal 4
Journal 4
This week, I decided to review a website I have commonly used in the past, specifically for projects in high school. Jamendo.com is a site to search for legal music downloads. Many times people are in need of a song or soundtrack for a project, but run into the issue of copyright when they find a song on Youtube, or somewhere else similar on the internet. Jamendo serves as a source for completely legal and free music. Pretty neat, right?
So what makes this website so strong. First off, the website has a very organized layout. When you first arrive at the site, the large banner initially catches your eye. In a very simple manner, one is able to find out just what the purpose of this website is. Jamendo -- fast and easy legal music for anyone! There is no head scratching or searching for what this site does, but instead it is perfectly clear to the viewer. Next: the menu bar is very helpful. Above the large banner stating what Jamendo is about, a simple menu bar displays the various links you can click on to further explore the site. There are not hundreds of tabs on the menu bar either, so it is not too overwhelming on the eye. In addition, at the end of the menu bar is a search option. Search options are extremely useful, especially with a site like Jamendo where people will be looking for particular songs.
The third and final thing I find extremely well done by Jamendo is their sorting of music. As you scroll down the page, three columns come into view. Each column is listed: Most popular music, most popular artists, and Jamendo radio channels. I find this very helpful for a more efficient search of music. These three categories help to narrow down the vast amount of music on Jamendo into more succinct sections. Very, very helpful when looking for a song. Well done Jamendo. The site also has links at the bottom of the page to Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, making it easy to connect to separate social networks. Music is commonly being shared on sites such as these, so this addition is quite insightful.
I would absolutely recommend others to go to Jamendo.com. Not only is it a very well designed and organized website, but it is extremely useful for finding legal music downloads. I do not think many people know about this site, but if word could be spread, I am sure it would become a huge hit. The audience members that go there now are most likely predominately students. Due to the fact that academia requires us to obtain our resources in a legal manner, Jamendo is therefore highly used by people in school. If it was not so easy to rip songs off of Youtube, I think more people would use Jamendo. It is 100% user friendly, 100% free and 100% legal. What else can you ask for?
This week, I decided to review a website I have commonly used in the past, specifically for projects in high school. Jamendo.com is a site to search for legal music downloads. Many times people are in need of a song or soundtrack for a project, but run into the issue of copyright when they find a song on Youtube, or somewhere else similar on the internet. Jamendo serves as a source for completely legal and free music. Pretty neat, right?
So what makes this website so strong. First off, the website has a very organized layout. When you first arrive at the site, the large banner initially catches your eye. In a very simple manner, one is able to find out just what the purpose of this website is. Jamendo -- fast and easy legal music for anyone! There is no head scratching or searching for what this site does, but instead it is perfectly clear to the viewer. Next: the menu bar is very helpful. Above the large banner stating what Jamendo is about, a simple menu bar displays the various links you can click on to further explore the site. There are not hundreds of tabs on the menu bar either, so it is not too overwhelming on the eye. In addition, at the end of the menu bar is a search option. Search options are extremely useful, especially with a site like Jamendo where people will be looking for particular songs.
The third and final thing I find extremely well done by Jamendo is their sorting of music. As you scroll down the page, three columns come into view. Each column is listed: Most popular music, most popular artists, and Jamendo radio channels. I find this very helpful for a more efficient search of music. These three categories help to narrow down the vast amount of music on Jamendo into more succinct sections. Very, very helpful when looking for a song. Well done Jamendo. The site also has links at the bottom of the page to Facebook, Twitter and Youtube, making it easy to connect to separate social networks. Music is commonly being shared on sites such as these, so this addition is quite insightful.
I would absolutely recommend others to go to Jamendo.com. Not only is it a very well designed and organized website, but it is extremely useful for finding legal music downloads. I do not think many people know about this site, but if word could be spread, I am sure it would become a huge hit. The audience members that go there now are most likely predominately students. Due to the fact that academia requires us to obtain our resources in a legal manner, Jamendo is therefore highly used by people in school. If it was not so easy to rip songs off of Youtube, I think more people would use Jamendo. It is 100% user friendly, 100% free and 100% legal. What else can you ask for?
http://www.jamendo.com/en/
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Week 3: Web Site Review
Week 3: Web Site Review
This week, let me just start off by saying that I am now a big fan of blogging. Before this class, I had heard of it, but it never seemed all that interesting. Now that I have a blog, I'm realizing how much fun it is. I recently joined Tumblr, a blogging site similar to Blogger.com, and I intend to start my own personal blog separate from school. But that's another story. So let's get to what THIS blog is about. After all, that is what you are currently reading.
For week three, I decided to go back and review another web site from Websitesthatsuck.com, because let's face it, it's just entertaining to look at these pages. This web site is called LingsCars.com. As soon as you go to the page, I am pretty sure you automatically get a migraine. Follow the link at the bottom of the page, and you'll see why!
From what I can see, this web site is for leasing cars in Europe. But that is about all I can see. This site is so overwhelming to the eyes that it is impossible to focus on one word or sentence. There are items bouncing and flashing bright colors, arrows pointing, animations dancing...it's just a royal mess. It is almost painful to look at for more than a few minutes. Not only is it a complete overload on the eyes because of these moving animations, there is obnoxious music playing in the background. What!? Stop!
There is absolutely no organization. Links are everywhere. Every sentence is in a different color, and pretty much everything you scroll over you have the option to click. In addition, the page scrolls down for about two miles (I'm not kidding), with endless text and pictures plastered haphazardly in no particular layout. Who is even the intended audience here? Tourists! People who are looking to lease a car for vacation. Or it could also be locals who simply are looking to lease a car instead of buy. So it's safe to say the site is targeted at adults. This web site fails miserably in trying to target its audience. Cluttered and messy, this web site would drive any adult nuts in about a minute.
This web site is beyond being saved. It needs SOME sort of organization in it's layout, and a consistency in text color. On the same note, it needs to scrap all of the bouncing, flashing, singing animations and words. What ever happened to the word SIMPLE! SIMPLE, SIMPLE, SIMPLE. I can't stress how much simplicity helps. There's one thing for sure. I will most certainly not be leasing a car from Mr. Ling. Thanks, but no thanks.
Until next week!
http://www.lingscars.com/
This week, let me just start off by saying that I am now a big fan of blogging. Before this class, I had heard of it, but it never seemed all that interesting. Now that I have a blog, I'm realizing how much fun it is. I recently joined Tumblr, a blogging site similar to Blogger.com, and I intend to start my own personal blog separate from school. But that's another story. So let's get to what THIS blog is about. After all, that is what you are currently reading.
For week three, I decided to go back and review another web site from Websitesthatsuck.com, because let's face it, it's just entertaining to look at these pages. This web site is called LingsCars.com. As soon as you go to the page, I am pretty sure you automatically get a migraine. Follow the link at the bottom of the page, and you'll see why!
From what I can see, this web site is for leasing cars in Europe. But that is about all I can see. This site is so overwhelming to the eyes that it is impossible to focus on one word or sentence. There are items bouncing and flashing bright colors, arrows pointing, animations dancing...it's just a royal mess. It is almost painful to look at for more than a few minutes. Not only is it a complete overload on the eyes because of these moving animations, there is obnoxious music playing in the background. What!? Stop!
There is absolutely no organization. Links are everywhere. Every sentence is in a different color, and pretty much everything you scroll over you have the option to click. In addition, the page scrolls down for about two miles (I'm not kidding), with endless text and pictures plastered haphazardly in no particular layout. Who is even the intended audience here? Tourists! People who are looking to lease a car for vacation. Or it could also be locals who simply are looking to lease a car instead of buy. So it's safe to say the site is targeted at adults. This web site fails miserably in trying to target its audience. Cluttered and messy, this web site would drive any adult nuts in about a minute.
This web site is beyond being saved. It needs SOME sort of organization in it's layout, and a consistency in text color. On the same note, it needs to scrap all of the bouncing, flashing, singing animations and words. What ever happened to the word SIMPLE! SIMPLE, SIMPLE, SIMPLE. I can't stress how much simplicity helps. There's one thing for sure. I will most certainly not be leasing a car from Mr. Ling. Thanks, but no thanks.
Until next week!
http://www.lingscars.com/
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Week 2: Web Site Review
Week 2:
So this week, I decided to go for a more positive website review. Although it was fun exploring such a mess of a website, it came to my attention that looking at a well designed website would also be interesting. In addition, it would give me the opportunity to say some positive things, which is always a good thing. After all, writing week after week of negative web site reviews would just get depressing. It's good to mix things up, throw some good in with the bad. Who wants to read nothing but complaints? Not too many people I know of, that's for sure. So here are some praises, not complaints, about a website I found particularly well put together.
Sticking with the Washington theme, I chose to review a tourist website for downtown Seattle. (Don't ask me why I've chosen two consecutive websites from Washington. I live across the country, and have never even been to the Evergreen State.) I found this website after perusing different sites that had been nominated for various awards. This one site caught my attention. I knew I liked it because I had the urge to stay on the page and explore. This is always a good sign. When you find yourself intrigued or curious to do a little poking around on a page, you know the website has succeeded in doing it's initial job, which is hooking your attention. So now that I had been effectively hooked, I took the time to examine the site. Here are some reasons why I liked DowntownSeattle.com so much.
This website is very well organized. When you first open the page, your eye is immediately drawn to the picture in the top center of the page. The city of Seattle is beautifully displayed in a well lain out manner, with a clear caption that portrays easily readable text. In addition, the picture changes in slides, becoming another picture of houses along the water, and then successive postings about upcoming events. Each one of these slides has a place you can click to 'read more,' written in the bottom left of the picture. I find this to be an extremely smart design. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing to look at, and thereby encourages the viewer to stay on the page, it is well organized so that someone can easily find more information about an event if they want to do so. The rest of the website is also nicely organized. The menu is very obvious, and there are only a handful of tabs so that the choices of where to get information is not overwhelming. When you hover over each tab, a drop-down appears, allowing you to select whichever option you please. Scrolling down, there is a 'happening now' tab, with a list of selections you can click on such as 'News,' 'Twitter,' or 'Blog.' Overall, the layout and organization is fantastic. I had a very easy time navigating my way through the site.
Why else do I like this website so much. It's simple. The background is white, and the text is written in colors that are easy to read. There is no clutter or extra fluff around the pictures or the menu bar, which makes it very easy on the eye. I did not feel weighed down or overwhelmed by the site, a feeling I definitely experienced visiting the website I reviewed last week. The simplicity of it makes it user friendly, which is smart due to the fact that many of the people visiting this site may be from other countries, and English may not be their first language. At the same time, however, the site is not so simple that it is boring, or bland. To the contrary, I find the simplicity refreshing. It adds to the site's visual appeal, as well as it's easy navigation. My last reason for liking DowntownSeattle.com so much, is that scrolling is kept to a minimum! So many of the other websites I looked at required a long scroll down the page to view all of the information. This is a major turn off for a website. DowntownSeattle.com did an excellent job keeping their website contained so that very little scrolling is required. Well done Seattle web site creators, I commend you!
If I were to make any changes to this website, the one thing I would do is emphasize the 'search' bar. I only noticed this feature towards the end of my investigation of the site, as it is easily overlooked in the upper right hand corner of the page. I would bold the 'search' text to make it stand out more, and increase the size of the search box. This would help viewers to see the search feature, and therefore allow them usage of this helpful tool.
I most definitely would want people to visit this website. It is easy to navigate, even for people from other countries, and it provides useful information right from the home page. The website offers a wide variety of helpful news, as well as useful resources. And time won't be wasted trying to find the right menu tab or which link will take you to further information. Visiting this site would be a very smart move, especially if you are planning a vacation to downtown Seattle. If that is not currently on your plans, I would still recommend taking a look. You may just find yourself starting to plan a trip to Washington. This website is just that good.
http://downtownseattle.com
So this week, I decided to go for a more positive website review. Although it was fun exploring such a mess of a website, it came to my attention that looking at a well designed website would also be interesting. In addition, it would give me the opportunity to say some positive things, which is always a good thing. After all, writing week after week of negative web site reviews would just get depressing. It's good to mix things up, throw some good in with the bad. Who wants to read nothing but complaints? Not too many people I know of, that's for sure. So here are some praises, not complaints, about a website I found particularly well put together.
Sticking with the Washington theme, I chose to review a tourist website for downtown Seattle. (Don't ask me why I've chosen two consecutive websites from Washington. I live across the country, and have never even been to the Evergreen State.) I found this website after perusing different sites that had been nominated for various awards. This one site caught my attention. I knew I liked it because I had the urge to stay on the page and explore. This is always a good sign. When you find yourself intrigued or curious to do a little poking around on a page, you know the website has succeeded in doing it's initial job, which is hooking your attention. So now that I had been effectively hooked, I took the time to examine the site. Here are some reasons why I liked DowntownSeattle.com so much.
This website is very well organized. When you first open the page, your eye is immediately drawn to the picture in the top center of the page. The city of Seattle is beautifully displayed in a well lain out manner, with a clear caption that portrays easily readable text. In addition, the picture changes in slides, becoming another picture of houses along the water, and then successive postings about upcoming events. Each one of these slides has a place you can click to 'read more,' written in the bottom left of the picture. I find this to be an extremely smart design. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing to look at, and thereby encourages the viewer to stay on the page, it is well organized so that someone can easily find more information about an event if they want to do so. The rest of the website is also nicely organized. The menu is very obvious, and there are only a handful of tabs so that the choices of where to get information is not overwhelming. When you hover over each tab, a drop-down appears, allowing you to select whichever option you please. Scrolling down, there is a 'happening now' tab, with a list of selections you can click on such as 'News,' 'Twitter,' or 'Blog.' Overall, the layout and organization is fantastic. I had a very easy time navigating my way through the site.
Why else do I like this website so much. It's simple. The background is white, and the text is written in colors that are easy to read. There is no clutter or extra fluff around the pictures or the menu bar, which makes it very easy on the eye. I did not feel weighed down or overwhelmed by the site, a feeling I definitely experienced visiting the website I reviewed last week. The simplicity of it makes it user friendly, which is smart due to the fact that many of the people visiting this site may be from other countries, and English may not be their first language. At the same time, however, the site is not so simple that it is boring, or bland. To the contrary, I find the simplicity refreshing. It adds to the site's visual appeal, as well as it's easy navigation. My last reason for liking DowntownSeattle.com so much, is that scrolling is kept to a minimum! So many of the other websites I looked at required a long scroll down the page to view all of the information. This is a major turn off for a website. DowntownSeattle.com did an excellent job keeping their website contained so that very little scrolling is required. Well done Seattle web site creators, I commend you!
If I were to make any changes to this website, the one thing I would do is emphasize the 'search' bar. I only noticed this feature towards the end of my investigation of the site, as it is easily overlooked in the upper right hand corner of the page. I would bold the 'search' text to make it stand out more, and increase the size of the search box. This would help viewers to see the search feature, and therefore allow them usage of this helpful tool.
I most definitely would want people to visit this website. It is easy to navigate, even for people from other countries, and it provides useful information right from the home page. The website offers a wide variety of helpful news, as well as useful resources. And time won't be wasted trying to find the right menu tab or which link will take you to further information. Visiting this site would be a very smart move, especially if you are planning a vacation to downtown Seattle. If that is not currently on your plans, I would still recommend taking a look. You may just find yourself starting to plan a trip to Washington. This website is just that good.
http://downtownseattle.com
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Week 1: Web Site Review
Week 1: Web sites that suck
So for the first week of my Web Development class, we have been asked to write a post on a website we feel needs improvement. After searching through websitesthatsuck.com (a hilarious site to visit in spare time by the way) I found a website that was particularly horrifying. The link to this website will be included at the bottom of the page so everyone can see just how terrible it is. Here are some things I find so awful about this site, and what I would recommend be improved.
Let's get started. This is the website for the Yakima County Clerk, and it looks like their purpose is to provide information about the local court house in Yakima, Washington. The intended audience would of course be the local folks living in Yakima. Easy enough, right? Unfortunately, not so. These poor people living in Yakima, who want to access information about the Country Clerk. It's important information too, not some fluff that nobody looks at. For example, my eye caught tabs for information on child support, custody matters, adoption and wills. The people trying to find out how to adopt a child or write their will, they just don't know what they are in for.
According to the blocky black text at the top of the page, 'this site is currently under constructions.' First off, that is a bit disconcerting. (As a side note, I didn't even realize construction could be plural word. Think about it, when have you heard of a site being under constructions?) But anyways, what does construction imply for the site itself? Does this mean the site will be constantly changing in layout? So the tab I am used to seeing at the top of the menu will now be in the bottom left corner? Just the fact that the site is 'under constructions' points to how poorly it was put together. But let's look past this. Yakima County Clerk, for whatever reason, chose for their background to be a lovely grayish charcoal color. Coupled with this dreary background are bright tabs of various colors, and a yellow and bright blue text that is extremely obnoxious to read against the gray. This alone makes it hard for any intended audience member to read the site. Not only is the color scheme out of control and rough on the eye, the text itself is scattered all over the page. There seems to be no comprehensible layout organization. There are sporadic links thrown in the middle of paragraphs, and certain words or phrases highlighted that look like links, but really are not. Good luck Yakima citizens.
After the initial shock of the overwhelming color schemes passed, I took some time to explore the menu layout. There are literally tabs on the left, right and top of the page. Any prospective visiter to this site will have their work cut out trying to find any information beyond the homepage. I for one, can confidently say that this site was of no use to me. I would most definitely not encourage others to visit this web site, as it would be a royal waste of time (unless they were simply looking for a good laugh at how ridiculous it is).
Here are some things I would improve concerning Yakima's County Clerk website. First off, the color! What ever happened to a white background, and good old black text. Sometimes, simple is better. Especially to start out. After that, I would change the layout of the text. Instead of random paragraphs and one or two sentences spaced out all over the page, I would group the words into small, not overwhelming, paragraphs of information. I would also put them in boxes to give the sense of organization and containment. Also important, there would be NO NEED TO SCROLL. A homepage should not require scrolling, and if it does, it should be very minimal. The menu should be centered at the top of the page, in an organized fashion. Both the left and the right sides of the screen should be free of clutter, no tabs or links at all. In addition, I would make the title of the webpage much clearer. (Currently it is a dark green on a black background). The menu tabs would be easily identifiable, so less tech-saavy users would still be able to easily access the web site. And there would be no warning that this site is currently under constructions.
These are just some adjustments I would make to improve Yakima County Clerk's web site. To all the locals of Yakima, I extend my condolences. Hopefully the Yakima County Clerk will take a wake up call and make these necessary changes. Until then, good luck!
http://www.yakimacounty.us/clerk/Web04/default.htm
So for the first week of my Web Development class, we have been asked to write a post on a website we feel needs improvement. After searching through websitesthatsuck.com (a hilarious site to visit in spare time by the way) I found a website that was particularly horrifying. The link to this website will be included at the bottom of the page so everyone can see just how terrible it is. Here are some things I find so awful about this site, and what I would recommend be improved.
Let's get started. This is the website for the Yakima County Clerk, and it looks like their purpose is to provide information about the local court house in Yakima, Washington. The intended audience would of course be the local folks living in Yakima. Easy enough, right? Unfortunately, not so. These poor people living in Yakima, who want to access information about the Country Clerk. It's important information too, not some fluff that nobody looks at. For example, my eye caught tabs for information on child support, custody matters, adoption and wills. The people trying to find out how to adopt a child or write their will, they just don't know what they are in for.
According to the blocky black text at the top of the page, 'this site is currently under constructions.' First off, that is a bit disconcerting. (As a side note, I didn't even realize construction could be plural word. Think about it, when have you heard of a site being under constructions?) But anyways, what does construction imply for the site itself? Does this mean the site will be constantly changing in layout? So the tab I am used to seeing at the top of the menu will now be in the bottom left corner? Just the fact that the site is 'under constructions' points to how poorly it was put together. But let's look past this. Yakima County Clerk, for whatever reason, chose for their background to be a lovely grayish charcoal color. Coupled with this dreary background are bright tabs of various colors, and a yellow and bright blue text that is extremely obnoxious to read against the gray. This alone makes it hard for any intended audience member to read the site. Not only is the color scheme out of control and rough on the eye, the text itself is scattered all over the page. There seems to be no comprehensible layout organization. There are sporadic links thrown in the middle of paragraphs, and certain words or phrases highlighted that look like links, but really are not. Good luck Yakima citizens.
After the initial shock of the overwhelming color schemes passed, I took some time to explore the menu layout. There are literally tabs on the left, right and top of the page. Any prospective visiter to this site will have their work cut out trying to find any information beyond the homepage. I for one, can confidently say that this site was of no use to me. I would most definitely not encourage others to visit this web site, as it would be a royal waste of time (unless they were simply looking for a good laugh at how ridiculous it is).
Here are some things I would improve concerning Yakima's County Clerk website. First off, the color! What ever happened to a white background, and good old black text. Sometimes, simple is better. Especially to start out. After that, I would change the layout of the text. Instead of random paragraphs and one or two sentences spaced out all over the page, I would group the words into small, not overwhelming, paragraphs of information. I would also put them in boxes to give the sense of organization and containment. Also important, there would be NO NEED TO SCROLL. A homepage should not require scrolling, and if it does, it should be very minimal. The menu should be centered at the top of the page, in an organized fashion. Both the left and the right sides of the screen should be free of clutter, no tabs or links at all. In addition, I would make the title of the webpage much clearer. (Currently it is a dark green on a black background). The menu tabs would be easily identifiable, so less tech-saavy users would still be able to easily access the web site. And there would be no warning that this site is currently under constructions.
These are just some adjustments I would make to improve Yakima County Clerk's web site. To all the locals of Yakima, I extend my condolences. Hopefully the Yakima County Clerk will take a wake up call and make these necessary changes. Until then, good luck!
http://www.yakimacounty.us/clerk/Web04/default.htm
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