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Site critique
- Thread starter JediBMC
- Start date
Some things that I've noticed (in no particular order!):
1) You should create a link for the W3C logo so users can click to validate yoru site
2) Use © for your copywrite on the footer
3) Remove the email addresses from the contact page & the contatc the webmaster section to prevent spamming (use a contact form instead)
4) You've limited the text size so users can't change it via their browser
5) You have a style tag that doesn't have any styles in it
6) There's no print stylesheet and the page doesn't print very well
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1) You should create a link for the W3C logo so users can click to validate yoru site
2) Use © for your copywrite on the footer
3) Remove the email addresses from the contact page & the contatc the webmaster section to prevent spamming (use a contact form instead)
4) You've limited the text size so users can't change it via their browser
5) You have a style tag that doesn't have any styles in it
6) There's no print stylesheet and the page doesn't print very well
____________________________________________________________
Need help finding an answer?
Try the Search Facility or read FAQ222-2244 on how to get better results.
Sorry if someone else already pointed this out, but:
1. The 'photo gallary' should display a larger version under the thumbnails or on a page of its own within the site layout. Otherwise, most people will assume a new window opened up and close the browser. Plus you want the user a way to get back to the photo gallary view without clicking the browser back button.
2. 'Contact Us' should really be a form where the user can submit as opposed to having a 'mailto:' link.
3. All your external links should open a new window. Why would you want to direct your users away from your site.
4. I'd use some more colors and graphics. The site looks too bland.
____________________________________
Just Imagine.
1. The 'photo gallary' should display a larger version under the thumbnails or on a page of its own within the site layout. Otherwise, most people will assume a new window opened up and close the browser. Plus you want the user a way to get back to the photo gallary view without clicking the browser back button.
2. 'Contact Us' should really be a form where the user can submit as opposed to having a 'mailto:' link.
3. All your external links should open a new window. Why would you want to direct your users away from your site.
4. I'd use some more colors and graphics. The site looks too bland.
____________________________________
Just Imagine.
I agree about the email address being in view - you'll surely get spammed from that. Use a proper form for email.
The thumbnails aren't thumbnails - they are the same file using the browser to make them appear thumbnail size. This makes them relatively slow to load. Shrink them in your image handling software and only load the big image when required.
Copyright - not copywrite!
________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first.
'If we're supposed to work in Hex, why have we only got A fingers?'
Drive a Steam Roller
The thumbnails aren't thumbnails - they are the same file using the browser to make them appear thumbnail size. This makes them relatively slow to load. Shrink them in your image handling software and only load the big image when required.
Copyright - not copywrite!
________________________________________________________________
If you want to get the best response to a question, please check out FAQ222-2244 first.
'If we're supposed to work in Hex, why have we only got A fingers?'
Drive a Steam Roller
- Thread starter
- #6
Thank you all for your comments. Several of these are issues I was already aware of and I am still working on.
ca8msm:
[ol][li]I removed the link to the validation site due to some issues with the USCG Auxiliary’s link policy. I think I have found a way around this, and will add the link back in.[/li]
[li]The copy write was something I added recently. I knew I forgot to add the symbol! DOH!!!![/li]
[li]Unfortunately, I am using the USCG Auxiliary’s servers. Because of this, I am unsure what form posting scripts are available to me. Once I have that figured out, I will modify the contacts to use a form instead of spawning emails.[/li]
[li]The size restriction was intentional… to an extent. I always use FF, and even with the size specified in the CSS, you can resize the text. Testing it out in IE, I now realize that IE will not allow this. I will have to think about the value of having it consistent vs. accommodating the visually impaired.[/li]
[li]I’ll have to look into this...[/li]
[li]I will add a print css tag to force it into landscape. That will fit the entire page correctly and should take care of printing issues. Truly, I am not too sure that there will be much here that will need to be printed, with the exception of the directions to the meeting.[/li]
[/ol]
GUJUm0deL:
[ol][li]The gallery is the one area that I intend to improve as time goes on. There will probably be a “slide show” type of functionality added.[/li]
[li]Already commented on this.[/li]
[li]I am not to sure about this one… For the longest time, I used the idea of spawning new windows for links, but stopped on reading an article that discouraged it. The main reason they discouraged it was that it is forcing something on the user, where without it, they can choose on their own if it is in a new window/tab or the existing.[/li]
[li]Graphics are in the works. Unfortunately, I was given very little to work with, graphically speaking.[/li]
[/ol]
TamedTech:
Great suggestion, I will make that change.
-Brian-
I'm not an actor, but I play one on TV.
ca8msm:
[ol][li]I removed the link to the validation site due to some issues with the USCG Auxiliary’s link policy. I think I have found a way around this, and will add the link back in.[/li]
[li]The copy write was something I added recently. I knew I forgot to add the symbol! DOH!!!![/li]
[li]Unfortunately, I am using the USCG Auxiliary’s servers. Because of this, I am unsure what form posting scripts are available to me. Once I have that figured out, I will modify the contacts to use a form instead of spawning emails.[/li]
[li]The size restriction was intentional… to an extent. I always use FF, and even with the size specified in the CSS, you can resize the text. Testing it out in IE, I now realize that IE will not allow this. I will have to think about the value of having it consistent vs. accommodating the visually impaired.[/li]
[li]I’ll have to look into this...[/li]
[li]I will add a print css tag to force it into landscape. That will fit the entire page correctly and should take care of printing issues. Truly, I am not too sure that there will be much here that will need to be printed, with the exception of the directions to the meeting.[/li]
[/ol]
GUJUm0deL:
[ol][li]The gallery is the one area that I intend to improve as time goes on. There will probably be a “slide show” type of functionality added.[/li]
[li]Already commented on this.[/li]
[li]I am not to sure about this one… For the longest time, I used the idea of spawning new windows for links, but stopped on reading an article that discouraged it. The main reason they discouraged it was that it is forcing something on the user, where without it, they can choose on their own if it is in a new window/tab or the existing.[/li]
[li]Graphics are in the works. Unfortunately, I was given very little to work with, graphically speaking.[/li]
[/ol]
TamedTech:
Great suggestion, I will make that change.
-Brian-
I'm not an actor, but I play one on TV.
[ul]
[li]
I (and many others) would strongly disagree with that.
Let the user decide where to open the external link. Me, I like to open them in tabs rather than a new window. If a link opens a new window it annoys me. Let me decide.
You did it right.[/li]
[li]Definitely follow John's advice on the thumbnails.
I would go further and say that 86Kb is a bit hefty even for the full size version! Images of that size should be no more than 15Kb (or so). The thumbnails should be 1-3Kb max (and that's being generous!)[/li]
[li]I get PHP "failed to open file stream" errors in the footer.[/li]
[li]In the "Join the Auxillary" page, what purpose does the following serve?
Why not just let them navigate away from the page.[/li]
[li]Personally, I would just let the page expand downwards to accomodate the content rather than have a fixed height content area and scrollbar appearing.[/li]
[li]There is a difference in layout on a few of pages, Boating Safety for example. There is a gap between the header and navigation on some pages and not others.[/li]
[li]
Why have "Click here" and then a [click]? Why not make the "Click here" the link? Better still make the link the descriptive line as to what that link does.
Descriptive link text is much more desirable than just "click here" for a number of reasons. Not least for better accessibility.
Think about your link text and avoid "click here" syndrome.
I also find the square bracket really annoying (but that might just be me)
[/li]
[li]Make the header a link back to the home page.[/li]
[li]Not too sure why there is a [more] link on the events page. Why not just list the events?[/li]
[li]You have lots of block level elements taht simply contain another element such as an image or link. Why not apply a class to the image or link making IT a block level element. You can then cut the amount of markup down. I'm guessing that with some clever thinking you could reduce the amount of HTML quite considerably.[/li]
[/ul]
<honk>*:O)</honk>
Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web site design in Cheltenham and Gloucester
Ham and Jam - British & Commonwealth forces mod for Half Life 2
[li]
I (and many others) would strongly disagree with that.
Let the user decide where to open the external link. Me, I like to open them in tabs rather than a new window. If a link opens a new window it annoys me. Let me decide.
You did it right.[/li]
[li]Definitely follow John's advice on the thumbnails.
I would go further and say that 86Kb is a bit hefty even for the full size version! Images of that size should be no more than 15Kb (or so). The thumbnails should be 1-3Kb max (and that's being generous!)[/li]
[li]I get PHP "failed to open file stream" errors in the footer.[/li]
[li]In the "Join the Auxillary" page, what purpose does the following serve?
Why not just let them navigate away from the page.[/li]
[li]Personally, I would just let the page expand downwards to accomodate the content rather than have a fixed height content area and scrollbar appearing.[/li]
[li]There is a difference in layout on a few of pages, Boating Safety for example. There is a gap between the header and navigation on some pages and not others.[/li]
[li]
Why have "Click here" and then a [click]? Why not make the "Click here" the link? Better still make the link the descriptive line as to what that link does.
Descriptive link text is much more desirable than just "click here" for a number of reasons. Not least for better accessibility.
Think about your link text and avoid "click here" syndrome.
I also find the square bracket really annoying (but that might just be me)
[/li][li]Make the header a link back to the home page.[/li]
[li]Not too sure why there is a [more] link on the events page. Why not just list the events?[/li]
[li]You have lots of block level elements taht simply contain another element such as an image or link. Why not apply a class to the image or link making IT a block level element. You can then cut the amount of markup down. I'm guessing that with some clever thinking you could reduce the amount of HTML quite considerably.[/li]
[/ul]
<honk>*:O)</honk>
Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web site design in Cheltenham and Gloucester
Ham and Jam - British & Commonwealth forces mod for Half Life 2
My 2c...
The grey-on-white and relatively small text size makes the body text quite hard to read. consider a darker grey and/or larger size. You might also want to experiment with sans-serif fonts.
The body text also looks quite cramped, as it's butting up right against the edges of the content box. Give div#center a bit of padding to leave some breathing room.
Links don't really stand out from the rest of the text. Maybe if they did, you wouldn't need all those manky "click here"s. They don't have to be bright blue, but some colour differentiation would be a good idea.
Your menu options could have more punch:
[ul]
[li]"About 10-03" - What's that? A date? Oh, no, 10-03 is what you call yourselves. "About Us" or just "About" would be better.
[/li]
[li]"Schedule of Events" - Try "Events" instead.
[/li]
[li]"Photo Gallery" - "Gallery", or maybe "Photos"
[/li]
[li]"Join the Auxiliary" - "Join Us"[/li]
[/ul]
With less wordy options, the text on the menu can be bigger and more legible.
You really need at least some content on the "Join the Auxiliary" page. Presumably there are requirements that prospective recruits must reach - age limits for example. The Coastguard page that you link to seems to bat prospects back to their local auxiliary: "Your inquiry will be forwarded to an Auxiliary member who lives in your general area for follow-up", so it hardly seems worth going to (though it does have more information than your whole site on what the Auxiliary is and what it does).
Use the right elements for the right things. The titles of your content areas are [tt]<p class="SectionTitle">[/tt], just use a [tt]<h1>[/tt]. The subheadings on the Privacy Policy page are (bizarrely) [tt]<p class="DateStamp">[/tt], use a [tt]<h2>{/tt]. If you stop using [tt]<p>[/tt]s for these other things, you'll no longer need/want to mark up regular paragraphs as [tt]<p class="generaltxt">[/tt]. General text is what [tt]<p>[/tt] elements are for, you shouldn't need a class to say so. Chris's rule of CSS: "If you're adding a class to every element, you're probably doing something wrong".
From the Privacy page:
Is "fellowshipping" really a word state-side? God help us.
PS. Foamy, are you really proposing compressing a 800x600 pixel image into 15K ? It'll look terrible! 86K seems about par to me, and OK if you put it behind a thumbnail.
-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd
The grey-on-white and relatively small text size makes the body text quite hard to read. consider a darker grey and/or larger size. You might also want to experiment with sans-serif fonts.
The body text also looks quite cramped, as it's butting up right against the edges of the content box. Give div#center a bit of padding to leave some breathing room.
Links don't really stand out from the rest of the text. Maybe if they did, you wouldn't need all those manky "click here"s. They don't have to be bright blue, but some colour differentiation would be a good idea.
Your menu options could have more punch:
[ul]
[li]"About 10-03" - What's that? A date? Oh, no, 10-03 is what you call yourselves. "About Us" or just "About" would be better.
[/li]
[li]"Schedule of Events" - Try "Events" instead.
[/li]
[li]"Photo Gallery" - "Gallery", or maybe "Photos"
[/li]
[li]"Join the Auxiliary" - "Join Us"[/li]
[/ul]
With less wordy options, the text on the menu can be bigger and more legible.
You really need at least some content on the "Join the Auxiliary" page. Presumably there are requirements that prospective recruits must reach - age limits for example. The Coastguard page that you link to seems to bat prospects back to their local auxiliary: "Your inquiry will be forwarded to an Auxiliary member who lives in your general area for follow-up", so it hardly seems worth going to (though it does have more information than your whole site on what the Auxiliary is and what it does).
Use the right elements for the right things. The titles of your content areas are [tt]<p class="SectionTitle">[/tt], just use a [tt]<h1>[/tt]. The subheadings on the Privacy Policy page are (bizarrely) [tt]<p class="DateStamp">[/tt], use a [tt]<h2>{/tt]. If you stop using [tt]<p>[/tt]s for these other things, you'll no longer need/want to mark up regular paragraphs as [tt]<p class="generaltxt">[/tt]. General text is what [tt]<p>[/tt] elements are for, you shouldn't need a class to say so. Chris's rule of CSS: "If you're adding a class to every element, you're probably doing something wrong".
From the Privacy page:
What does that have to do with children? Or are you saying that you will obtain personal information about people if they're not children? (How can you tell?)
Is "fellowshipping" really a word state-side? God help us.
PS. Foamy, are you really proposing compressing a 800x600 pixel image into 15K ? It'll look terrible! 86K seems about par to me, and OK if you put it behind a thumbnail.
-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd
Hmm, I didn't realise it was so large (big screen res here).
But still, I just compressed it to 26Kb and it looks fine. Obviously it's not as good as the original, but in isolation (i.e. not next to the original) it works perfectly well.
<honk>*:O)</honk>
Foamcow Heavy Industries - Web site design in Cheltenham and Gloucester
Ham and Jam - British & Commonwealth forces mod for Half Life 2
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