Site Review - New Name - New Look!!! 11

[SPYDERIX]

Hi,

Could you please give my new site a full-scale review. I know there are a couple probs with NS4 and the client login background image and the sidebar images, but that will be fixed soon.

Please check for everything else: resolution, browsers, errors, color scheme, overall look, etc etc etc

Thanks alot!!!

Nate

http://www.mainframe-webdesign.com

 

[thombathe]

Very nice, not to flashy right to the point.
Images and color looks good.
Nice layout.
Thom

Life without challenges can be very boring

http://www.thombathe.com

 

[blueark]

Very nice! 1280x960 in IE 5 on Mac, no problems. With Safari, background image on the Client Access area starts repeating (the textboxes are rendered larger than they should be). Having said that, it's not that distracting.

Overall impressions are excellent, and it makes your business look extremely professional. In terms of content, I would probably remove some of the under construction items in the portfolio section and maybe show some print samples if you are offering that as a service.

Navigation is very clear, and I don't think anyone would have problems finding their way around. The only potential issue would be with the 'no-obligation quote' link: maybe it shouldn't go to a generic response form. I don't think it would be an issue for most people, but some might feel more comfortable if a dedicated quote form appeared, or if there was some mention of quotation on the generic form if it came from that link. It's only a small point though, and I'm probably underestimating people's intelligence. I do like the fact that any link referring to the contact form defaults to the correct recepient.

The disabled section is a welcome addition to the site, and is generally well thought out. A little more content would be good (such as the portfolio section), and perhaps updating the links to go to a more suitable contact form, rather than the main one. The facility to adjust the text size is good, but if people use their browser to do this, it makes the displayed size inaccurate. Also, I seem to remember reading some usability study before that warned against duplicating browser functionality within the page, although the only problem I would have with it is that it's taking up space that may be better used elsewhere. If a blind person went to the site, for example, text size is irrelevant, but having to wait for their screen readers to get past a few drop down lists is a bit unfriendly. People who generally need to increase the text size probably know where to access it already.

Anyway, overall an excellent site. Well done!

 

[RISTMO]

The black menu text is too dark for the orange background. I'm leaning back relaxing in my seat, and reading the links should be a lot easier than it is. Also, the black lines above and below the menu links are either too large or too small. I'm not sure right now, but you might want to play around with that some.

The &quot;own a sector of the web today&quot; at the bottom should be centered to the middle <td> only, not the left and middle.

I'm not sure if this would be better or worse, but you might want to consider changing the background color of the <select> box on the contact us page (at least for the browsers that will interpret it--IE ;-)).

Those are the main things that I'm noticing right now. As *almost* always (;-)) nice job :-D.

Rick

-----------------------------------------------------------
RISTMO is back! Sorry I've been away for so long--it's been a busy year ;-)

http://www.ristmo.com/

RISTMO Designs

http://www.arabchurch.com/

Arab Church

 

[Kjonnnn]

I think the site looks great. Easy to navigate. Purpose is clear. Easy to read. Orange is not my favorite, but it works on your site.

There seems to be a lone &quot;?&quot; hanging out by the word copyright at the bottom, but maybe its my IE6

 

[RISTMO]

If I'm right, that &quot;?&quot; is because the actual copyright symbol was inserted into the HTML file instead of the ASCII character. That should no longer happen if it's changed to &copy;

Rick

-----------------------------------------------------------
RISTMO is back! Sorry I've been away for so long--it's been a busy year ;-)

http://www.ristmo.com/

RISTMO Designs

http://www.arabchurch.com/

Arab Church

 

[gcw1]

Hey Nate, Just finished checking out your web page.

I found it very easy to navigate, all the links are clear, and to the point. The overall layout is nice to look at and it looks very professional. The colors and content suit the page's purpose nicely. All the text content is well written, easy to understand and not overwhelming.

Good job man.

Glenn

 

[SPYDERIX]

Thom

Thanks for your critique

blueark

Thank you. I'm not too concerned with Safari at the moment as it is still in beta testing, once the final release is out I will comply with it. On that note, do the text fields make the side bar stretch out horizontally and leave a gap?

The under construction things are there just to show that those projects are in my portfolio and that they are being kept up to date. They will be done very soon anyway, I might remove them for now (not sure at the moment).

The quote request link only goes to the basic form mailer for now as I am working on a full scale request form, but it's not yet complete.

I will be giving the disabled section a complete overhaul. That is my quick and dirty attempt. I haven't really paid much attention to any particular standards, do you have any links that you know of, and do you still have the link to that study you were referring to?

ristmo

The black lines are a bit thinner now. The slogans at the bottom are randomly generated and some are larger than the middle <td> so I have align them to the black bar and for continuity I aligned all of them that way. I forgot to add my css class to the <select>, it is there now.

Kjonnnn

Thanks for your critique. The copyright symbol has been fixed

Glenn

Thanks for your critique.



Can anyone with dialup check out the site and tell me the approx load time for each page. I'm wondering if I need to optimize my images just a bit more.

Thanks everyone!!!

Nate

http://www.mainframe-webdesign.com

 

[onpnt]

Hi Nate,
Well, I try and try as I might and could not break it for one.

as always I'm impressed with jsut about every aspect of the site. I may have centered it in the page but the gap in higher the 800* res isn't that great on the right.

I did see one thing I may change that is just wording
when a bad login happens the line states
&quot;Please login at the right to gain access.&quot;

maybe change that to
Please login to gain the right to access this section.
or something to that effect.

graphics as always seem to be your expertise and they are not limited in that site. very nice! proportioned and clear/quick loading.

I like the adition of the

http://www.mainframe-webdesign.com/disabled.php

page. That in it's self is impressive and makes me think more of doing it as on point.

tests done in
800*600 res
1024*768 res
NN 6.2 / 7.0
IE 5.5 / 6.0
WinNT
Win2000
cable connection

____________________________________________________
_{The most important part of your thread is the subject line.
Make it clear and about the topic so we can find it later for reference. Please!! faq333-3811}

http://www.onpntwebdesigns.com

 

[SPYDERIX]

Ted

Thanks alot! Glad to see that my validation is actually working. As for centering the site, it's a thought but I'm not sure if I want to do that, I'll look into it.

And I will re-word the phrase on the client page.

ASP specialist eh

Nate

http://www.mainframe-webdesign.com

 

[RISTMO]

Those black lines look better now. Amazing what 1-2px can do ;-).

What about aligning that bottom quote to the right, then? It just doesn't look right how it is .

Ok....for some petty details...;-)

On

http://www.mainframe-webdesign.com/disabled.php:

&quot;Designs are custom made, original, aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate.&quot;
should be
&quot;Designs are custom made, original, aesthetically pleasing, and easy to navigate.&quot;

&quot;Multi-purpose, pre-designed sites can be tailored with in a short turn-around time to accomodate your needs and budget.&quot;
should be
&quot;Multi-purpose, pre-designed sites can be tailored within a short turn-around time to accomodate your needs and budget.&quot;

&quot;Print design packages are available from Mainframe Web Design including logo, brochure, business card and letterhead design.&quot;
should be
&quot;Print design packages are available from Mainframe Web Design including logo, brochure, business card, and letterhead design.&quot;

&quot;We look forward to working with you, and we are available by appiontment, or email, to discuss all your web site needs.&quot;
should be
&quot;We look forward to working with you, and we are available by appointment, or email, to discuss all your web site needs.&quot;


On

http://www.mainframe-webdesign.com/disabled.php?id=2&font=verdana&size=18

&quot;A well designed web site is: &quot;.....
should be
&quot;A well designed web site is &quot;......--Grammar forbids a semi-colon after a verb . I learned that when I made the same mistake on my site! ;-).

&quot;Our mission at Mainframe Web Design, is to create an eye-catching site that will attract visitors to your site, keep them there long enough to receive your message and then give them a reason to come back, or direct other traffic to your site.&quot;
should be
&quot;Our mission at Mainframe Web Design[no comma] is to create an eye-catching site that will attract visitors to your site, keep them there long enough to receive your message, and then give them a reason to come back[no comma] or direct other traffic to your site.&quot;

&quot;Our services include:
- web site layout and design
- web site re-design
- web site maintenance
- server side scripting
- database management
- Search Engine Optimization&quot;

I think you should capitalize all those if you're going to capitalize the last one (but that's just preference).

On

http://www.mainframe-webdesign.com/disabled.php?id=5&font=verdana&size=18

&quot;without the express written permission of Mainframe Web Design.&quot;
should be
&quot;without the expressed written permission of Mainframe Web Design.&quot;


Ok....enough for now ;-). And I never wanted to be a grammar teacher ...I will say, though, that you're grammar is a lot better than lots of people's ;-). Great site.

Rick

-----------------------------------------------------------
RISTMO is back! Sorry I've been away for so long--it's been a busy year ;-)

http://www.ristmo.com/

RISTMO Designs

http://www.arabchurch.com/

Arab Church

 

[RISTMO]

All that and I go and say &quot;you're&quot; instead of &quot;your&quot; .

;-)

Rick

-----------------------------------------------------------
RISTMO is back! Sorry I've been away for so long--it's been a busy year ;-)

http://www.ristmo.com/

RISTMO Designs

http://www.arabchurch.com/

Arab Church

 

[RISTMO]

Ok, I know this is off topic, but I remeber that you play drums, so here's a video clip of me playing...see what you think....I know I messed up badly in a few places ;-).

http://www.ristmo.com/rick_new_pics/r150.wmv

Rick

-----------------------------------------------------------

http://www.ristmo.com/

RISTMO Designs

http://www.arabchurch.com/

Arab Church

 

[cian]

Coming into this a bit lae but wanted to offer my feedback,
excellent Nate, your best yet I think. Very clean and professional, loads fast enough too!

If I wanted to be picky:

1. could add some more spacing in the content section, especially between paragraphs - quite noticeable on the portfolio page and also on the contact page - looks a little cramped with the images there

2. You could use a text introduction to web hosting to explain a little more. Don't just use the hosting plans to sell the service, you need to entice people to purchase

3. Web design - 4 packages offered but I think people should have an idea of which package to choose (bronze to platinum). Why choose one over the other, maybe some sort of hint could be given? Also i'd create separate pages rather than a pop-up window.

4. Rather than &quot;Under Construction&quot; you could put &quot;No Preview Available&quot; or sumthin like that.

But that's being picky, excellent site!!


- É -

http://www.ssi-developer.net

 

[SPYDERIX]

Thanks Enda,

Picky is good. I will add more space all around, and a little blurb on the hosting page as well as a one-liner for the packages. I'm not sure about getting rid of the popups, I might do that because people hate popups and popup killers might stop them from showing, and as for the contstruction, I might just say &quot;Coming Soon&quot; or something to that effect.

Thanks again!

Nate

http://www.mainframe-webdesign.com

 

[palbano]

Wow, i ... it's.... ummm... did i say WOW?

I find the Orange/black combination for the menu a bit of an eye strain to read.

Get those designers picturs up soon, i don't like under construction stuff, never have.

I took a quick look for any options to a version that lets me control the font size and didn't find it. With fixed sizes it is recommended to have alternative versions without fixed font sizes.

But mostly just WOW

I used IE 6 and Mozilla 1.2.1 on Win2k, no problems.


-pete

 

[grtfercho]

I think You had all the good feddback you deserve but I went and checked the website with a different approach.
Since you have the disabled section (which I think is just the perfect idea for visually impaired people) I went and tested that section with JAWS to &quot;hear&quot; what your pages have to say.....(for the following points please consider READER --> the software reader not the user reading the pages)

1. I would give some extra blank spaces after the Disabled logo on the home page because the Reader goes too fast through that section, since users are not expecting the first link on your page to send them to a text-only page it gets lost on the description of the page.
2. When you actually enter the disabled pages section, there's no reason to have a graphic sending you to the graphical site again, just a regular link will do perfectly.
3. I would use CSS for all the links on top and not a &quot;pipe&quot; | as a divider between the options.
the reason is that the reader actually spells &quot; link web design vertical bar graphic design vertical bar...&quot; which makes things confusing.
4. Symbols like &quot;>&quot; or &quot;-&quot; are read the same way they show.
for example
>>homepage &quot;greatergreaterHome Page&quot; or
Multi-purpose, pre-designed &quot;Multidashpurpose, predashdesigned&quot;
that also becomes a problem when listening.

5. Where you have a list of items is better to use <li> instead of just the &quot;-&quot; (dash)or the number &quot;< b>1)</b>&quot; the reader is reading this way &quot;one parenthesis &quot; Good thing about <li> is that identifies each line as a new item, given the reader the pause so the listener (the end user) can understand what's going on.
6. The form to change the size.. (beautiful and convenient) however when jumping from page to page I get to listen the same thing over and over. I think it will be a better idea to have a link that sends you to the bottom of the page where you have the form to change sizes.
7. Accesibility nice but when you got me used to the simple text based interface you send me to the contact page and JAWS just goes crazy because I end up at the graphical site without warning of any kind. with all the links and pictures arounf the contact form. Try a simplistic text-only interface.


Other than that your ideas and layout are just fine I won't go into the general website discussion because You already had a bunch of kuddos in that aspect.

great job.


grtfercho çB^]\..
&quot;Imagination is more important than Knowledge&quot; A. Einstein

 

[palbano]

>> disabled section (which I think is just the perfect idea
>> for visually impaired people)

Yeah, obviously i didn't see it

-pete

 

[ChrisHunt]

Very slick looking site, front page loaded in 20 seconds on my dial-up (albeit at midnight!).

Personally I find the site logo slightly blurry, especially the grey &quot;design&quot;. Would be interested to see a version with an anti-aliasing switched off.

I also don't like the quote marks around the text in the side images. It implies (to me) that these are quotes drawn from a larger document of marketing information, rather than stand-alone statements. If they are quotes from some other document, they should link to the appropriate part of it. Even if they aren't, they should each link to a page giving more background on each claim.

-- Chris Hunt
Extra Connections Ltd

http://www.extracon.com

The real world's OK for a visit, but you wouldn't want to LIVE there!

 

[Wullie]

Hi mate,

Just incase anyone thinks I'm just being picky, Nate has asked me to rip the site apart for him.

&quot;unique, personalized websites that reflect you&quot;

To me, this sounds like there is something missing. Also, as most of your customers are likely to be businesses, it would make more sense if you was changed to your business

1024, blank space, would look better either 100% or centered.

The side images to me scream &quot;This Is An Advert!&quot;

Choosing who designs your web site is a big decision,

Would that not sound better as:

Choosing a web design company for your project is a big decision.


Multi-purpose, pre-designed sites can be tailored within a short turn-around time to accomodate your needs and budget.

Sounds better without the word time

Multi-purpose, pre-designed sites can be tailored within a short turn-around to accomodate your needs and budget.


The bottom right image about the maintenance should lead to a page describing this offer, currently I have no idea what you term as &quot;maintenance&quot;. Does that include re-designs?

Our mission at Mainframe Web Design, is to create an eye-catching site that will attract visitors to your site, keep them there long enough to receive your message and then give them a reason to come back, or direct other traffic to your site.

Sounds better as:

Our mission at Mainframe Web Design is to create an eye-catching site that will attract visitors and keep them there long enough to receive your message. It will then give them a reason to come back or direct other traffic to your site.


Your site is encased within a solid framework providing well organized, error-free functionality and access dependability 24/7.

Very risky statement to make. Errors happen, don't try and promise the world when you may not be able to deliver.


Right now choose one of our most popular site packages:


Bronze
Silver
Gold
Platinum

Contact us for a free no-obligation quote today.

This part is likely to confuse people. Should they take a package or request a quote? If they want to purchase a package, how do they do that? I see no purchase this package link, just a close window.

At the very bottom of the page, you have duplicate navigation links, but there is also a specials link. As this is a link that is likely to interest people, you should have that on the top navigation menu as well.

On the visually impaired version, you have not coded it to work correctly with reader software. (EG. Forms should have LABEL, table should have summary)

Well Nate, hope this is good enough

Wullie

http://www.necomputers.org.uk

http://www.freshlookdesign.co.uk

http://www.freshlookdesign.com

http://www.whiland.co.uk

The pessimist complains about the wind. The optimist expects it to change.
The leader adjusts the sails. - John Maxwell