website comments

[stewart]

Hi all
This is almost completely off thread but there's a woodwork link just as if i get the promotion i'm hoping too at work i'll have a bit more energy left at the end of the day to get into the workshop. here goes.... i know some of you work with websites/it professionally, i've applied for a job that will require me to keep my school's website developing (i think it needs it!) - any comments? http://www.dorothystringer.org
any comments gratefully received
cheers
stewart

 

[wizer]

hi stewart.

I believe in being honest with these things. I like the colour scheme of the site. I think the black banner background at the top should fill completely left to right. The central photo is nice but maybe you could do something to bring it alive. Maybe round off the corner of the image so it doesn't look so flat? Do you really need the radio button to turn off the menu? Without the menu you can't navigate. I have to say i am not keen on this type of menu system. Whilst it works very well in such a comprehensive site, I find this system confusing and non-user friendly. Also the 'School Term and Holiday Dates' brings up a pop-up window which then opens a word document. I find user's generally don't like popups and that word documents can cause all sorts of problems. If you have to have it link to a file then I would suggest it links to a PDF. Preferably it should just be an HTML table. The biggest problem you have is that your site is totaly incompatible with browsers like FireFox, Mozilla, Netscape, AOL, etc. The menu's do not work, the frames are broken and the open/close toggle does not work.

 

[aldel]

With cookies blocked (I block as many as posible as do others) it is impossible to access your site.

Cheers aldel

 

[stewart]

Hi Wizer and Aldel
Many thanks for your comments - I agree with them and thank you for your honesty, it's just what i wanted, some objective and impartial points.
Needless to say, it wasn't me who designed the site.....
thanks again
stewart

 

[Les Mahon]

Stewart

The "dynamic" controls that appear at the top of the screen (like the one for turning on and off the menu) I find very confusing, also they seem to pop up over the middle of the top banner.

In terms of getting information accross, there is a wealth of data there, but the layout is confusing - also, I would be suspicious of how up to date it is kept? managing the pretty elements of the site is one job, managing the information is another beast altogether! (That would be my personal area of expertise rather than design)

As you saif yourself - needs a re-design, and think seriously about what the others have said, make it non-browser dependant, my 2c worth would be to ensure you use some form of templating / server side includes / stylesheets, so that the content can be updated sepratly from the design.

Les

 

[Argee]

I'll add a few comments:

I had no problems navigating through everything using Firefox (aside from a few minor layouts which could have been solved by a small Javascript insertion). That said, web sites should be constructed to the existing global specifications, NOT made to run only in MSIE!

The animated .gif of Bart Simpson on the "School Day" section is vastly oversized and - hence - badly pixellated. It should be 24 x 32 and it displays as 262 x 350 pixels.

The picture used in the "School Nurse and First Aid" section is nearly 1.5Mb.
The picture used in the "Transport" section is nearly 2Mb in size.
The picture in the "Environment and Ecology" section is nearly 700Kb. There are other pictures in the 200Kb - 300Kb range.
For those on dial-up that's no good.

With programmes like Photoshop Elements and others that have a "Save for Web" option, there is no excuse in putting images up that get anywhere near 30Kb. Such smaller files save space, load much quicker and retain sufficient quality for the purpose.

No need for linking to Word documents in the "School Calendar and Events" section and its related sub-sections - HTML tables would be much quicker for the user and would be more space-efficient (however, more work for the webmaster).

Anything that rerquires the user to scroll to the right to read it is a "no-no" in my view - very tiresome indeed - the ICT Zone is one example. Easily put right, too.

FWIW

Ray.

 

[stewart]

Well, it's decision day - I have an interview today for the job that would cover developing the web site. I'll let you know how I get on later!
Thanks for the comments about the existing site.
Cheers
Stewart
...who slept surprisingly well...

 

[Newbie_Neil]

Hi Stewart

I have an interview today for the job that would cover developing the web site.

Good luck.

Cheers
Neil

 

[Les Mahon]

Fingers crossed for you!

 

[stewart]

thanks for the kind wishes
i think i came second, rather than third out of the three applicants - back to the drawing board!
stewart