Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down. Katie Doucet Genevieve Haggard Ashley Hiatt

Transcription

1 Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down Katie Doucet Genevieve Haggard Ashley Hiatt

2 Headline The bad; WRDA, has unclear, inaccurate and irrelevant links, is difficult to search, and struggles with consistent design, while the good; ArtsEdge maintains organization, steady design and is both searchable and browseable. Summary The bad, Wisconsin Register of Deeds Association (WRDA), lacked clear direction and was extremely difficult to follow. The links were inconsistent and misleading. This website also lacked professional design and color scheme. We suggest that the website updates to a clean, simple, and easy to read design and navigation system with updated links and search options which should be visible and accessible. The good, ArtsEdge, is a wonderful example of a successful website. It is well organized for every user demographic, has an abundance of neatly structured sources and media, is consistent in design, and is both searchable and browseable. Thumbs Up Analysis of effective design features/qualities of ArtsEdge The information on the ArtsEdge website is extremely well organized. The site is divided into sections for Educators, Families, and Students. Each section is then

3 divided into subcategories, depending on the audience. For example, the Families section is subdivided into At School, At Home, and Out and About. Each subcategory contains hundreds of articles, and each article has links to related resources, articles, and tags. The articles on the site are incredibly varied and range from lesson plans, which are aligned with national arts education standards, to field guides for students providing information about what to expect (and what is expected of them) when attending arts performances. With such an enormous number of articles and resources about an incredibly diverse range of topics, this site could easily become cluttered and difficult to navigate. However, by dividing the site into sections for teachers, parents, and children, the site helps users immediately focus their search so they are only accessing resources that are relevant and appropriate for their needs. It is important to note that all users have access to all three sections of the website so they are not limited to a single section the categories simply help them narrow down their search. By ensuring that articles are well organized and clearly labeled, the site allows users to easily find what they need. The ArtsEdge website s design is consistent among all the pages on the site. Regardless of which section of the website you are using, the background, logo, and menu bar are always the same. Additionally, the landing pages of the three main sections Educators, Families, and Students are all structured in the same way. The top left- hand side of the page has three rotating articles. Beneath that are links to more articles and videos. The right side of the page has a fun fact at the top (e.g. an art- related quote, This Day in the Arts) and, beneath that, a box showing the most popular tags on the site. This consistent design creates a sense of cohesion among all of the articles and pages, telling the user that despite the myriad topics aimed at a wide range of users, the information is all coming from the same source: ArtsEdge. Consistent design results in a positive user experience because users become familiar with the structure of the site and are more easily able to navigate through it. Consistent design also benefits the organization in terms of branding and marketing by maintaining a clear message about what the organization is and what they

4 provide. The more this message is reinforced, the stronger the organization s identity becomes. The ArtsEdge website is both searchable and browseable. Many users will come to the site knowing exactly what they are looking for. Those users can type their keywords into the search box (which is always located in the upper right- hand corner of the page), and find all the articles related to their subject. The search results are clearly labeled with the user category (Educators, Families, Students) and other useful descriptors (e.g. Multimedia, Themes). Filtering based on grade range or arts genre can further narrow search results down. For users that don t have a specific idea of what information they want, the site provides a couple of options which allow them to browse. The Themes link in the menu bar takes the user to a page listing broad subject areas or themes, such as Acoustics & Sound, Presidents, and Women in the Arts. Clicking on a theme or subject area takes the user to a page of links to related articles. From there, users can click through the articles to find something that piques their interest. On the main Themes page, users can also use the Themes Finder to filter articles by genre, time, place, ideas, or specific keywords. Another way to browse is by going to the Multimedia page, shown in the menu bar. This page has 150 multimedia offerings ranging from arts performances to historical and pop culture information. The Multimedia Finder allows filtering according to genre, media type, or keywords. Giving users the option to navigate the site by both searching and browsing widens the potential user base for the site. ArtsEdge is a great resource for all users, whether they are looking for a quick, specific information gathering experience or wanting to meander through the site and see where their interests take them.

5 Thumbs Down Screenshot Analysis of ineffective design features/qualities of WRDA For our poorly designed website, we choose the Wisconsin Register of Deeds Association (WRDA, The Association appears to be a governing body of the local county Registers of Deeds throughout Wisconsin, charged with being "independent custodian(s) of records relating to real estate." There are several committees within the association and positions appear to be elected. They maintain information about a variety of real estate forms and information relating them, as well as how to get in touch with each local office.

6 We choose the WRDA for a variety of design offenses, most noticeably the color schema, but also an inconsistent controlled vocabulary throughout the global navigation, inaccurate or irrelevant links, lack of obvious search feature, and accessibility issues throughout the entire site. The color scheme of the site features a swirling red background, more befitting an early 2000s MySpace theme. Other colors include purple, yellow, and blue text background and links that change to high contrast colors that strain the eyes. The poor color scheme is a major contributing factor to the site s lack of accessibility to the vision impaired, most immediately those with color- blindness. The vocabulary of the global navigation is decent until the user hovers over the section they wish to visit. Then the text changes to a similar word or phrase, but sometimes the meanings conveyed by the two terms differ, such as Fee Schedule versus Cost to Record. Furthermore, the only way to get to a search function is to look for it under the Other Resources tab and both image sliders on the site go to external links that are in no way associated with the WRDA. Our recommendations to improve the site include using a consistent color scheme, one that is more accessible to the vision impaired, like darker blues,

7 standard blue hyperlinks, and neutral black text. The overall aesthetic should be clean, simple, and professional. The search function should be front and center, preferably in the upper right hand corner where most users are already trained to find it. To aid in the effectiveness of the search function and to make the global navigation clearer, a controlled vocabulary should be created and used throughout the site. The links to the local county image slider should be fixed and the nature image slider, though featuring some very lovely images, should be removed, as it only seems to be promoting one Mr. Charles Cottle. Lastly, the code needs to be updated to include basic metadata including headers and alternate text on images and links, as well as other details that would help make the site more ADA accessible. Other design details that could contribute to the site s overall reputation include adding a favicon for the browser. Additionally, we would recommend breadcrumb navigation under the global navigation (since the nature of the information on this website can be confusing) to ensure that all users are aware of where they are in the rabbit hole of legal forms.