Analysis of Literacy Promoting Websites

Transcription

1 Analysis of Literacy Promoting Websites Prepared for: American Library Association (ALA) Media Relations Office Prepared by: RCM Literacy Promotion Award i

2 American Library Association Public Awareness Office 50 East Huron Street Chicago, Illinois October 13, 2017 Chelsea Smith President RCM Literacy Promotion Award 201 High Street Farmville, VA Dear Ms. Smith: Subject: Evaluation of literacy promoting websites The Public Awareness Office of the American Library Association is seeking a clear and inviting formatted website that promotes books of all genres. As of 2016, 29% of year olds in Virginia did not have a high school diploma. We want to see that percent decrease down to zero. We feel that exposure to all types of literature will nurture a desire for knowledge that will stimulate a new approach to education. Literacy and the freedom to choose what to read, are the first steps to social change. The American Library Association asks that your company analyze three websites that you feel promote literacy by offering large numbers of books to users, easy access to popular genres, user reviews, and its accessibility to all levels of readers. Our goal is to provide resources to libraries all over Virginia in order to encourage literacy and establish long lasting relationships between all cultures and ages. On behalf of all of us at American Library Association, we look forward to receiving your report. If any questions should arise within the duration of your research, please do not hesitate to contact me at my direct office line (312) or hcho@ala.org. Yours sincerely, Heather Cho Heather Cho Media Relations Specialist ii

3 RCM Literacy Promotion Award 201 High Street Farmville, VA November 6, 2017 Heather Cho Media Relations Specialist 50 East Huron Street Chicago, Illinois Dear Ms. Cho: Subject: Evaluation of literacy promoting websites completed As a company, we are pleased to present the evaluation of literacy promoting websites that you requested in your letter from October 23, Our report analyzes the following three websites: Bookish, Goodreads, and YourNextRead As you will see in the analysis section, all three websites are evaluated based on visual appeal, purposeful content, and user-friendly navigation features for promoting literacy to all audiences. We would like to thank Reghan Slater, our Operations Manager, for her help on preparing this report. If you have questions, concerns, or comments about the report, we would be pleased to meet with you or with another member of your staff. I can be reached at (555) , extension 487. Yours Sincerely, Chelsea Smith Chelsea Smith President iii

4 Table of Contents Letter of Authorization ii Letter of Transmittal...iii Lists of Figures and Tables.. v Executive Summary vi Introduction..1 Analysis of Goodreads.2 Visual Appeal... 2 Content.2 User-Friendliness.3 Analysis of Bookish.4 Visual Appeal... 4 Content.4 User-Friendliness.5 Analysis of YourNextRead.. 6 Visual Appeal... 6 Content...6 User-Friendliness.7 Conclusions.. 8 Recommendations...9 Appendices iv

5 List of Figures Figure 1: Goodreads Homepage.. 1 Figure 2: Goodreads Ratings and Reviews... 3 Figure 3: Goodreads Genres....4 Figure 4: Bookish Synopsis Figure 5: Bookish tab bar.7 Figure 6: Bookish Genre Page.7 Figure 7: YourNextRead Tab Bar 8 Figure 8: YourNextRead Suggestion Book Web.9 Figure 9: YourNextRead Thumbs-up to Rate 10 Figure 10: Thumbs-down to Rate.. 10 Figure 11: Summary of Survey Results List of Tables Table 1: Visual appeal survey results 14 Table 2: Content Survey results. 14 Table 3: User-friendliness survey result 14 v

6 Executive Summary As of 2016, 29% of year olds in Virginia did not have a high school diploma. This is a product of the lack of diverse literature and resources for literature. The regular ability to access books specifically of different genres and of different cultures will increase high school diploma rates. The ALA wants to see the percent of population of Virginia who do not have high school diplomas decrease to zero. The ALA and RCM feel that exposure to all types of literature will nurture a desire for knowledge that will stimulate a new approach to education. Literacy and the freedom to choose what to read are the first steps to social change. To increase high school diploma rates in Virginia, the American Library Association (ALA) has asked RCM to analyze three websites. These websites are: Goodreads; Bookish; and YourNextRead. To appeal to users and create an easily navigated websites, they will be analyzed on: Visual Appeal; Content; and User-Friendliness. The results of our analysis, based on the previous categories, have led us to recommend Goodreads as the best resource for the American Library Association and the Libraries of Virginia. The goal of this report is to provide the American Library Association (ALA) with an informative and reliable resource for libraries of Virginia. We are confident that our analysis and recommendation will support the needs of the American Library Association (ALA) and the Libraries of Virginia. vi

7 Introduction The Public Awareness Office of the American Library Association (ALA) has commissioned RCM to analyze three websites, Goodreads, Bookish, and YourNextRead, and to chose which one offers large numbers of books to users, easy access to popular genres, user reviews, and its accessibility to all levels of readers. This report analyzes these websites based off of visual appeal, content, and user friendliness. The website that portrays these qualities in an informative and useful manner will be used by the ALA as a resource for libraries of Virginia. As of 2016, 29% of year olds in Virginia did not have a high school diploma. This is a result of the lack of diverse literature and resources for literature. The increased ability to access books specifically of different genres and of different cultures will increase high school diploma rates. The ALA wants to see the percent of Virginia s high school diploma rates decrease to zero. The ALA and RCM feel that exposure to all types of literature will nurture a desire for knowledge that will stimulate a new approach to education. Literacy and the freedom to choose what to read are the first steps to social change. To increase Virginia s high school diploma rates and allow literacy resources to be readily accessible, RCM has evaluated three websites, and determines which one successfully promotes literacy in the best way possible. This allows all visitors of Virginia s Libraries access to a verified website that houses beneficial information on the books they are interested in. RCM is an accredited company that evaluates and awards novels of different genres based off of a book s ability to discuss uncommon topics, use diverse characters, and enhance education in any form. The company has awarded more than twenty novels that have all reached New York s Top 100. RCM s ability to promote novels that are educational, but also popular, reinforces the company s understanding of the importance of having easily accessible literacy as well as literary resources. This report gives a detailed explanation of all three websites and why the recommending website has been chosen by RCM. 1

8 Goodreads Analysis Goodreads Mission Statement is to help people find and share books they love. Therefore, this website has been chosen by RCM for its efforts in promoting literacy for all readers. Goodreads will be analyzed on visual appeal, content, and user friendliness to determine its ability to thoroughly promote literacy for all levels of readers. Visual Appeal The visual appeal of Goodreads will be based off of three factors. These factors include: -Noticeable Headings; -Visual Appearance; and - Appeal of Colors. Noticeable Headings The main tab bar is missing on the homepage, however, it is on every other page of the website. This allows the headings to stand out and also allow the website to be easily navigated. Other headings, like book titles, are organized and distinguishable from the other text. This contrasts with the less important text on the website where the font is streamlined but still easy to read. Figure 1: Goodreads Homepage Visual Appearance The visual appeal of the website is simplistic and not overbearing. This allows the user to use the website without visual distractions. The headings stand out and make the user aware of their use but even the smallest text is still easy to read for all users. The website makes great use of grouping books together based on genre. Every individual has different preferences, and Goodreads highlights this. It is a very diverse website that respects all forms of literature. The illustrations of the book covers add color and depth to the webpage, which are beneficial for the books and also aesthetically pleasing. Finally, the only language offered is English; had additional language been available, Goodreads would appeal to a larger audience. Appeal of Colors The contrast of color within the website is appealing and easy to understand. The colors are natural beiges and whites, which do not distract from the written content. Although these colors are a little boring, they contrast well with the different colored book covers. Changing the 2

9 website colors to more vibrant ones would be too overwhelming with all of the different books. Important links within the website are bolded in color which makes the website easy to navigate. Content The content of Goodreads will be evaluated on: -Ratings and Reviews; -Book Descriptions; and -Book Suggestions. Ratings and Reviews There is an option to send a message to your friends in Friend Reviews, allowing the user to ask other readers questions about certain novels. Goodreads ratings and reviews are given in two formats: visually and numerically. The number of statistics offered further illustrates averages for each. Ratings and reviews are listed in two separate categories that are then listed by user. The process of looking at a book s ratings and reviews is thorough and designed for easy navigation. Finally, some users may be wary of ratings and reviews because spoilers may appear, however, each review states whether it has a spoiler before the user reads the entire post. Figure 2: Goodreads Ratings and Reviews Book Descriptions Through Goodreads, every synopsis of the books has about two paragraphs in detail which offers relevant information that describes the story in enough detail to understand the plot. Also, if the book is a part of a series, the website clearly states where the books are in the series. This is extremely helpful for users seeking out additional books. Book Suggestions Goodreads creates a new category called Readers Also Enjoyed which other users have rated as being similar novels. This gives the user confidence that they will continue to enjoy similar 3

10 books. Suggested books can also be relevant through authors. This is another category stated as More books by... so that users can continue reading books by the same author. User Friendliness The three categories for determining user friendliness are: -Accessible tab bar; -Easy Genre Navigation; and -Feasibility to Rate and Review. Accessible Tab Bar Goodreads homepage is the only page that is different from the rest. It lacks the main tab bar that the other pages encompass. This tab bar is a great use for easy navigation. It contains seven tabs, including the logo which doubles as the homepage link, a search bar to easily search books, and a browse tab that drops down offering more that twenty genres. This tab bar is effective in assisting users to go where they need to go throughout the website. Easy Genre Navigation Goodreads has an easily navigable layout of genres. A few genres are listed out on the home page. A broader list of genres can be found in the tab bar under Browse. Having these lists on the every page makes travelling between genres very simple. Also, subgenres of each genre are easily accessible after going to the main genre page. Figure 3: Goodreads Genres Feasibility to Rate and Review Goodreads requires a free account in order to rate and review books. After creating an account, it is very easy to rate and review books. The user just goes to the book and clicks the number of starts they feel the novel deserves for ratings or leave a review at the bottom of the page. Users can also comment on other users comments so discussion of books is easy. This may not be a problem for many users but others may not want to do so much work in order to leave a rating and/or a review. However, this process is simple and only takes about four minutes. 4

11 Bookish Analysis Bookish s Mission Statement is to help readers discover their next favorite book. Therefore this website has been chosen by RCM for its efforts in promoting literacy for all readers. Bookish will be analyzed on visual appeal, content, and user friendliness to determine its ability to thoroughly promote literacy for all levels of readers. Visual Appeal The visual appeal of Bookish will be based off of three factors. These factors include: -Noticeable Headings; -Visual Appearance; and - Appeal of Colors. Noticeable Headings The headings on Bookish are clearly separated from the other information on the site. The contrast of white text of tabs and headings within the shades of blue has clean lines that allow the reader to easily navigate through the page, as illustrated with Figure 1. Visual Appearance The Bookish website is visually appealing. The pages within the site are organized very nicely; blocking of information is consistent and clearly labeled. All pages make use of white space, separating content so it is not jumbled and hectic. The color scheme remains constant throughout all pages, featuring gender-neutral colors that aid a user s eye while using the site. Images of book covers are appropriately spaced, not taking away from other aspects of the site, and the colors enhance the appeal of the page. The font of the website is easy to read, with varied sizes of text reflecting the different types of content within pages. Appeal of Colors The pages have a white background with shades of blue as accent colors. Body text is standard black, adding to the clean lines of the homepage. Other colors used are green, red, purple, and shades of brown. These colors are used sparingly, and are not distracting to a user. When navigating away from the homepage, the color scheme remains constant, with additional colors added to aid in accessing various features. Clicking on the Must Read tab then selecting Seasonal Previews, for example, results in the same blue and white contrast, but additional color is added to highlight the categories of book lists. Content The content of Bookish will be evaluated on: -Ratings and Reviews; -Book Descriptions; and -Book Suggestions. Ratings and Reviews There is inconsistency of ratings and reviews provided by Bookish, depending on which tab a user chooses to visit. Under the Lifestyle tab, each book has a different staff member writing a 5

12 blurb about his or her experience, meaning that some of the information provided does not discuss the content of the book at all. When searching through the Must Reads and Book Club Picks tabs, the descriptions of books are much more in-depth, and complete. Bookish does not offer an option to rate or review a book for users within the site. A link to Barnes and Noble, visible under each book cover, offers option to leave comments and ratings and to purchase. This feature is available to the user if he or she has a Barnes and Noble account, and some users may not wish to set up an account in order to participate. Book Descriptions Bookish offers a dynamic approach to descriptions of books. There are detailed descriptions of titles listed under the Must Read tab, as well as the Book Club List tab. See Figure 4 below. There are other ways that a user can gain information about a book, although the approach is a little less direct. For example, when browsing through the Lifestyle tab, a majority of the descriptions of books are based off of an editor s experience with the title, as opposed to information about what the book is about. Figure 4: Bookish Synopsis Book Suggestions The entire site as a whole focuses on the community approach to reading. There is significant connection between the Bookish staff, and the users of the site. Book suggestions are neatly classified within categories, spanning book club picks for every month of the year, seasonal picks, popular reads, and by topic of interest. There is no shortage of suggestions for just about every user approach to the site. Bookish also offers insight from authors reviews on titles, providing in-depth commentary to appeal to readers. User Friendliness The three categories for determining user friendliness are: -Accessible tab bar; -Easy Genre Navigation; and -Feasibility to Rate and Review. 6

13 Accessible Tab Bar The tab bar of Bookish remains constant throughout the entirety of the site, allowing for easy navigation between interest areas. See Figure 5. Figure 5: Bookish tab bar Easy Genre Navigation When a user clicks on the Genres tab, there is not a list of books that appear, but a blog-like set of articles that are listed chronologically. Each article is from various areas of Bookish that pertain to the genre clicked on from the homepage. For example, when clicking on Fiction from the Genres tab, there are several reviews on books that appear first. These articles are focused on books within the fiction genre, but do not offer a list of numerous books for a user to choose from, as illustrated in Figure 6 below. Figure 6: Bookish genre page Feasibility to Rate and Review Users cannot rate or review a title on Bookish. The only way a user can do that is to visit Barnes and Noble s website, either by clicking on the book cover itself, or the link provided. With a Barnes and Noble account, a user can then choose to leave commentary on the title. This is not an option that all users will want to participate in, due to the third party nature of the process. 7

14 YourNextRead Analysis YourNextRead s mission statement is To make discovering, buying and enjoying a book as simple as finding your next film or band. Therefore this website has been chosen by RCM for its efforts in promoting literacy for all readers. YourNextRead will be analyzed on visual appeal, content, and user-friendliness to determine its ability to thoroughly promote literacy for all levels of readers. Visual Appeal The visual appeal of YourNextRead will be based off of three factors. These factors include: -Noticeable Headings; -Visual Appearance; and -Appeal of Colors. Noticeable Headings On YourNextRead, the headings are difficult to distinguish from other texts on the website. Therefore, the website lacks visual clarity of promoting literacy to its users. YourNextRead has a surplus of novels resulting in limited white space on the screen. The overabundance of novels makes the home page overpowering to the eyes and very unclear to find headings on the site. Visual Appearance The visual appeal of the website is complex and disorganized. Therefore, it does not allow an user to use the website without any distractions. The main purpose of the website is to encourage an user to find novels that interest an user to eventually purchase or download the novel on one s device. With the website being not structured to easily navigate headings, it makes it a very difficult task for one to even search for a specific genre or novel. The illustrations of the novels covers add attention to the website, but there is a surplus amount of different books that can overwhelm a website user. Lastly, YourNextRead offers different languages for different users, shown in Figure 7. With having this feature, it promotes a visual appeal to a larger audience. Figure 7: YourNextRead tab bar Appeal of Colors The colors of the website should create a unique and pleasing scheme that does not overwhelm the user. Therefore, having a color scheme of too many colors can distract the user from the actual content of the website. The website s colors are neutral with a main focus of having vibrant book covers all over the website. The neutral colors are a tad bland, but with the vibrant book covers; it makes the website pop. There is an overabundance of the different book covers can distract a user to find headings or other texts, so to improve the website, one could decrease the amount of book covers on the screen. The structure of presenting different novels is very disorganized; therefore, using more white space could make it easier to navigate throughout the website and distinguish headings more easily. 8

15 Content The content of YourNextRead will be evaluated on: -Ratings and Reviews; -Book Descriptions; and -Book Suggestions Rating and Reviews The ratings and review should be easily accessible for all users to search through them or to leave their own ratings or review. Ratings and reviews are important for all users in case the description is not informative enough for a user. Ratings and reviews are also beneficial helping to see what other user s thoughts while trying to find a similar novel. YourNextRead does not have a synapse for any book nor does it have an opportunity for a user to leave a rating or review. A user can read reviews from Amazon or other websites on the Internet that are selling the novel, but for content purposes, it would be extremely beneficial for YourNextRead to provide their version of a synapse for prospective readers. The only review mechanism YourNextRead uses is a user giving a thumbs-up or down to rate a specific novel. It does not allow a user to actually rate the book, but just to say yes or no the relevance of a novel or similar novels. Book Descriptions Book descriptions must give enough information that the user understand the main plot of each story, but also not being too descriptive so that he or she does not feel like one just read the whole book. This website does not offer any book descriptions, but YourNextRead connects with others sites; for example, the website features a direct connection to Amazon. Amazon does give a brief description of a specific book a user is interested in, but book descriptions are so important for prospective readers so that searching for books can be effective and efficient. Book Suggestions The website has an initiative feature of suggesting books to a user. For example, Figure 8 demonstrates how similar books can be recommended to a user. The thumbs-up and down is used to help the website keep correct data if certain novels do relate to a certain novel chosen by an individual. The website s designer does need to improve its accuracy for suggesting similar novels for specific age ranges. Figure 8: Suggest Book Web 9

16 User-Friendliness The three categories for determining user friendliness are: -Accessible tab bar; -Easy Genre Navigation; and -Feasibility to Rate and Review. Accessible Tab Bar The tab bar should be visible on all pages of the site, allowing for quick access to the entire site. The tab bar on this website is only seen on the home page. In result of that, it makes it a very difficult task for allowing quick access to the entire site. Thus, the structure of this website is not functional. The books are not categorized by genre, which would be an ideal structure of a booksearching website. The website does have a feature of a user being able to create his or her own list of preferred books. Since the website gives the users the chance to have authority to make lists, which is a thoughtful user-friendly feature, it does affect the credible content portion of the website. Easy Genre Navigation Easy navigation allows users to travel through the website with no complications. Having no tab bar can result in frustration and lack of likeness towards the website. A few genres are listed, but this website also promotes different reader s preferred lists, which can be biased. This causes frustrating delays to find and promote different literature. The only thing that remains constant throughout the website is the title, which contains a hyperlink that can direct a user back to the home page. This is a disadvantage, because a user might not want to lose all of his or her searches to start fresh on the homepage. Feasibility to Rate and Review For promoting different novels, it is very difficult for one to recommend books to others, or to even leave a review of what a user thought of a specific book on this website. As said before, the only thing a user can do is rate a book with a thumbs-up or down (See Figures 9 and 10.) indicating whether or not a book is relevant to the one originally clicked on. The only way to review is to go on a different website to discuss the like or apathy towards a certain book. This website tries to give users a chance to create their own, personalized lists of different genres, but the website lacks user-friendliness of ratings and writing reviews. Figure 9: Thumbs-up to rate Figures 10: Thumbs-down to rate 10

17 Conclusions RCM Literacy Promotion Award consistently researches different websites that promote literacy to all users. Even though there are thousands of websites that promote literacy, RCM looks for the best websites to provide recommendations to your Association, America Library Association. Therefore, we look for specific credentials that are clear, accurate, and useful for all individuals. Thousands of websites have information about the condition, but navigating them can be difficult. Providing users with information from the best websites will not only promote literacy, but also reduce the frustration of finding the perfect book. Our study concluded that the most promotional websites that promote literacy are the following: Goodreads, Bookish, and YourNextRead. Figure 11: Summary of survey results We analyzed these websites based on their content, visual appeal, and user-friendliness. To provide evidence supporting our analysis, we sent a survey (see Appendix A) to 150 individuals with receiving 112 responses. See Figure summarizes the results from the 112 responses. Our analysis ranked Goodreads as the best out of the three websites based on all three criteria met. Bookish and YourNextRead were ranked second and third respectively analyzed from the significant benefits and drawbacks. The number of benefits and drawbacks were noted in each analysis report, and was a significant factor for rating Goodreads as the best literacy promoting website due to meeting all features we are looking for. The two other websites had different features that were key features of having a functional literacy promoting website; for example, Bookish features book commentary, news, and previews to new books which is not a feature that Goodreads or YourNextRead has. 11

18 Recommendations RCM chooses Goodreads as the best literacy promoting website based on the following criterion: Visual Appeal -Noticeable Headings; -Visual Appearance; and -Appeal of Colors All headings are arranged logically and are prominent Site is simplistic Color scheme is gender neutral tones Book covers add contrast to color scheme Links are bolded for easy navigation Content -Ratings and Reviews; -Book Descriptions; and -Book Suggestions. Community based approach; user s can recommend books to each other Ratings and reviews are given in two formats for users to easily understand Ratings are reviews are easily navigated Book descriptions are thorough; relevant information about titles is clearly laid out Similar titles are all grouped together, allowing users to browse through related books User Friendliness -Accessible tab bar; -Easy Genre Navigation; and -Feasibility to Rate and Review. Main tab bar is consistent throughout the site, except for the homepage The tab bar features a search option allowing a user to easily find books The most popular genres are quickly accessed from the homepage All book genres and subgenres are accessible throughout the entire site A free account is required to rate and review books All of these attributes are why RCM recommends that American Library Association use Goodreads as the website to use to promote literacy in the state of Virginia. 12

19 Appendix A: RCM Literacy Promotion Award Website Survey RCM Literacy Promotion Award This survey has been authorized by RCM to determine the promotion of literature. Please look at the three websites we have provided and select the answer that most clearly reflects your opinion of the website. We value your opinions and input. Websites to analyze: Goodreads Bookish YourNextRead Survey Item P o o r Good Scale Excellent 1. Headings are nicely laid out and bolded The website is visually appealing The contrast of color within the website is appealing Ratings and reviews are easy to understand Descriptions of each book are relevant and informative Suggested books are relevant The site is easy to navigate through genres of books It is easy for users to rate or write a review of each book The tab bar allows for quick access to the entire site Website allows user to rate and review books

20 Appendix B: RCM Literacy Promotion Award Website Survey Results Of the 150 surveys we sent out, 112 were returned. The following tables show the results as a percentage out of 100. Table 1: Visual appeal survey results Goodreads Bookish YourNextRead Percentage Table 2: Content survey results Goodreads Bookish YourNextRead Percentage Table 3: User-friendliness survey results Goodreads Bookish YourNextRead Percentage