Usability Evaluation and Recommendations

Usability evaluation and Recommendations For sixties Press Poetry Magazine IT3210 Web Systems and Technologies John Winko genus Capella University Introduction This paper testament propose a web aim redesign for Sixties Press Poetry Magazine located at http//www. sixtiespress. co. uk. The settle is owned by Thushari Williams according to Whois and the primary tendency of the localize is curating/collecting/ issue various poets work that relates to a 1960s era issue. on that point does non appear to be some(prenominal) corporate backing to the publication or syndication of any sort.After instruction through the tirade of obfuscated source figure, it is a in substance(p) assumption the send was initially d whizz in an one-time(a) edition of Microsoft Word then saved as a web rogueboy. localize improvements leave be recommended based polish off of a blended heuristic hyaloplasm set up in appendix 1 pulped from look to engine Journal and usereffect. com. Table of Contents Introduction2 Table of Contents3 Identity4 Structure and lay divulge4 In reverberateation architecture and identify seafaring5 Use of visual elements6 Usability7 availableness7 Conclusion8 References9 Appendix 1 Heuristic Usability Questionnaire10Appendix 2 Site Navigation and Use Case Scenario14 Identity The website http//www. sixtiespress. co. uk is for a magazine called Sixties Press Poetry. The site has a logo that is replicated at the conduce of e actually scalawag exactly does non have a clear tag line to tell the purpose of the site. A user has to glean the fact the site is a collaboration of dissimilar motives generating 60s substructured rhyme from add-in items and the dust nitty-gritty on the important summon. There is non a particular(prenominal) About Us page anywhere on the site and the only get through information is in a small section on the bottom left dispense of the homepage.The target audition is anyone seeking poetry with a 60 s theme and critical of poetry publishing processes in home base in todays society. Additionally, thither atomic number 18 options for purchasing substantial-print magazines chosen from a catalog. These facts are not readily ascertained from the overload of field of study lay down on the homepage. The site redesign bequeath give a more(prenominal)(prenominal) than concise description of the sites purpose on the homepage as well as a brief tagline. The amount of field on the homepage result be trimmed subject so that the sites identity and purpose are more readily apparent.Structure and layout From a layout standpoint, the boilers suit wrapping of the body of to severally one page on the site changes with the homepage having a wrapped width of 836px musical composition the poetry page has a determined width of 989px. This inconsistency get hold ofs to extra whitespace for some pages while less or none for other pages based on the users web browser resolution and coat of it. The body mental ability is also left aligned so all extra whitespace is shown on the right which detracts from easier focus on the fundamental content of pages. any of the pages show the site logo at the tiptop conserveed by a pi big moneying batting order.This is con posturered good design and will not be changed structurally for the site redesign. The homepage uses a 3 column layout while other pages vary from 1 to 3 columns for their layouts. Columns are not distinctive in their content and are structurally disruptive giving the display of cramming information into a tighter space. There are apparent sections at heart the homepage body to delineate different parts of the site moreover no form of clean sailplaning to identify a relevant section rapidly aside from consolidated chromaizeing for separately section.Pages are laid out with tables using blank paragraph tags to add space for formatting. This creates a really different showing experience ac ross different browsers as each medium has a different set of default values for spatial arrangement padding and so on The table widths also vary from page to page and section to section creating different alignments from the fixed position formatting utilize. The site redesign will eliminate the table structure for layout and use floated elements (divisions) to satisfy a more fluid layout. Column structure will take note designs set forth in Appendix 2.Information architecture and site navigation The entire site is broken into about 8 pages branching from the homepage with many anchor connect utilise to navigate long pages of poetry. The actual content pages are extremely long, to the point the thumb scroll becomes its background size at 1920&2151080 screen resolution. Given the breadth of information on pages much(prenominal) as Poetry. hml, the architecture could be improved by disruption out pages by author and/or subject. Individual hyper relate do follow a consisten t pattern of cosmos underlined and a hand abstract pointer to indicate that clicking the link is actionable.The actual ordering information for hard print magazines is hidden in a catalog link not listed on the main navigation bulwark. There are also pages for interior authors that are only tender from the main page and are not descriptive to being a collection of a specific the single authors work. The site redesign will encompass using a more description navigation menu to better direct the user if they lack to purchase anything the site has to offer as well as a more a priori menu and architecture for collective works by author. Use of visual elementsFor a website decided to poetry, the decisions for color and furrow do not follow a typical 60s theme let alone theming for easier education. Typically 60s themed colourize entangle Turquoise, Jade, and Mint Green amongst others (McEvoy, n. d. ), spartanly seamed to the dark red on foreboding(a) shown on the homepage. The important headings all have a stochastic color with an XORd background while the menu has the same variation of random colourise with a pitch black background. Each subsection of content within the body of the homepage is a different color with additional celestial orbits having an cancel color scheme.The under-contrasted pages would make viewing the site very difficult for somebody that is color blind The background wallpaper on each page has a subtle 60s them scarcely does not contrast well with the multi-color textbook of poetry passages or content in general. The case size and space are adequate but the font formulation itself detracts from the aesthetics of the pages content. The majority of the block text uses a Black court of chancery font face which is not considered web safe and the site would be better suited to use a standard serif font.An excommunication can be made to allow for an embedded font such as Bellbottom Laser (Lorvad, 1991) to be used for adding flare to title headings. Usability preferably than using the html pseudo element & group A write the decorator made a picture of their copyright statement and it appears they expanded its size from the accepted distorting the image quality. The site redesign will use text in place of images used to accomplish to the same task. The picture of Barry Tebb, one of the authors, requires a java applet to run only to have a non-value added effect of water droplets on a grainy photo.The site redesign will remove the unnecessary applet and use a static image instead. Additionally, the site logo will be think directly to the homepage devising navigation easier. There is a text area on the homepage that contains about 5 paragraphs of text and requires scrolling in a very narrow window. This will be revised into a more useable text block following(a) the same design pattern as the rest of the site. With the ejection of collect page, text blocks are limited to less than 80 characters per line making interpreting easier.Although links are properly anchored and are consistent with being underlined, the redesign will consolidate link colors to preserve thematic relevance. The actual number of links on the homepage will be reduce as its current form has more links than descriptive content detracting from understanding the purpose of a homepage. Accessibility A W3C validation of the homepage notice over 130 HTML coding errors and all of the bearings were made inline without any use of external CSS. (W3C, 2012) None of the images on the site have elevated railroad text to failover if the image failed to load.There is not a concise separation amid navigation and content within the code as the home used a table row and other pages used paragraphs as the separating entities. By eliminating the table structure of pages, the site redesign will properly code in HTML5/CSS3 ensuring the viewing experience is consistent across the majority of browsers. The site uses a JavaS cript based pop-out menu to assist navigating large pages of poetry but in that respect are numerous compatibility issues that occur. The pop-out menu rests about halfway down the screen and overlaps the body content both when expanded and collapsed.The menu bar beneath the logo is in an transcendental place but jumps around when navigating different pages since the formatting rules vary between browsers. The site redesign will eliminate the JavaScript based pop-out menu and will instead use a floating sub-menu for individual sections. Conclusion The majority of changes to the site will be thematic in character, updating the color scheme and positioning. Additional changes will be made to improve the sites identity starting with revising the homepage and including an About Us page to further expand the sites purpose.HTML and CSS coding standards and practices will be strictly adhered to ensuring compatibility and proper viewing experience across major browsers. References Cumbro wski, C. (2008, Feb 20). 50 Questions to Evaluate the Quality of Your Website. Retrieved Nov 25, 2012, from Search Engine Journal http//www. seekenginejournal. com/50-questions-to-evaluate-the-quality-of-your-website/6400/ Lorvad. (1991). BellBottom Laser font. Retrieved Nov 25, 2012, from Fontspace. com http//www. fontspace. com/lorvad/bellbottom-laser McEvoy, D. (n. d. ). Interior Design Retro Style.Retrieved Nov 25, 2012, from All Things Frugal http//www. allthingsfrugal. com/retro_interior_design. htm Meyers, D. P. (2012, Feb 10). 25-point Website Usability Checklist. Retrieved Nov 25, 2012, from User Effect http//www. usereffect. com/topic/25-point-website-usability-checklist W3C. (2012, Nov 25). W3C Markup Validation Service. Retrieved Nov 25, 2012, from World coarse Web Consortium (W3C) http//validator. w3. org/check? uri=http%3A%2F%2Fwww. sixtiespress. co. uk%2Findex. htm& antiophthalmic factorcharset=%28detect+automatically%29&doctype=Inline&group=0Appendix 1 Heuri stic Usability Questionnaire Navigation 1. Are links labeled with anchor text that provides a clear indication of where they lead? Yes. 2. Depth what is the maximum number of clicks it takes to reach a page within the depths of the site? All pages are a single click past from the homepage (2 clicks if including anchoring from the menu). Given the amount of content on the site it would be more manageable to have a 3 click architecture to more concisely filter and arrange content (by author/by subject). 3.If a splash screen or navigation feature is provided in a Java/JavaScript/Flash format, is a text-based superlativeernative also available? Yes, a JavaScript pop out menu is feature on long pages of poetry and a text version is available at the top of the page. 4. Do clickable items stylistically indicate that they are clickable? Yes, all items that are underlined are linked to some content and the mouse pointer changes to a hand to indicate that the click will be actionable. 5. H ow intuitive is it to navigate? Are signs axiomatic or obscured?In a general sense the navigation is intuitive but far from consistent with the layout changes between different pages. The pop-out menu is intuitive in IE but not in other browsers (actual clickable area is not visible). 6. Main navigation is easily identifiable. Mostly yes, however there is a page that contains revenue generation from ordering magazine that is not shown in the navigation bar or easily identifiable. Additionally there are pages that are specific to internal authors that are only cordial from the main page. 7. Navigation labels are clear & concise.Textually relevant yes but thematically difficult to read. 8. Number of buttons/links is reasonable. No, there are links to too many different areas on the homepage detracting from being concise. The homepage itself has more link than actual content. 9. Company logo is linked to home? page. No. 10. tie in are consistent & easy to identify. All links a re underlined but thematically change very regularly from size and color. An exception exists for the clickable area for each of the links, clicking to high on the text has no effect. Accessibility 1.Is content structurally separate from navigational elements? The navigation menu on the home page is separated from other content by a <tr> tag but on subsequent pages is contained in a <p> tag. There is not a concise separation between navigation and content. 2. Is the website cross-browser compatible? No. The layout is achieved using tables and paragraph blanks and the viewing experience was different between Firefox, Chrome and IE. 3. How compliant is the website with W3C coding standards? Valid HTML/CSS? No, a W3C validation resulted in over 130 errors.The pages only contain inline styles with no external or embedded CSS. 4. Are alt tags in place on all significant images? No, there are not alt tags used for any images. 5. Are text-based alternatives in place to convey nati ve information if this is have within images or multimedia files? No, on top of alt text being absent, the java applet containing a photo on the main page does not fail safely and left as an empty area. 6. Site load? time is reasonable? Yes, there are very hardly a(prenominal) pictures and most pages consist primarily of text in the form of poems/poetry. . Adequate text? to? background contrast? No. The featured articles page has text color very close to the background color while the navigation items are too contrasted in difference. 8. Flash & add? ons are used sparingly. Yes, but the sole java applet plus used has no specific utility or purpose. The JavaScript pop-out menu does not load correctly across all browsers and is completely cut off from use in Chrome and Firefox. 9. Site has custom not? found/404 page. No. (Requires a server side change so not applicable) Identity 1.Company logo is prominently rigid. Yes 2. Clear statement of PURPOSE of the site? Purpose does not become clear within a few seconds without reading much or no text copy at all. Assumptions have to be made from the text in the logo and menu to find out it is a magazine about poetry. 3. Who is the target audience? The site is meant for anyone seeking 60s era poetry and those feeling to purchase a copy of the print magazine. 4. Tagline makes companys purpose clear. No tagline present. It is assumed the site is about poetry after reading through the body content. . Home? page is digestible in 5 seconds. No, there are multiple vectors the eyes are drawn to which makes getting an overall view more difficult. There are laundry lists of authors, selected readings and selected sections for each subpage of the site on the homepage. 6. Clear path to company information. No specific About Us page listed and had to specifically perform a WHOIS search to determine true site ownership. The homepage does contain a clause that specifies original copyright remains with respective authors and im ages were courtesy of Leeds Library. . Clear path to contact information? Not really, there are contact details on the bottom left corner of the homepage but not specifically listed as official site contact. Design 1. Is the sites design esthetically appealing? No, the color scheme alone makes the site very unappealing. The stark contrasts set against the swirling background makes focusing difficult and the left aligned nature draws too much attention to the whitespace left on the right side of the screen. 2. Are the colors used harmonious and logically related?No, colors seem extremely random in nature although they are logically related to sections (one color for each section). 3. Are the color choices visually accessible? No, some parts have color themes that are too starkly contrasted while others are not contrasted enough to allow easier reading. It would be very difficult for someone color blind to absorb a lot of the content. 4. Is the design audience impound? Yes, the font size is divert for older audiences and those wishing to retro to 60s content. 5. Font size/ set is easy to read?Font size and spacing is adequate. 6. Readability and appropriate type face? No, there are multiple different fonts used and the specific fonts do not add to the readability or theme of the website. The Black Chancery font use predominately for block text is not considering a web safe font. Content 1. Is the website copy thick but informative? There are continuous sections of poetry that detracts from being succinct but the content only design can be considered informative. 2. Does the copywriting style suit the websites purpose and speak to its target audience?There is an attempt at using vibrant colors resembling 60s design but that attempt falls short of effectively public speaking this to the audience. 3. Are bodies of text constrained to <80 characters per line? Most pages do, however, the muniment page does not and has text that spans the entire width of the pa ge. 4. Can text be resized through the browser or do CSS settings restrict size alteration? Text can be resized at different resolutions without detriment. 5. Is the contrast between text and its background color sufficient to make reading easy on the eyes?No, the color scheme heavily detracts from easier reading (see design considerations) 6. Is text broken into small, readable chunks and highlighted using headings, sub-headings and emphasis features where appropriate to assist in skimming? Yes. 7. Do you have testimonials and publish them on the site? There is a Reviews page that acts as a testimonials or critical acclaim although the mix of good and bad reviews is not concise. 8. Do you update the content regularly and dont live by the phrase set it and forget it? Content has not been updated since 2007 so it appears the content has been forgotten. . Major headings are clear & descriptive. Yes 10. Styles & colors are consistent. No, see previous comments on color scheme. 11 . Emphasis (bold, etc. ) is used sparingly. No, although there is an absence of <b> and <em> tags, emphasis is placed by using the stark contrast for header items in the form of color. 12. Ads & pop? ups are unobtrusive. No, the menu pop-out overrides the underlying text. 13. Main copy is concise & explanatory. Mostly, yes. As a poetry site each individual article accomplishes its own purpose although the particular arrangements used are not self-explanatory. 4. HTML page titles are explanatory. Yes. Appendix 2 Site Navigation and Use Case Scenario Use Case Scenario Customer wants to agnise what others think about the site. 1. User visits homepage 2. User clicks About Us from menu 3. User clicks External Reviews/Links 4. User reads Reviews. Customer wants to find a poem by X author 1. User visits homepage 2. User clicks the author from the author list 3. User reads poetry from authors page 4. -OR- Click on catalog 5. Review publications list