Home> Web Head > So you want a Web Site Critique?
Written in conjunction with Webby from CWM.
Here are some guidelines, links and suggestions to help you prepare your site before asking for a critique at CWM. These are all aspects of websites that may receive comment if they have been overlooked or done poorly. These guidelines and web design points are accepted widely among web developers. When appropriate, we have provided links to articles that may help you with that particular item.
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GENERAL THOUGHTS
- Make sure you provide a link to your site to be reviewed in your post. Check the link after posting to be sure it was correctly entered and is valid.
- What are you looking for in a critique? Let us know what areas on which you would like comments. Graphics, Code, Colors, Content, Layout?
- Does your site work in other browsers? Designing sites for just
Internet Explorer, for example, excludes a significant number of
people. Many members here use other browsers and will look at your
site with them.
http://www.alistapart.com/articles/netscape/
(Discussion of reasons to design for more than one browser) - How is the load time? Is it friendly for our 56k friends?
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze
(A free check for page load) - Background music. It can be annoying, but if you do use it- provide your visitor with a way to turn it off.
CONTENT:
- Do you have a statement of purpose?
Help writing a Mission Statement: http://www.tgci.com/magazine/98fall/mission.asp - Are you using an intro/flash page?
"Flash: 99% Bad," by Jakob Nielsen: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20001029.html - Make sure you check your spelling and grammar. Errors present an unprofessional image. (This is as easy as cutting and pasting your text to your word processor)
- Avoid "Click here" as a link: http://www.w3.org/QA/Tips/noClickHere
- Is enough information given about you so that I trust your
content?
Why You Need An About Page: http://www.dkeithrobinson.com/asterisk/archive/2004/08/a-good-about-page - Is your contact information available? Easy to find?
- How old is the page/site? When was the site last updated?
- Use effective and unique titles in the title tags for
each page.
"How to Write Headlines, Page Titles and Subject Lines", http://www.useit.com/alertbox/980906.html - Are you using paragraphs or long blocks of text?
"How to Write a Paragraph", http://www2.actden.com/writ_den/tips/paragrap/ - Is it readable, both content-wise and design-wise?
"How Users Read on the Web", http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html - Is your content written effectively and clearly?
"Why the web is a pull medium", http://guide.gospelcom.net/resources/medium.php
CODE:
- Make sure you have a valid doctype.
"Fix your site with the Right Doctype!!", http://www.alistapart.com/articles/doctype/ - Make sure you're site is valid.
Check if your code validates: http://validator.w3.org/
Check if your CSS validates: http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/
"Why valid code matters", http://www.netmechanic.com/news/vol6/html_no20.htm - Make sure you don't have any dead links.
Check your links at W3.org, http://validator.w3.org/checklink - Is it accessible to disabled people?
"Cynthia Says portal" - check the accessibility of your page, http://www.contentquality.com/ - Are you using a bunch of Javascript inline? Try moving them to
external files.
"Reduce the size of your Head", http://www.netmechanic.com/news/vol5/html_no3.htm - How is the total size of your page? Don't forget image files,
special scripts, etc.
Bandwidth calculator: http://virtualgraphicsworld.freeservers.com/bandwidthcalculator.htm(Page no longer availible.)
LAYOUT, PRESENTATION, & NAVIGATION:
- Are the design and theme consistent across all pages?
- Can your visitor easily find what he/she is looking for?
- Are your menus and links intuitive, i.e., is it clear to the visitor where each link goes and what it's about?
- Would someone using a resolution of 800x600 have a horizontal scroll? There are more of them out there than you might expect ... Browser Statistics, http://www.w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp
- Are all background colors set for elements? If not you'll be at the whim of the user's default color scheme.
- Here are a few websites that might help with picking colors.
Color Scheme Generator 2, http://wellstyled.com/tools/colorscheme2/index-en.html
Color Match utility, http://www.hypergurl.com/colormatch.php
Color Palette generator, http://slayeroffice.com/tools/color_palette/ - Are you using CSS for layout and presentation?
"Why should I use CSS?" http://www.usableaccess.com/node/11
Example of CSS Design. http://www.csszengarden.com/ - Use graphics and images that enhance your site and help serve
its purpose. Avoid using images purely for effect.
http://homestarrunner.com/sbemail51.html is presented as a negative example/satire - Are your images optimized for the web? Image files should be compressed so the files do not create long download times for the page. For example, digital photos straight from the camera can be hundreds of KBs, or even a MB or more. http://www.spinwave.com/ (gif/jpg compression)
- "Optimizing Website Graphics and Photographs", http://www.artisan-ds.com/design_article3.php
- Avoid animated (GIF's and Flash) for decoration. They can be effective attention-getters but only when used sparingly. Many people find the constant motion annoying and don't stay at sites with animated images.
- Specify back-up fonts in case a user doesn't have the primary
font choice.
Some info on fonts: http://webdesign.about.com/cs/webdesignfonts/a/aa051903a.htm - It's good to use the title attribute for images and links where
needed! Users like to know where they are going.
"Help Users Predict Where They are Going"
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/980111.html - Be sure to use ALT text for images, for accessibility purposes.
"Writing effective ALT text", http://www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-accessibility/image-alt-text.shtml - Indicate width and height for each image.
"Why specifying width and height is important"
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/speed/tweak/size/
- The purpose of the forums is cooperation, encouragement and support. Website critiques are part of that. Keep that in mind! Sometimes critiques can be a bit overwhelming, but it is all done with the purpose of helping you.
- Take critiques seriously. Many are from experienced and knowledgeable people.
- Take critiques with a grain of salt, too! Some comments are more opinions rather than standard web design viewpoints, such as the choice of colors or fonts.
- Remember you are not bound to adopt any suggestion or comment...
- But also remember that if you don't make corrections or try something that was recommended, especially from one of the more experienced members (their post counts are good indications of long-time participation on the forums), continuing pleas for help might not generate much response!
- Posts have no "voice" sound; they are just text. Please don't assume offense when none is meant. What may seem brusque or unfeeling might simply be a brief explanation from someone who spends many hours of their free time helping people improve their sites and work out coding problems.
- Do your homework! If you don't understand something, do ask a question about it, but first, be sure you followed up on suggested links and made an attempt to work things out on your own.
- Be patient. If you don't get a response right away, it is just because people may be busy with their own projects. CWM has members around the world, and when you are awake, wondering when your site will get a critique, the best website reviewer might be sleeping!
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