Guide for reviewing a website

Hi there I'm just wondering if anyone out there would have a guide or some things to look for when critically analyzing a website for a client. I have 2 websites to review - not so much for a client but as part of  selection process of acquiring a new position with  a firm working in theor IT section specifically working on web projects. Whilst I do have some ideas I'm wondering if any people out there might have  a tested approach for reviewing websites.  Areas I was thinking of looking at include overall look and feel,navigation, content, ease of use. Any other ideas to consider would be greatly appreciated. Regards

> looking at include overall look and feel,navigation, content, ease of use. You might want to have standards compliance, graceful degradation or accessibility in there. -- Tom Chiverton **************************************************** This email is sent for and on behalf of Halliwells LLP. Halliwells LLP is a limited liability partnership registered in England and Wales under registered number OC307980 whose registered office address is at Halliwells LLP, 3 Hardman Square, Spinningfields, Manchester, M3 3EB.  A list of members is available for inspection at the registered office. Any reference to a partner in relation to Halliwells LLP means a member of Halliwells LLP.  Regulated by The Solicitors Regulation Authority. CONFIDENTIALITY This email is intended only for the use of the addressee named above and may be confidential or legally privileged.  If you are not the addressee you must not read it and must not use any information contained in nor copy it nor inform any person other than Halliwells LLP or the addressee of its existence or contents.   If you have received this email in error please delete it and notify Halliwells LLP IT Department on 0870 365 2500. For more information about Halliwells LLP visit www.halliwells.com.

Lets not forget: Branding Logo Compatibility (IE,NS,FF,O...)(win,Mac,Lynux...) Load Time (<10 sec) SEO There is a LOT that goes into a good website. ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more -----

This might point out areas where load times could be improved:     http://developer.yahoo.com/performance/index.html#rules     along with the YSlow plugin for firebug. Lets not forget: Branding Logo Compatibility (IE,NS,FF,O...)(win,Mac,Lynux...) Load Time (<10 sec) SEO There is a LOT that goes into a good website. ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more ----- and > Wales under registered number OC307980 whose registered office address is at ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more ----- you ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more -----

Oh Yea, The absolute first thing I do with any newly inherited site is to view it via Firefox with a few plug ins:    - Cold Fire    - Firebug    - Firefox accessibility extension    - HTML Validator    - Kgen    - Load time Validator    - SE Open    - Window Resizer    - YSlow Not to hijack a topic but any other add ins you guys find useful? ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more -----

Apart from the technical aspects, you really should make a very high priority the basic designers question  - "Does it do the job it's for?"  In other words, if it's an information site, does it inform? Can you find the information you're looking for easily?    If it's a site selling something, is it easy to find what you want and buy it? (think about it as a non-technical person would if you can - how do the customers/users of this site see it?) We often get so close to the technicalities of a web site, we forget to look at it like the end users.   If the site isnt filling the needs of its users (whatever they might be), it's a bad site.    If it fills their needs how they want it,  it's a good site,  whatever the nature of the code and hardware. A great example of what i mean is the Microsoft site (I pick it because it's a site that most us would have seen).  There's a company with more resources than the rest of us could possibly imagine.  Yet just try to find out something there.    Good grief it's agonising. I was advised by my XPPro that there was a service pack 3 to install. I'm not inclined to just install stuff because Microsoft says i should - i want to know more about what it's goign to do.   So I went to the site to find out what is in Service Pack 3.     Try it yourself.   It's almost impossible to find.   You get vague statements like 'it includes small feature enhancements".   Ok what are they? Or almost any product in the Microsoft product line since DOS claim a 'richer user experience' or 'faster and easier accces to information' - so those motherhood statements are pretty well useless.    What exactly does "Silverlight" do??     To those of us in the ColdFusion world,  comparing it to Flash makes it fairly clear.  But I had one of my clients, who doesnt know much about computers  - he's an extraordinarily talented furniture builder, but uses a computer only when forced to - call me asking if he should install SIlverlight becasue Microsoft said he should.   I wanted to find a page on the MS site that describes what it is, so he could see.     There's nothing informative there for him.  It's all technical gobbldegook or bland motherhood statements about richer user experience. In other words,  with all the resources anyone could imagine, Microsoft have built one of the worst sites on the web, in my opinion. It's supposed to inform, and its almost worthless for that purpose. If it's supposed to sell, you cant buy anything there. It's not alone by any means  - i just picked it out because it's so familiar to us all.   But that's my answer to your question - far more important than technical aspects of code, standards comliance, cross-browser compatibility and all that - DOES IT DO THE JOB ITS FOR? Cheers Mike Kear Windsor, NSW, Australia Adobe Certified Advanced ColdFusion Developer AFP Webworks http://afpwebworks.com ColdFusion, PHP, ASP, ASP.NET hosting from AUD$15/month ----- Excess quoted text cut - see Original Post for more -----

Just after i wrote that reply, i had occasion to go to the Microsoft site again.  Right now there's a banner on the home page pointing to a download of a 90 day trial of Microsoft Dynamics GP.    It has nothing to way about what Microsoft Dynamics GP is or does.  simply that you can download it.     So I click on that banner and go to a page that tells me how to download it,  how to install it,  what the file size it or how i can order a DVD of it. BUT WHAT THE HELL IS IT??   Doesnt say.     All it says about what Microsoft Dynamics GP is is this:  "Try Microsoft Dynamics GP and learn how this complete and scalable business management solution can help your growing or mid-sized organization get up and running quickly and maximize the productivity of your people" BUT WHAT THE HELL IS IT????    That 'motherhood' statement is roughly a cut and paste from every product since DOS. There's a link to Microsot Dynamics GP Overview, hidden off to the right, and you have to make another click (now a total of 3 clicks from the home page) to start to see what it might do.  And even there, the product's real purpose is buried in a snowstorm of marketing-speak that is almost as impenetrable as Swahili. There's my point   I dont know if Microsoft has as one of its goals for its site, "to inform".   But it does an abysmal job of that. As to what exactly Microsoft Dynamics GP is and does, the only choice is to download it, install it, configure it,  experiement with it,  and only then you can find out if it is anything you might want to use.    You have to work hard to find out even the most basic information.   I guess no one's asked the question,  " why would anyone go to all that trouble to install it and try it if they dont even know if they might use it?" Cheers Mike Kear Windsor, NSW, Australia Adobe Certified Advanced ColdFusion Developer AFP Webworks http://afpwebworks.com ColdFusion, PHP, ASP, ASP.NET hosting from AUD$15/month