Re: Re:Please Review

G'day

Site reviewed: http://www.webarchitect.net/vignettes/draft/index.html
Front page and pages linked to from that page only.

800x600 - 16bit (and also 640x480 / 1024x768)
IE 4.72 on Win95
56K Modem at 46k
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I downloaded the site in the background so I don't know how long it took to
load.

ENTRY PAGE.

1. Initial impression: the graphic looked really nice.   My daughter,
sitting next to me, remarked "That's a nice site!" just based on that page.
Well done!

2. The page was obviously set up with a fixed width table as I ended up with
lots of white (well, aqua in this case) space, particularly at 1024x768.
However, it's not as bad as the real white space I notice on some sites.

3. Slight inconsistency in text colour - the "last updated" came up in
black.  I examined the document's source and found it is done wth
javascript.  I also found that you used <FONT COLOR="#669999"> in a number
of places but did not specify a TEXT=.. in the BODY tag.  If you add this,
you won't need to set the font colour (assuming you want to have the same
colour throughout the page) and the "last updated" will also scome out in
the right colour.

4. While looking at the source I noticed you have the script for the
rollovers inside the BODY portion of the page.  Consider moving it to the
HEAD of the document - the proper place for it.  Some browsers MAY choke on
this.

5. I did not particularly like the rollovers but my daughter did :-)   I
noticed that the "Home" button led nowhere.  It has a link attached to it
but to the same page.  Perhaps drop the <A HREF> on it or refer to "#"
rather than the filename.

DESIGNS

1. Too much white space (my pet peeve) even at 800x600

2. The mouseovers came up with broken images but perhaps that's because I am
working offline and the images were not downloaded.

3. While I liked the graphic on the opening page, it's getting a bit too
much on this page with the extra graphics to the right of the "logo".  (My
daughter didn't like this one as much either but dd not know why)

4. I noticed that you now have a "navigation bar" on the left, with a slight
cream shading.  I like that idea.   However, you introduce other links under
the text of the page, in plain text and as graphics.  Somewhat inconsistent.

5. I take it (from reading the intro on this page) that the new links near
the bottom of the page lead to pages with examples of the stencils.
Consider that not every visitor will read every word.  Perhaps highlight
some keywords (bold or otherwise) so they know what to expect.  I did not
download those pages so I can't comment on them.

CATALOG

1. The nav bar stays.  At least we have some consistency now.

2. I'm afraid the angled image of the catalog does not do anything for me.

3. The link to the "Order Form" is split between two lines.  Suggest you
either make the text smaller or put a break before the link so it appears on
a separate line (allright, now I'm being picky).

4. I think this page could do with a bit more text.   Something like a
description of the kinds of things you'll find in the catalog.

MURALS

1. The text column is just too narrow.  When I switch to 1024x768 I usually
increase font size but even at 800x600 with medium font size, it was quite
distracting.  You end up with very short lines of text in a wide expanse of
nothingness.   I'd at least widen the column. Unless you want people to see
the title like this:

    How To
    Create A
    Mural

    Also have a look at the text wrapping around the "finished mural":

    position
    and size
    of the
    wall and

    etc.

CONTACT

No comment.

FINAL COMMENTS

1. Try to keep navigation consistent
2. Do you have to use fixed width tables?  How will these look on WebTV or
at 1280x1024?
3. Keep the colour scheme consistent - stick with the teal
background/border?
4. Is the text dark enough?  I think not.  Perhaps change it from #666699 to
#333366

Hope this helps
--
Bert Doorn, Member of the HTML Writers Guild
Author of Beginners' Website Design Tips
at http://www.iinet.net.au/~bdoorn/

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