Website of the University of Adelaide - Case Study Example

Report of Evaluation of the architecture of a website April 4 2014 Contents Contents 2 Executive Summary This report looks at evaluating the website of the University of Adelaide and looks to provide different information pertaining to university, research, students, faculties and others. The paper looks at analyze the ease with information can be read and collected, the accessibility, the functionality, different spatial reference and the overall ease in carrying out the different functions. The first impression of the website is very good and provides reliability, authenticity, and provides maximum information through the process of navigation. The content of the website is sound and provides proper navigation options and the entire matter is also arranged logically. The information is arranged in a sequence manner where one aspect leads to another. Overall the analysis is very informative and provides maximum information to the user Introduction The growth in the usage of website to gather information has stressed the need and importance to develop websites which provide correct and complete information. This paper looks at evaluating the website of the University of Adelaide and looks to provide different information pertaining to university, research, students, faculties and others. The paper looks at analyze the ease with information can be read and collected, the accessibility, the functionality, different spatial reference and the overall ease in carrying out the different functions. This will thereby help to provide recommendations through which the functionality of the website will improve and better and clear information will be provided to the users. Methodology The method which has been employed for the research is evaluating the website of the University of Adelaide based on different core areas like accessibility, the functionality, different spatial reference along with ease of navigation and information provider. This will help to find out the areas which needs to be improved and will provide a direction through which better navigation purposes will be provided. Analysis First Impression The first impression which a website creates is the most important factor in deciding the manner in which people will use the website. To ensure that maximum users get attracted to the website it is imperative that the website is attractive, provide details but in concise format, provides an opportunity to search different things and should provide different links which will guide people the designated search engine they want to see. This will help to attract and keep people tuned to the website and provide the information they are seeking for. The following is the website of The University of Adelaide home page Figure 1: Home Page of University of Adelaide http://www.adelaide.edu.au/ The homepage for Adelaide University seems to meet the above mentioned criteria as the website is attractive and provide different information which the person visiting the website looks for. The different information can be easily availed from different tabs like about the university, research, facilities, alumni, students and others. In addition to it a search link has also been provided on the home page which will help the user to be guided at the appropriate place that has the information the person is looking for. The website is thereby user friendly and has ease of navigation which will thereby help to provide majority of the information and will act as a tool through which maximum information can be garnered and will attract people towards it especially students. Site Organization This section looks to provide information relating to the layout and the manner in which the different information is organized. To be able to ensure that the website is properly organized and provides information as desired it should have a logical flow for the information to be gathered and should have different group formation so that each group is provided information accordingly Figure 2: Site Organization for Adelaide University http://www.adelaide.edu.au/student/ The site organization mechanism adopted by Adelaide University is appropriate as there are different groups like about the university, study at Adelaide, research, facilities & divisions, alumni, students and staff. Each tab has been designed for specific group of people so that they can find their concerned information in that specified tab. On clicking at the students’ corner it directed to another page providing information students resources, students’ services, campus and other information. The flow of information is logical and provides information pertaining to each group which will maximize the ease of navigation and provide important directives through which better information can be collected quickly. Navigation Website navigation in another important determinant which to determine the ease with which information can be gathered from the website. A properly developed navigation system acts like a road map which provides various directions where information is stored within the system. Different navigation system uses different types of design elements like 3D bars, buttons, and tabs which helps to maximize the ease and provides an opportunity to gather the different valuable information. A website navigation system will be effective if it is able to achieve the following Firstly, it is consistent throughout the website and provides different valuable information Secondly, the major and main navigation links are kept together so that the user of the website is able to gather and move through the different areas quickly Thirdly, the visitors are able to gather maximum information from minimal clicks It is imperative that a website navigation process achieves the above stated objectives as people are at times impatient and don’t like to visit from one page to another before being guided to the page they are looking for. This can result in utter dissatisfaction and might make people refrain from the website Figure 3: Website Navigation of Adelaide University http://www.adelaide.edu.au/research/ The website navigation adopted by Adelaide University is appropriate and provides an opportunity where through minimum clicks maximum information can be retrieved. This can be seen from the fact that just taking the cursor on research provides information regarding different research centres and the user based on his or her need can select the appropriate one. This ensures that the process is consistent and the person doesn’t have to move from one page to other Figure 4: Website Navigation of Adelaide University http://www.adelaide.edu.au/research/ In addition to it to ensure ease of navigation a quick search link has been provided which provides an opportunity through which different information can be easily accessed. This will help the user to search the different information easily and will act as a medium through which ease in navigation is ensured. Figure 5: Website Navigation of Adelaide University http://www.adelaide.edu.au/ Another important feature seen in navigation is that provides an opportunity through which different information relating to website, people, blogs and other information can be provided. This will help to maximize the ease of navigation and will provide maximum information the people are looking for. Readability Readability is another important aspect which needs to be examined while looking to develop a web design. Having proper readability provides the user with an opportunity to gather maximum information and it helps the user to understand the content easily. Designing the readability aspect improves the overall process of content absorption and provides better advantage as the information can be easily processed and followed Figure 6: Readability of content for Adelaide University http://www.adelaide.edu.au/about/history/ Tthe website uses black and blue color along with some red color which is pleasant to the eyes and ensures that the reader doesn’t faces any issues. Further, the language used is simple and complex words are avoided so that the reader is able to construct the true and correct meaning and has thereby magnified the value of the content. Figure 7: Font Size in Adelaide University http://www.adelaide.edu.au/about/profile/ The university of Adelaide has used Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif and font size 12 which is readable easily and is up to the standard. This allows the user to read through the content easily and doesn’t create additional pressure on the eyes. This has helped the user to read the different information easily without creating any difficulties. Content It is important that the content of the website is decided as per the user so that all the things which the user needs is included. The manner in which Adelaide University has designed the website in as follows The link used by Adelaide University provides maximum information as can be seen from the examination section where different information regarding examination, timetable, survey and venue is provided. The different information is correctly provided and arranged in the logical manner. The University of Adelaide adheres to the to the different requirements which the content requires and ensures proper adherence to the different requirements. Performance The performance of website it important as it is imperative that the website is opened within the minimum time. Size of the graphic should be small and the size of the file should be small so that it can be loaded within little time so that better performance can be achieved. Web Page Analysis To ensure that maximum website viewing requires CSS, JavaScript and cookies to enable in users browsers. It has been seen that the screen resolution of 1024x 768 pixels or higher is required and the web page will be loaded within 2 minutes. This thereby assured that the overall process helps to ensure that maximum information can be ensured. Conclusion The first impression of the website is very good and provides reliability, authenticity, and provides maximum information through the process of navigation. The content of the website is sound and provides proper navigation options and the entire matter is also arranged logically. The information is arranged in a sequence manner where one aspect leads to another. Overall the analysis is very informative and provides maximum information to the user. Recommendations The University of Adelaide should look towards working on the following dimensions Using more font colour instead of black or blue so that more and more and attractiveness can be ensured Using more of animation and multimedia so that the overall effectiveness can be improved Use more search engines so that more information can be searched References The University of Adelaide. (2014). Home Page. Retrieved on April 4, 2014 from http://www.adelaide.edu.au/ Read More