Easy computer geek question, easy 10 POINTS TODAY!?

Question

I have to write an extended writting task for yr 11 I.T.S

It need 5 headings, and i have to review a website and say how good/bad it is.

What stuff do i speak about under the

USABILITY heading,

and the COMMUNICATION heading.

u only have to answer one of them for me, but i would like a few things to write about

thanks,,, im just not nerdy enough i suppose, JOKES

Answer 1

Usability includes considerations such as:

Who is the intended audience for the web site, who was the site made for, for example is it a  site that sells electronics, or is it a news web site?

What is the goal of the website? Is it selling something? Is it informational?

How easy or difficult is it for a visitor to find what they are looking for?

Does the site require a certain browser or version of that browser?

Is the web site cross-browser friendly? (does it work in internet explorer, firefox and opera?)

Does the web site work on both the MAC and the PC?

Does the web site require any plug-ins to function properly, like the flash player?

How experienced does a user have to be in order to effectively use the web site?

Are help files provided on the site for users that have difficulty? Are those files useful?

** The next one is a big one...

Does the web site meet the needs of those individuals with disabilities that might be viewing the site? For example, a blind user that is using a screen reader to read the content of the pages of the site aloud.

These are some questions to get you started in thinking about Usability, I will not write the answer for you, you need to do some research. I am adding some good links for you to find the answers to these questions.

http://web-programming.suite101.com/arti...

http://www.sitepoint.com/subcat/usabilit...

http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/articl...

Being nerdy has nothing to do with being able to answer these questions. Being serious about web design and development means that you are constantly asking yourself these questions about every web site or web application you use, design or develop.

Answer 2

Under USABILITY you're going to want to look for things to determine if the site is doing what the owner of the site wants it to do. If you're selling merchandise, is the shopping cart easy to use? If you're displaying pictures, is it easy to get zoomed shots of the artwork?

Under COMMUNICATION, does the website clearly communicate the information it is looking to present? Is it trying to do it with words when a video would work better? Does the user have the ability to download PDFs of informational material?

Under SPEED, how long does it take the pages to load? Have the pictures been optimized so they load quickly? I've seen people take 1.1 MB files straight from their digital cameras and put them into a 100 x 100 thumbnail. (Considering you could load that thumbnail photo as a 10K file, some websites kill their bandwidth usage with stupid things like that).

Under ASETHETICS, you might determine whether the website is visually appealing. Do I like the colors? Do I like the way this presents things?

I don't remember if that's four or five headings, but it will get you started.