The aim of a site review is to determine how well your web site works, on both technical and aesthetic levels, and to recommend improvements that will make the site more useful, attractive and reliable.
Designers and authors are not always the most objective reviewers of their own work, and it can be quite revealing to have a "fresh pair of eyes" looking over a site. If we weren't involved in building your site, we can take an interested but objective viewpoint, and deliver a cool assessment of your site's strengths and weaknesses.
Take a look at some of the areas we cover:
Aesthetic factors
Appearance. Does the visual tone of your site (the use of colour and graphics) suit your site's purpose? Is it in keeping with your kind of business, and the image you would wish to convey? Does it match the nature and tone of the text? Does the page layout make sense?
Cohesion. Do the pages convey a sense that they all belong to a unified whole? Are visual or stylistic elements consistent from page to page, so contributing to this sense of unity?
Graphics. Do the graphics actually assist the viewer's understanding of the content, or make a worthwhile contribution to the visual appeal of the site? Or do they merely burden the page by increasing the time it takes to download? Are graphics positioned effectively in relation to text? Is the image quality high enough?
Spelling and grammar. A remarkable number of web sites are let down by bad spelling and grammar. Is your site one of them? What impression would that leave with visitors to your site?
Usability factors
Information architecture. Does the site have a sensible structure? Is information grouped under logical headings, such that site visitors could make a good guess at what they will find under those headings, or under which heading they are likely to find what they're looking for?
Navigation. Is the site's structure obvious from the navigation scheme? Is it easy to move around from section to section, page to page? Can visitors find their way quickly to the information they want?
Technical factors
Speed. Do the pages download quickly? Have the page code and graphics files been optimised for fast downloading?
Coding and compatibility. Does the code comply with published specifications for HTML and CSS? Are there errors that could lead to the site not being displayed properly by some web browsers?
Accessibility. How does the site perform in a text-only browser, or with graphics turned off? How accessible will it be to people with disabilities, who might not be able to use a mouse, or who might use screen readers to "view" web pages? Will the site be readable in the new generation of internet-enabled devices such as PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants)?
Links. Are there "broken" links on the site?
If you'd like to know how your site measures up, then please contact us.
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