Evaluation of web site
The web site for the dance label Tidy Trax
Speed
The home page starts with a short animation that loads quickly with a broadband connection. The user can skip this and it doesn’t appear again if the homepage is reloaded, however it does play a sound file on loading, which is annoying if you’re already listening to music.
Screen size
No problems viewing the site on 20” widescreen monitor, and it looked as though it would fit onto a 17” CRT. Other pages followed the same format as the homepage, albeit with varying colour schemes.
Other browsers
The content in the middle of the page loaded twice in Safari, however only once in Firefox suggesting browser compatibility issues.
What is the site trying to do?
The site layout is effective presenting clear navigation on the left with a few common buttons on the banner at the top, which stays put when the page is scrolled and is present on other pages too. There is also a conveniently placed search function and some links to other non-related sites towards the bottom (Pylon Of The Month is especially noteworthy)
Overall
Layout of the site is clear and effective, however there can be a lot ‘going on’, with animations on the top, left, right and middle that could be distracting when viewing the content, especially for visuallly impaired users. Generally most pages loaded quickly enough however the store was slower, probably due to the number of thumbnail pictures.
Rowland said,
October 2, 2006 at 10:21 am
I could really have done without the introduction and as I had loaded it into a tab the sound irriated me before I had a chance to skip it. I hated the animations, but perhaps that is just my preference to some extent though like you I did think they might be distracting. Overall I agree with your analysis of the site.
Web site critique update …. « COMP3092 Autumn 2006 said,
October 2, 2006 at 10:34 am
[...] Rich has found some irritating animations [...]
katebanks said,
October 2, 2006 at 5:31 pm
Can’t make my mind up about this site, I love Flash and animations and stuff but it just seems a bit out of place on this site.
sammiejayne said,
October 2, 2006 at 5:36 pm
I like the animation on entering the site, even though I am not actually in the site yet it still keeps me interested in the site. Not sure when I open the site, I feel there is too much going on, on the page with the multiple piece of flash and these tend to distract me from the rest of the site!