In message <[log in to unmask]> on Tue, 24 Apr 2001,
J.H.Whalley <[log in to unmask]> wrote
>It gets worse the closer you look.
>
>The site ignores accessible web design principles, absurd in a new
>site in 2001 after the DDA became active.
I sent them the editor some comments and suggestions on this site, some
positive and some negative, as attached below, which were forwarded to
the help desk rather than to the system designers. It was acknowledged
with the following boilerplate reply:
>This is to confirm that your comments have been received at the UK online
>Feedback Desk. We are sorry to hear that you are unhappy with the site at
>present.
>
>All feedback received is registered and taken into consideration during the
>future changes to the UK online service. We would like to thank you for
>taking the time to complete the form and welcome any comments you may have
>in the future.
>
>Thank you for using UK online.
-----Original message-----
Subject: UKonline Web site
To: [log in to unmask]
From: Leonard Will <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2001 13:02:04 +0100
Message-ID: <[log in to unmask]>
Dear Editor
I've just had a first look at the ukonline.gov.uk Web site, and see that
you ask for comments and feedback. As I have not used it fully, I am
just sending you some initial thoughts:
1. On my screen, which uses 1152 x 864 pixels, your fixed-width pages
occupy a column in the middle with a large area of blank space on either
side. It would be good if you could use table sizing as a percentage of
the screen width instead of a fixed number of pixels. I see that this is
done properly on <http://getting.ukonline.gov.uk/index.htm> and in the
frames within which you present external sites, so I hope that you can
follow their example in your main pages too.
2. I'm glad that you provided an email address rather than just Web
forms for feedback. The tiny boxes you provide for people to write in
error reports or comments are far too small to say anything useful, and
though they scroll it is not easy to write a sensible message through
such keyholes. It is also very difficult to keep a copy of a message
sent through a Web form - could you perhaps offer to forward a copy of
the resulting email to the sender, so that it can be stored in their
email filing system? Some sites already do this.
3. After I had moved to <http://getting.ukonline.gov.uk/index.htm>, the
back button on my browser (IE5.50) would not take me back to your site,
because the previous page that it moved to was <http://www.ukonline.gov.
uk/online/ukonline/external?destination=http://getting.ukonline.gov.uk>
which redirected me to the getting.ukonline page again. Is there a
reason for your using this form of external redirection URL rather than
a straightforward link to the external site?
4. I wish you would get rid of the scrolling banner on your home page.
Having to wait for information to appear is irritating and prevents a
quick scan of new topics. It should be possible to put the same
information in a couple of lines of fixed text.
5. I'm very glad to see that your search function allows proper Boolean
searching - so many sites don't! Your help text says that after an
initial search "Underneath the search box you will notice that Quick
find also presents you with alternative keywords or phrases ..." In fact
these are presented above the search box, not underneath it.
If one of these alternative terms is ticked, the search seems to be
executed as if it were added to the words in the search box. This can be
misleading: I first searched for "planning permission" without quote
marks but with the "Exact phrase" button chosen. I then refined the
search by ticking "listed", and it appeared as though the search was
limited to "planning permission listed" as an exact phrase instead of
("planning permission" AND "listed") as I intended. This might be
misleading to users who do not realise how their search statement is
being interpreted.
I hope that these comments are of some help.
Regards
Leonard Will
--
Willpower Information (Partners: Dr Leonard D Will, Sheena E Will)
Information Management Consultants Tel: +44 (0)20 8372 0092
27 Calshot Way, Enfield, Middlesex EN2 7BQ, UK. Fax: +44 (0)20 8372 0094
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-----End of original message from Leonard Will-----
Leonard Will
--
Willpower Information (Partners: Dr Leonard D Will, Sheena E Will)
Information Management Consultants Tel: +44 (0)20 8372 0092
27 Calshot Way, Enfield, Middlesex EN2 7BQ, UK. Fax: +44 (0)20 8372 0094
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---------------- <URL:http://www.willpowerinfo.co.uk/> -----------------
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