Andrew,
i think you've done us all a valuable service.  many of us are faced with
developing/planning or evaluating someone else's planning of a web site for
our institution.  the various elements - loading, theme, consistency, etc.,
are important for every website (and brochure as well).  THANKS for taking the
time to detail how to evaluate, construct and compose.
linn

Andrew Watkins wrote:

> Erika
> Are you sure, really sure that you want criticism?
> please don't take this personally, the site is a good first attempt.
> All comments in my humble opinion of course.
> this is based on a short 15 minute tour of the site.
>
> Home page
> ---------
> The background doesn't work, it is too distracting. If you want a
> watermark effect then you need to ensure that the image tiles without
> emphasising the rectangular nature of the tiling, The grid of castles
> simply repeats the main picture so why have the main picture - or the
> background.
>
> also the background shows up a blank section around address which although
> intentional looks accidental.
>
> recommendation. don't bother with the background image, it adds to the
> initial load time and makes the text more difficult to read, interfering
> in places with the letters and whitespace.
>
> You need to think about the screen sizes that people are using. The first
> page on my screen looked like a dead end as there were no clickable items
> on it. Not everyone will notice the scroll bar indicating that there is
> more below.
>
> My general advice is to treat the first page like the cover and contents
> section of a book. it needs to load quickly, communicate to the reader
> that they have reached the right site and act as a clear navigational
> point for the rest of the site. you should be able to get all content onto
> single screen.
>
> recommendation.
> re-arrange the page so that all the key text is visible, remember that
> people may arrive at the site knowing nothing about St Andrews - even
> which country it is in, the web is your window to the world.
>
> move the map to a separate 'find us' page along with contact details
> opening times, entrance fees etc.
>
> Arrival Gallery page
> --------------------
> consider combining this with the home page. as its main purpose seems to
> be to link to the other galleries.
>
> Nice picture but it doesn't need the red border, it would look better
> runing free.
>
> you say
> "Such a rich and complex story cannot be told in detail here, so we have
> had to be very selective. "Arrival" focuses on mediaeval St Andrews and
> the period from 1840 to the present day."
>
> Actually web sites are quite a good way of telling a long and complex
> story.
>
> it isn't clear whether you are referring to the web page or to the museum
> itself.
>
> your main subject areas, mediaeval, victorian, education seem selective -
> does the museum not cover - pre-historic St Andrews, Modern St Andrews.
> There is no mention of golf, which is may be the only thing distant
> visitors may know about St Andrews. Even if the museum doesn't mention it
> you might consider a brief item and links to the appropriate site.
> Perhaps some sort of timeline montage.
>
> Mediaeval St Andrews
> --------------------
> This page is much better, the two columns format works better than the
> centred text on the first page and there is a good proportion of meat to
> pictures. However take care to line up column tops and not get the
> headings mixed in.
>
> Again the first screen gives no indication apart from the scroll bar that
> there is more to come.
>
> The gaps between the sections are inconsistant and the headings
> insufficiently important. One gap is large enough to make me wonder
> whether there is a missing picture
>
> At the bottom of all the pages the Fife logo and other lines take up
> unnecessary space and detract from the main part of the page, perhaps you
> could consider a separator line and reformatting the footer so that it
> takes up no more than two lines.
>
> Victorian St Andrews
> --------------------
> Again good meaty content but inconsistant formatting, some parts are two
> columns some parts go right across the screen. some pictures are inline in
> the text another is centred between text. Bear in mind that for people
> browsing with larger screens this tends to stretch out the text into very
> long scan lines.
>
> I initially liked the blue Capital letters but by the third page had had
> enough of them, perhaps they are too light - try a darker blue.
>
> There is no cross link back to the time line or home page, I had to use my
> back button to navigate the site.  Perhaps you should decide on a single
> line path through the site and provide a next button.
>
> Education
> ---------
> By this page I was very tired of the blue capitals, and so many in a
> column looked like you were trying to make an acrostic.
> Another mysterious blank section before the schools heading and then the
> use of two columns lines up the second column with the header this looks
> untidy and diminishes the header importance.
>
> back to the first page
> I now notice the bottom menu does have links to the sub pages but in no
> particular order.
>
> Events:
> -------
> This page is better, centred text on the exhibitions makes them difficult
> to scan.  probably better to use a table and separate the dates and titles
> into separate columns,  content is variable, some events have a
> description and/or a presenter some have none.  You need to achieve a
> consistent level of information.
> the kids gallery, cafe and information centre section below the events
> list seems unconnected, perhaps it should be on a separate 'facilities'
> page. - along with the find us map.
>
> Images of Fife
> --------------
> see previous notes on background images. also boat image doesn't repeat
> well I mean that the edges stand out due to  differences in grey colours.
>
> one of the image links is broken: comser.jpg
> this page has a different set of menu links at the bottom,
>
> PILGRIM BADGES OF ST ANDREWS
> ----------------------------
> Nice poster you could make more of it.  perhaps moving to the left and
> wrapping the first text paragraphs around it.
> This page has a lot of text, the capitals are better but now the text is
> spread out across a wide page. There is enough text to justify another
> image further down.  This page has no footer.
>
> Fish out of water
> -----------------
> no text header, you rely on the picture for the page title.
> There is an important general point here, some visitors will be using text
> only readers, may be browsing with images off or may be poorly sighted and
> using a text to speech tool.  You should always fill in the <TITLE>this is
> a title</TITLE> tags in the page header and where possible use a text
> header for the body of the page. Where images are used use ALT= tags with
> reasonable descriptions, however leave them off for images which are
> purely decoration.
>
> fig1.jpg link is broken.
>
> The title line:
> 'The life and times of the fossil fish of Dura Den and their hunters'
> is coloured and underlined so it looks like a link. but it isn't
>
> back on the events page, although all events are styled the same only some
> link to details pages, probably better to take the links off the titles
> and add a [more] button as an icon onto those that do have linked pages.
> maybe this is a sign that the site is still incomplete.
>
> It was frustrating to find that the one I really wanted to follow
> 'dinosaurs' wasn't linked.
>
> Friends of St Andrews Museum
> ----------------------------
> This one is fine,
>
> World Wide exhibition
> ---------------------
> Another page, another font style, size and header.  you need to decide on
> a style you like and then be rigorous in using it.
>
> ----------------------------
>
> At this point I stopped.  I think I saw most of the site, but I couldn't
> be sure, a site map would be useful.
>
> General Points
> 1) Decide on an overall style for the site and then stick to it.
> 2) consider creating a consistant header/footer for the pages,  a narrow
> header image can give you a branding which will quickly identify each page
> as being part of your site - then if a link leaves your site it is clear
> that this has happened. include in the header the Fife logo, the St
> Andrews Name, and the museum name or logo if you have one. possibly also
> the Scottish flag - This gives visitors a rapid zoom into who you are.
> a regular footer also lets us know when we get to the bottom of a page -
> useful if the pages run over several screens.
>
> 3) decide what the purpose of the site is.  Is it a tourist information
> office, a bus timetable, an academic site supporting the galleries,
> educational ?  If more than one of these consider splitting the attention
> grabbing front halls from the quieter reading rooms.
>
> 4) consider also a gimmick, something to grab the attention, for example
> take a map of the UK and turn it upsidedown. and relable the major cities.
> It then becomes clear how big and important Scotland is compared to the
> distant south.
>
> 5) The idea for the fishes links is good.  You could do with a lot more
> links, to other St Andrews items, Fife museums etc but also to academic
> papers, interesting stuff etc.
>
> 6) mention content items in the meta tags - make life easy for search
> engines,
>
> 7) consider creating a linear tour, linking the pages together into a
> single line of next buttons, - this in addition to the normal navigation
> of course.
>
> 7) most of my comments have been about layout and styling. However I don't
> want to over emphasise this - 'content is all' if the prose isn't readable
> and interesting then it won't get read.  The styling and layout just needs
> to reach an standard where it doesn't detract from the prose and makes
> navigation straightforward.  On this pass through the site I didn't
> actually read much text although a few items caught my eye.
>
> ------------------------------------
> Thats enough for now.
> I hope that this is useful to you. I've posted it on the public list, not
> to embarrass you but because these are all issues affecting all web site
> designers and so others can learn from your efforts.
>
> Regards
> Andrew Watkins          Technical Director, Ansae Ltd.
> Tel: 01926 640073,      web: http://www.ansae.co.uk/
>
> PS. I usually charge for this service.