Website Review and Suggestions

**Oolong** · 08-08-2005, 01:03 PM

Would anyone care to have a look over the recently-redesigned Edinburgh International Festival web site, www.eif.co.uk, with usability being a particularly high priority?

**TwiztedFake** · 08-12-2005, 10:56 AM

I like it. It has a nice, clean, simple design. As far as usability I'm not sure as I'm not familiar with the festival but all the links are descriptive so that helps that out. Also seemed simple to naviagate around the site.

One thing I didn't like is that the links contained in the content kind of blend in with the text Try adding the underline back to them so that they stand out a little more.

**gringo** · 08-12-2005, 02:07 PM

I like the use of colours on this site. However the current page marker (the white square appearing next to the link) disappears when hovering over other links. This is in Firefox. Also in FF the labels in the form are right up against the textboxes, though in IE they're ok (small point!). All in all it's clean and easy to use.

Oh, just noticed that there is a smaller left margin on the contact page. It's good though.

**sogua** · 08-13-2005, 03:16 AM

hmmm site layout is organized.
navigation easy and straight forward
but i dun like the color you use. (may b its just me tat do not like this color

)
others seems good

i'll give 7/10

**Oolong** · 08-15-2005, 10:10 AM

Thanks everyone. Does anyone else think the links don't stand out enough? Being bold and blue I'd've thought they were sufficiently obvious, but perhaps not.

Good catch on the lack of spaces in the forms, gringo. I've had to resort to non-breaking spaces to fix that, but it's worth it. I've also sorted out the excessive wideness of those pages. Cheers!

Any other suggestions, anyone?

**russo** · 08-16-2005, 09:56 AM

I like the site, colors and layout, but the only thing i found bad is that one of the rollover images on homepage have much lesser resolution then other 3.

DruidSynge had kind of blury letters, and the picture could look blury, as a style but i think letters should more transparent.

**Giselle** · 08-16-2005, 03:33 PM

The website is very very nice Oolong! Personally I wouldn't touch the links or the colors, they stand out perfectly. As a newcomer to the website, I understood from the description of the link where the link would take me. Great job!

**Oolong** · 08-17-2005, 09:16 AM

Hi russo,

Thanks - I hadn't noticed that about the DruidSynge image; well spotted. What it actually was was that someone had loaded in an image 435px across, rather than 430, and the CMS was automatically resizing it - and ruining the sharpness in the process.

It's fixed now.

Giselle,

Thanks for your comments. For what it's worth, I'm thinking of changing 'How to Book' to 'What's On', because we are still getting a stream of people emailing asking 'Where is the online programme?' or words to that effect, despite it being linked from 'How to Book' and the first Q of the FAQ. I can see now why some web sites like to put notes above their contact forms like 'PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT US WITHOUT CHECKING THE FAQ FIRST. MOSTLY PEOPLE ASK US QUESTIONS WE HAVE ALREADY ANSWERED THERE AND IT'S DRIVING US CRAZY ENOUGH TO WRITE IN ALL CAPITALS'...

**Giselle** · 08-17-2005, 01:23 PM

I really shouldn't laugh because at one time or another I have asked a question due to misreading or misunderstanding. In your case I knew instantly what " How to Book" meant going by the theme of your website. Perhaps Reservations or Reservations Online......nevertheless, you did a great job with the website.

Best of Luck to You!

**Oolong** · 05:24 AM

Oh! One other thing I'd specifically like feedback on - the video clips page. Can everyone see (and hear) them okay? Should I put up lower-resolution versions? Are the '(view in new window/download)' links confusing?

Cheers!

**DaveR** · 08-19-2005, 06:45 AM

Your links stand out just fine and I love the main you have made on the left.

I would personally scale the paragraph text down slightly whilst maintaining the line-height to make it even nicer to read, although Im nit-picking with that.

I also think the current page white square marker should remain when rolling over the other links.

But overall, its really good

**Oolong** · 08-22-2005, 10:45 AM

Thanks Dave. I'll think about scaling the text down a bit - I'm preferring to err on the side of overlarge text though, since - being a festival of classical music more than anything else (important as the theatre & dance are) our audience tends towards... the less-young demographic.

Nobody's commented on the videos - anyone got any thoughts? Should I take the effort to make lower-res versions available?

I'd also especially welcome feedback on the galleries I've started putting up - the Nuts CocoNuts one is fun, I thought; the Swan Lake one is okay too I think, but maybe a little on the dry side - any ideas for livening it up a little?

Cheers!

**Byzantium** · 08-23-2005, 07:13 PM

Hi - these are really general comments rather than specifically addressing accessibility...

I like the initial look of the site - but when I look at it closer there is something I don't like about it which is kind of subtle - it seems as though it is presented by people in the know for people in the know - designed to appeal to those connected with the Edinburgh Festival or regular visitors to the Ediburgh Festival - rather than to appeal and entice someone who may just vaguely be thinking it might be a nice thing to do.

The most glaring example of this is the lack of 'What's On' on the main menu.

From the previous mails it seems I should know that that is contained within the 'How to Book' - but I don't want to book. I am just a potential customer thinking I might like to go to the Edinburgh Festival. What's the first thing I am going to want to know about it? What's On. Isn't that obvious?

I don't mean to be rude but I just think it is arrogant disregard of the needs of your potential customers not to make it obvious from the front page not only how to find that information, but to make that information available in a way that both explains and seduces.

Yes - I can search for program info from the home page - but in order to search I have to know what I am looking for, and maybe I don't.

This impression (by those in the know, for those in the know) is further reinforced by the images - four small static images that I get a two or three word explanation of on hover and a larger image that cycles so fast I don't really have time to take it in and anyway I don't get more than a name or a title.

Tell me what's on
Tell me why it's good
Tell me why I should go and see it

...or keep it for those in the know.

**BlackPheonix** · 08-23-2005, 07:41 PM

I realy like it, needs more color though, thats only my opinion

**Byzantium** · 08-24-2005, 03:43 AM

Hi Oolong - I think I should try and moderate my previous reply - I got a bit carried away...

I think I was a little incensed because I found the absence of a 'what's on' on the home page rather strange, and then found you seemed to be mocking people that complained of this...

It's a good site - but then it is for a major artistic event - so it needs to be, and deserves to be subject to thorough criticism.

With the Edinburgh Festival being such a big event, you can't present it all up front. For me though, the 'online version of the programme' (http://www.eif.co.uk/festival2005/home.htm)
is more like what I would expect to see on the front page - giving me a quick overview of what I could expect to see, and enticing me in with a short, but informative, description.

**Oolong** · 08-24-2005, 05:55 AM

Hi Byzantium,

Thanks for your comments. I actually think the lack of a "What's On" heading is a totally valid criticism, and certainly didn't mean to be mocking people who complained about it. Reading back what I wrote, I can see how it came across like that. If I was mocking anyone, it was people in general who write to web sites asking questions which are already answered at the top of what seem like well-signposted FAQs - but even this is probably unfair; if large numbers are still asking anyway, it's a strong sign that there's something wrong with the overall design.

I'm going to make some suggestions to the people I work with, and hopefully it'll be a friendlier site in a day or two.

We could slow down the cycling of images on the front page (though it does stop cycling if you hover your mouse over it, for what that's worth), and we could probably include soundbites along with the titles on hover. Worth thinking about.

I prefer harsh criticism to "yeah, that's pretty cool" on the whole, so cheers again!

- Oo.

**Byzantium** · 08-24-2005, 12:07 PM

Thanks Oolong - no offence meant.

One suggestion - when you hover over the larger image, rather than just displaying the title, why not display a short description? You have the space (below the 4 smaller pics).

Also - on the accessibility front - you might want to provide access keys for people that can't / prefer not to use a mouse...

Best Wishes

**Oolong** · 08-25-2005, 05:56 AM

Cheers Byz - I think you're probably right about getting short descriptions when hovering over images - in fact, I reckon I'd like to see that for the small images too.

I'll think about the access keys idea... I wonder if this idea for underlining letters relating to access keys is intuitive enough to be worthwhile. Quite possibly...

With only a week and a half left of this year's festival, it may already be too late to implement these ideas for this festival - possibly not, though, and either way there's always next year. Thanks again for your feedback!

**Byzantium** · 08-25-2005, 09:14 AM

I did try something like the underlining to denote access keys - but, to be honest, it looked rubbish.

In the end I settled for using the first letter of menu item (which I managed to make unique). That may not work for you because you have more menu items. Maybe one for next year!

The description thing is probably going to provide more benefit for less effort...

**dougadam** · 08-25-2005, 04:37 PM

Personally I would do without the ticker.