Patty A. Macey
CIS 205 02ETR
13 February 2003
Week 4
Homework Assignment #4
I chose www.monster.com and www.miworks.org to evaluate for this assignment.
Clarity: Is the text clear and the display clear, using easily readable fonts and good color combination?
Monster.com: Yes, the colors and display are clear and a
nice variety of colors were used. Fonts
are easily readable and I thought their choice of colors was particularly
attractive (green monster with pink, purple, yellow, and tan accents; main
colors on site were purples, blues, and some pink). The monster adds a nice touch.
Michworks.org: This site also had clear text and a clear display with easily readable fonts; the main colors used were green and white. In my opinion, the colors were not as attractive and eye catching as Monster’s; actually they don’t use a lot of color. For certain areas, the choice of color combination was hard to read (black background with dark red text).
Accessibility: Does it look right on your monitor setting? Does the site load quickly and search quickly over your computer’s Internet connection? Does it work in the major browser software?
Monster.com: Yes to all for this one. However I got the “Runtime Error” message
that states: “Do you wish to debug? Line 126; Error: Object expected” (What causes this?).
Michworks.com: Yes to all for Michworks. No Runtime Error here!
Control: Is the navigation clear and consistent? Are there broken links? Do you need to provide personal information to access data on the site?
Return to TopMonster.com: Yes, the navigation seems clear and
consistent? No broken links that I could
find (unless the runtime error is a broken link). If you wish to create a free Monster account,
you need to enter personal information.
This is not required to search the site but is required to post a
résumé, apply for a job, to set up job search agents, and to have job offers
e-mailed to you.
Michworks.org: The navigation at this site also seems clear
and consistent with no broken links.
Personal information is also needed at this site for the same reasons as
stated for Monster but not needed if you only want to surf the site.
Integrity: Do you think this is a credible site? Do you trust the site? Would you provide the site with your private information? This includes, but is not limited to proper identification of the authors, indicating the dates that pages were updated, being respectful of users, and ensuring that the site is always available.
Monster.com: Yes, I believe this is a credible site and I
would trust it with my personal and private information. You do have to uncheck the yes box at the end
of the form if you don’t want to receive various e-mails. They do have a very long “Privacy Commitment”
statement (without any “back to top” options!).
Authors were identified in the “view source” window but I couldn’t find
the indication of when pages were updated.
Michworks.org: Yes to the first three questions here
too. This site also has a “Privacy
Statement” which is not too long (as compared to Monster’s). The authors were identified but again I
couldn’t find any indication of when pages were updated. When searching for jobs you have the option
of entering beginning and ending dates and when I did this for a “secretary”
job in St. Clair County, I received one response that was posted on
Aesthetics: This includes artistic layouts, proper use of white space, good alignment, and good linking techniques. It also includes some difficult to quantify considerations, like the “coolness” factor and the “avoiding annoyances” factor.
Monster.com: I feel this site had nice artistic layouts
with good alignment, linking, and use of white space. There were a few of the annoying pop-ups but
not a lot. The “Runtime Error” message
is annoying though (I hope you tell us in lecture what causes this
sometime). Not too sure what you mean by
the “Coolness” factor but the site was pretty “cool” and attractive.
Michworks.org: The artistic layout of this site could use
some work as it wasn’t as attractive and “cool” as Monster’s. They do have good links and a boxed red arrow
for navigation in some areas. They also
make nice use of the “alt” attribute; when pointing to a map, a small box
appears with little icons offering the save, print, e-mail, and folder
option. I didn’t notice any of the
annoying pop-ups at this site. In some
areas they had way too much white space.
Efficiency: Does the site operate quickly, such as graphic download times? Are things located in a way which is convenient for accessing them? Is text lean (versus wordy)? Are the number of steps (clicks or key presses) to accomplish any goal kept to a minimum?
Monster.com: For this site I would say yes to all of the
above questions. They also have a nice
option of seeing what others have to say about the site, it includes the
person’s picture and their success story.
The links were fast even with all the graphics.
Michworks.org: This site seemed a bit slower than Monster’s
site. Also it didn’t always seem
convenient or easily understandable of what they wanted. Maybe the number of steps could have been
shortened.