Website Usability Checklist of Gossip Lanka News.lk Website………..
Nowadays due to
complicated busy life styles most people’s search information and latest news
through websites, hence giving a good first impression on your site is crucial.
What makes a great website? There are many ways to measure the effectiveness
and quality of a website. I selected www.gossiplankanews.lk to check usability
since it is a most popular website in srilanka among news seekers and general public.
To analyze the user friendliness of particular website is the main objective of
this measurement. This will be done by using four sub topics; Accessibility, Identity,
Navigation, and Content. Let’s check these dimensions through http://www. gossiplankanews.com.
Accessibility
v Site
load‐time
is reasonable - It is fairly okay when comparing other
news sites. Just within 60 seconds time whole site is loaded and save any
waiting time. However I found that when comparing other websites gossip lanka home
page take time to load mainly due to the large number of animations and images
of their advertisements.
v Adequate
text to background contrast - It is very
much available. The site had a good (Blue& white) contrast between letters &
background. Therefore everything is noticeable.
v Font
size and spacing is easy to read – In this site
font size and spacing are ok. They had large font size and they also had Sinhala
font also. It is very friendly for local users.
v Flash
& add-ons are used sparingly - This aspect also
satisfactory in this website and it is also busy website at most of the time. The
site does not distracting the viewer. The website provides some direct links to
their official social media pages also
v Images
have appropriate ALT tags - This criterion is very
satisfied in this site. When moved over an image they give a description about
the image.
v Site
has custom not found/404 page - This site has
contains a custom not found page.
Identity
v Web site name is prominently placed
-
There is no specific logo to the website they just use their name as a site
logo with a different font style and with white blue color in dark blue
background. It is at the left top corner of their website.
v Tagline
Makes Company’s purpose clear- There is best tagline in the website. it can
be seen as a strength of the site.
v Home‐page
is digestible in 5 seconds- By just looking at the website it
gives some ideas to the viewers because there are colorful images and relevant
tabs grab the viewer’s attention. We just want to spend less than 5 seconds
time to go through the website main page.
v Clear
path to company information - It has a clear path to website
information under separate links and information about news provide in very
creative manner.
v Clear
path to contact information - We can’t see they have give
map to their location, telephone number. But they have provide link to add more
news to the web site.
Navigation
v Main navigation is easily
identifiable- Main navigation is easily identifiable
as the image shows gossip lanka.com has
clear navigations at the top of the page and middle which is easy to find and
read.
v Navigation labels are clear &
concise- Navigation labels are clear & concise as they
are in English letters or Sinhala letters with a blue background.
v Number of buttons/links is
reasonable -Number of buttons/links is reasonable as
they have different shapes of buttons since they are providing diversify
service. Each of those paths takes viewers to the relevant place and provides
more information.
v Company logo is linked to home‐page
-Company
logo is linked to home‐page as when we click
logo it’s automatically take us to the home page.
v Links are consistent & easy to
identify -Links are consistent & easy to identify as they
show every links with images.
v Site search is easy to access-
Site search is easy to access as I mention above there is no search button in
this website.
Content
v Major headings are clear &
descriptive -Major headings are clear &
descriptive. With images headings are very clearly viewers
easily can find what they want to find. Headings are placed in different color
background the purpose of clutch their attention.
v Critical content is above the
“fold”- Since they are working in different sectors. They unable to present critical content above
the fold. Home page just shows only paths and most important information only.
v Styles and colors -
Styles and colors are consistent as the different font sizes, colors and shapes
use throughout the website.
v Emphasis (bold, etc.) is used
sparingly - Emphasis (bold, etc.) is used well as everything
is in bold but most of headings are in color dark red.
v Adds
and pop-ups are unobtrusive - There are so many adds
and pop-ups, which indicates they give serious attention to them.
v Main copy is concise &
explanatory- The main page of the site consists of
all the important, latest information for the viewer.
v URLs are meaningful & user‐friendly:
The URLs given, direct the viewer to the other websites mentioned without any
problems. Meaning also ok because they provide most behind screen news.
v HTML page titles are explanatory-A
clear HTML is given to all the pages loaded.
Finally my conclusion
is this website is effective and therefore provides competitive advantage over
competitors.