Tes1 reviews - Larabie F
Purpose
The purpose of the Larabie Fonts homepage is to arouse the interest of first-time web browsers to use their 384 free fonts service.
However, their main goal here is to generate publicity for their sister sites
MyFonts.com and their commercial font company, Typodermic.
Ultimately, creating a loyal customer base to make a commitment to purchase fonts from MyFonts.com.
Target Audience
Basically, there are two groups of target audience.
They are people such as writers and designers who already have prior knowledge about fonts design and are looking out for new and innovative designs that they would like to purchase for commercial purposes.
Another group of audience is what I call F.O.C takeaways; these are people who do not have any knowledge about fonts design and are only looking out for free fonts that would interest them.
Overall Web Design
aPage title is descriptive and consistent with the titles in the content area.
r However, the Web page does not look like a homepage at first glance.
r Page length is too long. As a result, important information is not made visible above the fold.
R: A shorter page should be used for this homepage so that most content is visible without scrolling.
a This Web page provides links to both the main homepage [click able Larabie Fonts logo at the top] as well as the sub homepage (Home link placed in one of the tabs). These logos and their placement remain constant throughout the Web site.
a Concise tagline [MAKING FONTS AND GIVING THEM AWAY SINCE 1996] used to help users understand the sites purpose.
aThe width of the top panel are wide enough to clearly present links and navigation information, but narrow enough so that they do not dominate the page, allows the user to recognize them as navigation and content panels.
aThese click able tabs look just like tabs found in office filing cabinets.
a There is also the search capability at the top of the home page.
r There is no heading for the opening paragraph and the paragraph here is too long.
R: Use clear, descriptive headings like [What do we offer?]; short phrases and sentences; and small readable paragraphs.
Consistency
aApply Users Terminology
r Although, color changes have been used to indicate to users when a link has been visited.
r A poor design choice. Unvisited links are in RED, whereas visited links are in LIGHT PINK - Users may confuse the two, as the colors are too similar.
R: Use more distinct color changes.
r The page is too dense with information, thus it does not allow for quick scanning.
r In addition, there are too many passive white spaces wrongly placed at the sides.
R: The web page should have a moderate amount of active white space in-between the text and graphics area.
Multimedia
r Does this look like a Flash advertisement to you? Probably not, most people will tend to miss the message that it is trying to convey. It is also not an obvious click able link either; users will have to minesweep to determine whether it is clickable.
Use of flash to promote ccfonts.com website is unnecessary. In addition, the graphic used is irrelevant to what ccfonts.com is promoting and may mislead users into thinking that it is a lame TV striped advertisement.
R: A hyperlink should be used instead. A more meaningful picture or banner depicting the services provided by ccfonts.com should be used instead.
Readability
r Formatting text into narrow columns with very short line lengths will slow users reading speeds.
R: We should try to choose more appropriate line length; roughly 100 characters per line to obtain faster reading speeds.
Graphics
r The display on the right side of the web page is too cluttered with ambiguous images forcing the [News] section to be squeezed into a square box at the side.
R: The [News] section should be created as an individual tab on the navigation bar.
In addition, people may not know that the graphics are actually links to preview some of the fonts design.
R: Text equivalents [alt tag] should be used for the images instead.
r Although, the placement of images does not disrupt the justification of the page elements but it is too visually distracting, drawing the users attention from the sites content.
R: Use text links rather than image links.
Relevance
a Although the user is able to find the free fonts easily via the [384 free font link],
r The focus of the content is on the product / service that Larabie Fonts is selling rather than on the reader.
Clarity / Brevity
rUndefined acronym [WTG Guru Forum] may leave users confused regarding the link contents or purpose.
R: The designer should define each acronym and abbreviation on the page.
rThe writer assumes that the reader understands some of the technical terms used [TrueType format, PostScript or Open Type format].
R: Use links to provide definitions and descriptions to clarify technical concepts
For example, provide links to a dictionary, glossary definitions, and sections dedicated to providing more information.
Credibility
Web readers do not appreciate excessive use of marketese.
R: Increase Web Site Credibility
Provide a useful (FAQ) and answers; Ensure the site looks professionally designed;
Ensure the site is as up-to-date as possible; Enlist affiliates to other credible sites.
