Serena Simpson
ORCO 3750
Dr. Smith
September 3, 2008

                YMCA of USA and Habitat for Humanity are two of the largest non-profit organizations located in the United States, and many of their facilities and services are worldwide. Since their web sites communicate information to audiences on an international level, a web site analysis for each organization is very important.  Analyzing and critiquing www.ymca.net and www.habitat.org with the “Web Site Critique” semantic differential chart gives the opportunity to assess the positive and negative aspects of each web site, as well as help determine what improvements and changes need to be made.
Positive Aspects of YMCA of USA Web Site
                On the home page of the YMCA of USA web site, the information is very organized, and the pictures are extremely appealing. The use of color is great, and the words are not too close together or hard to read. Each tab at the top indicates where you can access different amounts of information easily, and in the middle of the home page you find a news reel, which makes for keeping the public up to date with YMCA current events. In the bottom right hand corner, you will find what the YMCA commits itself to as an organization, and in the top left hand corner you will find the mission statement of the YMCA, which is “To put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all.” Above the mission statement is their logo and motto, which states, “We build strong kids, strong families, and strong communities.” Overall, as you navigate through the web site, you do so with ease, and it is not difficult to find the information that you want.

Negative Aspects of YMCA of USA Web Site
                Although the web site for the YMCA of USA is easy to read and information is easy to locate, there are a few negative aspects. Even though the photo images on the main home page are large and of high quality, when you navigate away from the home page, these pictures become very small, which makes them harder to see, and appear to be of lower quality. Also, I did not see a button on the home page to change the language of the text for the YMCA web site. Since this organization appeals to an international audience, it should serve them by offering language preferences, so that everyone who is interested in learning more about the international organization can do so.
Positive Aspects of Habitat for Humanity Web Site

                Habitat for Humanity’s home page has an appealing use of color, and the slide show with pictures and quotes of the organization working on various projects is eye-catching and motivating. The information on the home page is too cluttered, however, there is a search toolbar in the upper right hand corner where you can search for specific information you are looking for and various articles will turn up.  Also, this web site offers the option to change all of the text to a different language, which is great since it reaches people on an international level.
Negative Aspects of Habitat for Humanity Web Site
                The main home page has too much information, and is hard to read. Finding specific information for a certain topic was extremely difficult, and although the main page communicates that the organization is very active, it also communicates that the organization has crowded too much information about current events and activities on their home page. The pictures are not all clear, and the tabs for more information at the top have another long list of informative topics to go along with them. The mission statement for Habitat for Humanity cannot be found on the home page.  I also could not locate it by navigating through the various top tabs. After searching for too long, I finally typed in “mission statement” in the upper right hand corner search bar, and found it inside a 2004 report, which was the first article to pop up with that information, indicating the web site articles and records have not been updated since 2004.
Recommended Changes and Improvements
                The YMCA of USA web site has an overall great appeal, and is very easy to navigate through. All the information that you are searching for can be found in a short amount of time. However, when navigating away from the home page, it would be in the organization’s best interest to update and enlarge various photos that go along with the different articles located underneath the main tabs.  Also, the YMCA of USA web site should offer various languages for the web site text to be read in to ensure that others of different international backgrounds can access the information that they need as well.
                The Habitat for Humanity web site has many changes to make. First of all, the organization needs to clean up the main page by eliminating all the current event stories, and condensing all of the information into less than 8 tabs on the top of their main page. The photo slide show with the motivational quotes should stay, and at the upper left hand corner where they have their logo, the mission statement for the organization should be positioned directly beneath it. The news reel should have one to two current events on it at a time, and all the information at the right hand side should be deleted and put into another tab at the top. There are too many words crowding the right side of the page, and audiences aren’t going to take the time to read such small text.
                All of the changes for these nonprofit organizations should occur within the next three months, time and money permitting.
 Improvements for the Web Site Critique Form
                The Web Site Critique Form was extremely useful in critiquing each of these organizations. Some other additions to add to the form might be to add a side column to the right or left of each topic, so that you can write in notes as you go through, keeping track of why or why not you think the web site is meeting its expectation.
Conclusion
                In conclusion, both organizations are wonderful in that they service and help so many people on a worldwide level. Once Habitat for Humanity and YMCA of USA organize their Internet communications by making changes to their web sites, both will be able to accommodate and help even more people understand the importance of their mission statements and current events.