Design

An example of Good Design is the Chicago Historical Society's "Studs Terkel: Conversations with America" website. The design enables the browser to quickly determine the site's content. This is made easier by a simple white background that enhances contrast. The header is repeated on each page giving a consistent feel to the site. The website highlight's the internet's value as a provider of non-textual content. Hundreds of Mr. Terkel's interviews over a career spanning more that half a century are provided in Real Audio. Helpfully, the site provides a link to Real Audio where you can download the Real Audio Player. The site does have one drawback; the font size throughout the site is a bit too small.

This one drawback pales in comparison to an example of Bad Design. The homepage is cluttered, its banner is badly created, and there is no introductory text to quickly and simply explain to the visitor the purpose of the site. The header also changes radically on different pages. Annoying advertisments plague the site. (On many pages the browser is informed in flashing banners that they can lose 3-5 pounds each week or that they have won a free lobster dinner.) These ads are expected becasue it is not an academic site, but does the link to the Shopping area have to be in larger text than all other links? In addition, much of the information appears to be lifted directly from other sites without attribution. For example, the NationtoNation section appears to simply appropriate the State Department's country listing website in its entirety without acknowledgement.