2004 Web Site
Review of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Fourteen Schools
By Dr.
Mark E. Chase Assoc.
Professor, Communication Dept. Slippery
Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA
Study Design:
This study compares and contrasts the websites of the fourteen Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education schools to identify those that provide efficient, accurate, and effective access to information resources for a variety of audiences. This study’s qualitative approach is a follow-up to four previous quantitative approaches to website review [Chase 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002]. Previous studies had assigned point values and provided cumulative numerical values for each institution. The validity of a quantitative method with respect to the comparison of sites has come into question by some researchers [Neilson 2004] and a qualitative method may prove to be more valuable. This study will seek the same types of information but letter grades will be assigned based on the researcher’s success with the institutional reviews. Narratives for each of the institutions will provide support for the grade assignment and make suggestions for improvement.
The primary questions being addressed are:
1) Does the school’s site provide adequate access to information? 2) How difficult is the information to locate? 3) How current is the information? 4) Does the site use appropriate design skills and appropriate navigational elements (as defined by Patrick Lynch’s Yale Web Style Manual [Lynch & Horton 2001]
5)
Is the site professional in appearance? While previous studies have assigned point
values to individual pages and provided a cumulative score, this study
provides a more subjective analysis of institutional web sites. As in
previous studies, a list of 20 items is researched on each web site
that may be of interest to a potential audience member. Identified audiences
include: prospective students, current students, alumni, institutional
employees, community members, researchers, colleagues, donors, and general
visitors. While researching this information, strengths and weakness
of the site are noted and a general sense of the quality of the web
site is ascertained. Each of the fourteen schools is then provided with
a letter grade along with a brief synopsis of the reviewer’s comments
of their site.
Assessment criteria
assumptions:
As the Internet continues to grow, a school’s web site is increasing becoming marketing, recruitment, and public relations tools that educational institutions need to closely monitor. A recent survey by the Slippery Rock University Admissions office indicated that the school’s web site was second only to family and friends in influencing their decision on applying to the institution [Bracco 2000]. The importance of a school web site outlining accurate and detailed information for prospective students is clear. A well-designed web site providing information that matches the audiences’ needs will result in higher enrollment, increased alumni donations, and a greater level of credibility for the institution [McCollum 1999].
This study makes the following assumptions in the collection and analysis of data:
· University sites should all provide a baseline of information resources · University site visitors should be able to easily locate information without searching deep into a site hierarchy · University site pages should provide current information
·
University site pages should have a professional appearance (good grammar,
consistent layout, well organized)
Identification of common information
University web sites are designed to serve a variety of target audiences. These audiences include but are not limited to: prospective students, current students, alumni, institutional employees, community members, researchers, and colleagues. Since university web pages are expected to serve a variety of users, a list of information that these groups might request was generated. That list was refined to twenty items that would be typical of the SSHE institutions. Those twenty items include:
1) Search engine 2) Site Map 3) Tuition and fee schedule 4) Academic Calendar 5) Athletic Sports 6) Library resources 7) Address of the institution 8) Registrar’s name and address 9) How to order transcripts 10) Department listings 11) Academic department chair (History) 12) Mission Statement 13) List of degree and certificate programs 14) Admissions information 15) Name of the President 16) Name of the Provost 17) Calendar of Events 18) Date of Homecoming 19) Faculty directory 20) Alumni page
Data Collection
Review of the web sites took place the second week of March 2004. The researcher accessed each web site attempting to locate the information from the list. Search engines, directories, and browsing techniques were used to locate information. Five general questions were addressed as the researcher reviewed the sites.
1) “Does
the school’s site provide the adequate information?”
2) “How difficult is the information to locate?”
Search engines are the most popular way for users to locate information. If links to the information were not obvious on the home page, the search engine or site map were used to find the items. The value of the hierarchy depth seems less relevant with the increased reliability on search engines.
3) “How
current is the information?”
The web page that contained
the requested information was evaluated to determine if the information
provided was current. Many pages list a last date of revision. Other
dates could be determined by the content on the page. These dates were
used for the evaluation. If no date of revision is provided, the researcher
assumed that information was current unless there were overt indications
otherwise (i.e. calendar of events for a previous year).
4) “Does the page use appropriate design skills and contain necessary navigational elements?”
Question #4 evaluated the web pages use of good design skills. Patrick Lynch & Sarah Horton’s Yale Web Style Manual provided the standard for evaluation. The researcher looked critically at only the most elementary of design skills. Did links on the page work? Were graphics used on the page optimized and were able to load? Were consistent navigational tools employed? Were text colors and size appropriate and readable? Does the site use an appropriate information architecture strategy?
5) “Is
the page professional in appearance?” The final question looked at the page’s professional appearance. Does the page use proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling? Is the information organized and presented in a logical format?
Data Analysis
This analysis reviews the data collection that took place during the second week of March 2004. The researcher reviewed each of the fourteen SSHE school websites using Internet Explorer 6.0 with a screen resolution set to 1024 x 768. All sites were accesses via a cable modem via an independent Pennsylvania Internet service provider. Study review notes were maintained for each institution while information items were researched. Upon completion of review of the information items, a letter grade was provided for the school based on their achievement in the five review areas and thoroughness of the information availability. While this approach may seem too subjective, similar successful strategies and conversely weak designs were seen at multiple websites. The actual grade assignment was relatively easy as comparisons were made between schools. The following table is a summary of the final letter grades and overall ranking assigned to each institution. Institutions at each grade level are listed alphabetically.
Table
1 - Summary of grades and rankings
awarded to each school based on site review.
Institution Reviews
Bloomsburg University
of Pennsylvania
BU’s home page has one list of navigational
menu items and works well with a variety of screen sizes. The front
page has some distracting elements with a slide show and scrolling text,
but the real strength of this site is the Bloomsburg Today link, along
the consistent and well-designed navigational menu. Bloomsburg Today
is a combination press release, events calendar, and information update
site that provides a nice model for schools struggling on how to organize
this content. This portion undoubtedly takes some significant human
resources to maintain, but is probably the most popular page on their
site. The entire site uses color-coded navigational menus that make
the long list of links digestible, however they do change on the lower
level pages causing some confusion. Information was easily located,
and the search engine worked well, although the small window size of
search results was annoying.
Final Grade: A
Reviewer’s Comments:
Get rid to the slide show and rolling text on home page, make the
Bloomsburg Today link more prominent.
California University
of Pennsylvania
California uses an attractive graphic
layout for their front page with a cool blue background and images of
people for a friendly and inviting impression. The problem with the
page is the confusion with the navigational strategies. Although not
clearly evident, the images have Flash scripts that associate them to
the bottom links organized by audience. Sandwiched between these two
items are three text windows: Search, a Quick Links pull down menu,
and a Select Major of Interest pull down menu. The placement of these
items disrupts the balance of the home page and makes it unclear for
users to determine where to begin their visit. The Quick Links menu
has a number of items listed and some headings, but it is difficult
to determine how that information is organized. Other problems included
a broken link on the What’s Happening page, links to pdf files with
no warning, and an out-dated daily events calendar. Most of the secondary
pages had three live web cam photos of new dormitories being build,
as user navigating the site those images quickly became annoying. The
staff directory search worked very well and other directory listings
were easy to use. However, not all information could be located and
many academic departments to not have web pages.
Final Grade: C + Reviewer’s Comments:
Rethink your navigational strategy on front pages, get rid of the
web cams, provide more maintenance of site with additional content.
Cheyney University
of Pennsylvania
Cheyney’s home page
has no fewer that five different navigational strategies being used.
The page is attractively designed but also includes a slide show and
scrolling text window that provide distractions. Search engine and site
map worked well, but the biggest downfall of this site is the lack of
information. Descriptions on campus map read “A description/history
of the building will go here.” Some calendars need to be updated and
several departments have links but no content on the site.
Final Grade: C – Reviewer Suggestions:
Most improved school site from the last review, but still need to
work on refining information architecture, navigational strategies,
and addition of content.
Clarion University
of Pennsylvania
The home page design
at Clarion does not fit an 800x600 screen or 1024x768? It looks like
it originally was formatted for the larger format but has since expanded.
The home page seemed cluttered with the number of text links and news
items, again from what appears to be continued expansion. The search
engine employed is one of the best in the state system providing results
that are categorized links with descriptions. On the down side, both
the academic calendar and registrar’s page had broken links to graphics,
and the events calendar search function was cumbersome to use. Most
of the lower level pages relied on pull down menus for navigation. Overall
the content seemed well organized and easy to locate, but the navigations
strategies were inconsistent.
Final Grade: B Reviewer’s Comments:
Clean up the home page, check graphic links, consider navigational
bars at lower page levels.
East Stroudsburg
ESU’s home page provides
a favorable impression on first glance. However, once the slide show
begins to run with varied sized images, pop-up windows appear over text,
and the page stretches with superfluous information, the site loses
some of its appeal. There is an opportunity to personalize the site,
but it appears that the registration is an attempt to gather information
for recruitment. After registering to personalize the site, the only
area of content change was in Admissions. The search engine did not
work, although the site map was extensive and provided assistance in
locating information. The admissions page used pop-up windows, Flash
plug-ins, and animated graphics that all distracted from their message.
Some information could not be located, and image of the president did
not load on his page. The telephone directory is only available in pdf
format and the e-mail directory is under construction.
Final Grade: C Reviewer’s Comments:
Get rid of the bells and whistles, focus on getting more content
posted, fix search engine, and provide directory searches.
Edinboro
Edinboro’s home page
is clean layout designed for an 800x600 display. The primary navigational
links are organized around audiences and pop-up additional choices when
selected. Some of the pop-up link to additional pop-up menu choices
and still a third level of pop-up choices are available on some selections.
Users need dexterity to be able accurately select choices. The Search
engine using Google worked well, but no site map or index was available.
The “What’s New” link on the home page was a broken link. With the number
of choices on the main page under menus and efficient search engine,
content was easy to locate. Overall the site was aesthetically pleasing
although there were a few holes in content.
Final Grade: B + Reviewer’s Comments:
Not our favorite navigational strategy but did work efficiently,
add a site map, and get rid of the yellow and red on the academic calendar.
Indiana University
of Pennsylvania
The IUP home page is dominated by news
and events information. Two groups of primary links are provided, one
for audience (curiously enough prospective students isn’t one of them)
and a second general list that may actually target prospective students
with Admissions & Aid. The search engine and site map work well
for locating information and were used heavily since navigation at the
second level quickly became confusing. Most of the second level pages
are three to four screens of grouped links, except on the Admissions
page where the main content is one image and the links are all to the
left. The information architecture seemed very flat after the first
level. The directory searches worked well and provided efficient results.
However, some results were to pages that used an old design template.
The site has lots of content and with some effort all the requested
information could be found.
Final Grade: B Reviewer’s Comments:
Time to reevaluate your information architecture and develop more
consistent navigation, admissions page should be more personable.
Kutztown
The KU site uses a three-column format
that is a standard at most news and information sites. Their left column
is navigations items organized by audience. The center is primarily
Announcement and News that are updated on a regular basis, and the third
column is a group of secondary links along with information graphics
that are featured like advertisements. This is the only SSHE site that
is also available in Spanish, and with one click the language on the
entire site changes. Search engine, site map, and calendars all worked
very well. The Alumni Center page was particularly robust with information.
Some minor layout problems were found on lower level department pages,
but overall nicely done.
Final Grade: A Reviewer’s Comments:
This is the site other schools should be reviewing as they improve
their own pages. Kudos!
Lock Haven
The home page of Lock Haven is a centered
800x600 design. The top graphic is nicely constructed but the majority
of the page fails to follow the theme. There are a variety of colors
and shapes utilized and page lacks unity. There are three primary groups
of text links, one for prospective students, a group organized by audience,
and a third group of campus links. The main page also has a site index
and a search engine. The search engine provided results that are attached
to the bottom of the home page. The results provided minimal information,
were often outdated, and their placement made them difficult to use.
The tuition and fees link was confusing and provided a large spreadsheet
that required scrolling and tabbing to use. Some calendar links and
department links did not work. Not all information could be located.
A unique and excellent addition to the Admissions page was an Internet
Messenger link that indicated if counselors or students were on-line
and could be IMed.
Final Grade: B – Reviewer’s Comments:
Redesign the home page with a more cohesive layout, utilize a new
search engine, provide more maintenance at the lower levels
Mansfield
Mansfield uses a simple bold design
on their home page. Designed for 800x600 viewing, there are only four
primary links by audience along with a pull down menu of Quick Links.
The site uses a Google search engine and provides a site map. The second
level of pages tends to over compensate for the few links on the front
page with a plethora of options. Directories
work well, but some content could not be located, and the color scheme
on the Calendar of Events was difficult to read. Like most of the sites
their Library and Athletics pages use different templates than the rest
of the site. The Alumni page seemed generic and uninviting.
Final Grade: B + Reviewer’s Comments:
Overall the site has some strength, revisit the navigational menus
on the home page, and add some images and character to the Alumni pages.
Millersville
The home page of Millersville has a
number of links that are nicely organized with graphical elements. The
center graphic portion looks incomplete with one image as if the site
is under construction. There is also a direct link to a student portal.
The search engine worked well although the site map was a little thin
It became evident while searching fro information that the site had
been through a couple of different templates in the past few years.
Many of the second and third level pages used old template styles. To
locate the tuitions and fees information, the user viewed three different
template styles. Information was able to be located, but with so many
different styles navigation was sometime confusing.
Final Grade: B Reviewer’s Comments:
Clean up at least the top three levels with the same template, current
template is big improvement over green & yellow ‘Ville style, Admissions
page could be more exciting.
Shippensburg
Flash intro and animated graphics on
home page need to be removed. Page is nicely organized with three levels
of links. Site still offers a text version but no site map. Search page
worded well and offered additional quick link menu choices. Site employs
sound navigational strategies, has sound information architecture, and
often uses new windows for linked items. Most pages also use a valuable
strategy of subtitles to provide the user with their location within
the hierarchy and easy navigation back. The directory only provides
search by name and the telephone directory is only available by pdf
file. The provost’s page provides a photo, information, and e-mail,
but never provides her name.
Final Grade: A – Reviewer’s Comments:
Add a site map or index, get rid of Flash and animated graphics,
nice job with navigation and information architecture.
Slippery Rock
Slippery Rock’s home page is cluttered.
It is another example of a good design that has continued to grow to
the point of being cumbersome. Three navigational menus are available
with the audience menus being the primary links. Rollovers on the audience
links provide pop-up window links. The home page has too much test with
press releases and upcoming events crowding the page. The random graphic
image is not a consistent size and has a variety of filters used. The
Google search engine worked well but the site map did not open. Many
secondary pages had long list of links on the left navigational bar.
Most all the links were the same size with no organization or categorization.
The pages are also being served via a database, so URLs of sites were
usually a number (i.e 944.asp, 3546.asp, etc). This makes for confusing
references to existing websites.
Final Grade: B Reviewers Comments:
Clean-up home page, get rid of some of the secondary information
on the first page, fix the site map, and improve information architecture
to reduce number of links on each page.
West Chester
The home page of West Chester has not
changed significantly over the past few years. A few features have been
added but the primary navigation and graphic elements have remained
the same. This design works well and continues to work well, although
the search engine placement looks like a late addition and would look
better integrated into the design. The search engine and site map are
both comprehensive. The admissions page appeared a little thin, but
the events calendar and athletics page were both well done. The Alumni
site required a log in before I could retrieve much content, however
their calendar was available but provided no return navigation. Some
links like the academic calendar were five clicks deep, and the transcript
request could only be found through the search even though it was part
of the registrar’s site.
Final Grade: A – Reviewer’s Comments:
Site is nicely done, some standardization of the first levels with
purple template would help unity, provide more maintenance at lower
levels.
Summary
Users’ hardware continues to change. One of the continued debates in web design is what screen size should webmasters be designing for [Neilson 2003]. Two years ago when the previous study was completed, it was generally agreed that 800x600 was the current standard based on usage statistics. That size has continued to increase as hardware costs decrease, and users appreciation for the large screen sizes increases. Jakob Neilson argues for a design that will adapt to the users screen but that may not always be feasible (Neilson, 2003). Most SSHE schools have opted for an 800x600 design that will work for larger screen sizes too. This is probably the safest option to ensure easy of use. However, some of the SSHE bloated home pages work for either 800x600, or 1024x768. One problem evident with some sites’ home pages is the lack of flexibility for growth. What were clean designs at the start, have become cluttered with additional links and add-ons to the point where the entire layout needs to be reviewed. Webmasters need to be prudent in their additions to the home page, resist superfluous information, and remove items as necessary. One of the most interesting discoveries in the review process was Kutztown’s Spanish version of their site. It would be interesting to review the usage statistics to determine the value of such an addition. As schools are increasing being pressured to increase diversity, the addition of a second language site undoubtedly fosters multiculturalism. The actual implementation appears to be a software product that simply provides a translation, although alternative graphics need to be created. Review of the Spanish version did still show pockets of information in English. Most
of the institutions have matured to the point of establishing policies
on placement of content and responsibilities for maintenance. Some institutions
make the webmaster responsible for the first two levels of the hierarchy
and departments or divisions accountable for materials beyond that point.
The two exceptions that are continually evident through the state system
are Athletics and the Library. The majority of schools appear to leave
these two main areas, which are normally linked off most home pages,
to be managed by the divisional webmasters. Most of these sites do not
use the standard template or design elements employed by the institution.
Users often feel as if they’ve entered a completely new site
when visiting these pages. Some standardization in logos, color and
navigational elements would greatly improve many of those sites, although
some institutions may want to intentionally provide a unique look for
these areas. Schools
have found it more efficient to provide materials on-line than to distribute
printed material or responding to inquiries by e-mail or phone. Searching
the 20 items on the 14 school pages, only approximately ten of the items
could not be found amongst all fourteen schools. This speaks well to
institution’s realization of the importance of providing content and
making it accessible. Search
engines have become an integral part of large websites. It is no surprise
that the dominant search engine site of the web, Google, is the most
often used tool for institutional search engines. Six schools use Google
search engines, while two use Atomz.
The remaining schools have employed their own tool. The search
engine that provided the most accurate results and formatted them in
a user-friendly matter was the tool used by Clarion University. Locally
managed engines can work very well if maintained properly. Many
of the schools are in their third or fourth reworking of their website.
It cannot be stressed enough the importance working through the information
architecture as these sites are reworked. Some schools still have historical
links and structure that would be better served by examining a design
from the user’s perspective. This means that more must be done then
simply organizing links off the main page by audience. The second and
third level pages need to “fit” the scheme. The
websites of the schools of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher education
continue to provide a positive impression for visitors. While minor
improvements and maintenance are an ongoing labor-intensive process
for all the schools, the majority of schools are meeting the needs of
their users. Continually revisiting the design and structure of their
sites is the only way to ensure this standard is maintained.
Bibliography
Bracco, Amy. (2000, April) “Electronic Application
Survey Report.” Survey completed by Slippery Rock University Admissions
Office, Slippery Rock, PA.
Chase, Mark. (2002 April)“2002 Pennsylvania
State System of Higher Education School Web Site Review for Usability
And Information Availability.” http://www.sru.edu/depts/cisba/comm/chase/research/2002%20Summary.htm.
Chase, Mark. (2001, May 21)“Pennsylvania State
System of Higher Education School Web Site Review for Usability And
Information Availability” presented at the Pennsylvania State System
of Higher Education Advancement Conference, Mansfield University.
Chase, Mark. (2000, May 22). “Follow-up Review of SSHE Web Sites for Usability and Information Availability” presented at Emerging Educational Technologies and Applications Conference, Lock Haven University.
Chase Mark (1999, October 15). “A Review of SSHE Web Sites for Usability and Information Availability”, a study initiated by the SSHE Center for Distance Education and distributed at the SSHE Distance Education / Technology in Teacher Education Network Conference and at the SSHE Academic Computer Users Conference.
Gardner, Elizabeth. (1999, November 1). “Demanding
Clients Are Driving Motivation.” Internet
World. (pp 54-56).
Lake, David. (2001 March 5)“Quick
and Easy” The Industry Standard Magazine.
Leibowitz, (1999, October 27) Wendy R. “Colleges’
Web Sites Should Heed Users’ Needs, EDUCAUSE Speaker Says.” Chronicle of Higher Education. (p A45).
Lynch, Patrick J. & Horton,
Sarah. (2001). Web Style Guide.
Yale University Press, New Haven CT, 2nd ed.
McCollum, Kelly. (1999, July
16). “Colleges Revamp Web Pages with Professional Help,” The Chronicle of Higher Education, (pp. A25-A26).
Nielson, Jakob. (2004, March
1). Useit.com: Risks of Quantitative Studies. www.useit.com.
Nielson, Jakob. (2003, November
10).Useit.com: The Ten Most Violated
Homepage Design Guidelines . www.useit.com.
Nielson, Jakob. (2001, April
3). Useit.com: Usable Information
Technology. www.useit.com.
Nielson, Jakob. (2000 October)Useit.com: Flash: 99% Bad.
www.useit.com/20001029.
Ruffini, Michael (2001 March)
“Blueprint to Develop a Great Web Site,” The Journal, Vol.28
Issue 8, pp. 64-73.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||