[Web4lib] U.Va. Library website design review

[Mark Costa]

IMHO, that is the best use of a header I have ever seen, and I love the
search box. Even the check my account and renew items is nice and
appropriate, although if you felt that there was too much there, it would be
best to take those 2 items out over the others.

My biggest concern is that there is a good portion of the page off screen.
My monitor is at 1280x1024 and I had to scroll down to see the material. Can
you reduce the white space without seriously impacting the quality of the
design? Otherwise maybe condense that graphic. It's nice, very attractive,
and adds appeal to the page, but it is not necessary. It could also impact
download times for some users.

There are redundant footers on this page:
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/databases/



On 5/9/07, John Loy <jml4n at virginia.edu> wrote:
>
> We've just posted a draft of a new design for the U.Va. Library
> homepage at <http://lab.lib.virginia.edu>, and would really
> appreciate any suggestions and comments on it from the Web4Lib
> community.
>
> Please keep in mind that this is very much a work-in-progress, and
> several things aren't working yet, most notably the search box. Most
> of the links in this version work, but they will take you to the
> site's current live pages, not ones reflecting the new design. The
> design concept; including typography, colors, layout, and other
> visual elements; will be applied before long to templates for the
> rest of the site. Those templates will be included in the next
> posting to our online "Lab".
>
> In the rush to get the page up by our deadline, we haven't tested
> very thoroughly. So the html and CSS may not completely validate yet,
> the CSS may not render quite right in older browsers like IE5, and
> we've undoubtedly not covered every accessibility detail.
>
> We've also started a blog at <http://uvalibwebdev.wordpress.com/>
> where you can find out what's coming next in our design process,
> learn about the technology running behind the site, and get links to
> sites in which we're finding inspiration.
>
> Please send feedback to webmanager_library at virginia.edu. If you
> respond to the list, please Cc that address.
>
>
> Many thanks,
> --
> John Loy
> Web Designer
> University of Virginia Library
> phone: (434) 924-7099
> fax: (434) 924-1431
> 552 Alderman Library
> http://lib.virginia.edu
>
>
>
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> Web4lib mailing list
> Web4lib at webjunction.org
> http://lists.webjunction.org/web4lib/
>



-- 
Mark R. Costa, MLS

"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man
persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress
depends on the unreasonable man."
--- George Bernard Shaw