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POSITIVE ASPECTS

WRITING

Content and information is useful and up-to-date
As it is a corporate website, it emphasises a lot on selling itself and its expertise. A key feature is that the topic 'Areas of Expertise' is made separate from the other headings, and its sub-topics are listed right away on the index page. They probably anticipate that this is the section most readers are interested in, and thus provide instant links to the information. The index page also has links to 'What's New', thus giving updated content.

Content is written for the Web
The content in this site is obviously written with conciseness and fragmentation in mind. All the information are in short chunks, and related points are given separately. For example, the 'Points of Distinction' are presented in five chunks of roughly ten lines each.

Content communicates the site's structure
The structure of the site is transparent, in that I am able to know what are the main topics and what are the sub-topics. For those topics with sub-sections, clicking on the main headings at the top bar brings me to a short introductory text that tells me what are the points under that heading (See example). The hierarchy is thus made very clear.

Fixed layout for some contents
Under 'Areas of Expertise', the contents in every one of the 12 sub-sections are organised as such: a paragraph on 'what you face' followed by a paragraph on 'what it takes'. This is a clear and logical way of presenting the contents, tailored to its audience (whom I presume are seeking solutions to their specific business challenges).


NAVIGATION

Navigation is simple and consistent
There is a bar on top of every single page, containing links to all the main topics. For topics with sub-sections, a menu of links will appear on the left vertical bar, on every page under that topic. The whole navigational structure of the site is conveyed simply by these two bars. The 'buttons' are words themselves, and the font and appearance of these words are consistent. On the bars, the link to the page where I am presently at will be coloured and made bold, to let me know my location. Overall, the effect is that I am never lost in this site.

Hyperlinks are not overused
One feature that is apparent in this site is that hyperlinks are kept to a functional minimum. Most of them are used for linking internally to sub-sections, and for linking to contact information etc.


DESIGN

Eye-catching cover page
The Shockwave intro page employs snazzy technology, and is stylish.

Colours and graphics are attractive
This site is a testimony to the fact that you always need Roger Black's rule of 'White, Black and Red'. The colours here are warm and cosy, and combine well. They are attractive, while managing to bring out the content clearly.

Fonts are consistent
The texts are in Verdana size 10, and the headings are also in Verdana size 10, but made bold and coloured. This scheme, a mixture of bold and light, is kept constant throughout.

Content is on every page
There is relevant content put on every page (except for the Shockwave screen), even if it is just a short introduction to the section.

Pages are short
Most of the pages are short and do not require much scrolling. For some of the slightly longer ones, there is a 'Back to Top' button located at the bottom.

Pages load quickly
An important feature here is that every single page loads quickly, probably due to the minimal graphics.

                             
                              
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