When a Cartoon Is Oh, So True. Or Is It?

[livingdeb]

I've been wondering for days since I saw xkcd's University Website just how true the sentiment was for my own employer's web page. Especially after Empirical Question wrote about it. That cartoon shows a Venn diagram with two categories: things on the front page of a university website and things people go to the site looking for. Only one of those things is at the intersection of the two sets: full name of school.

So, here's what xkcd says is on the front page of a university website:
* full name of school
* campus photo slideshow
* alumni in the news
* promotions for campus events
* press releases
* statement of the school’s philosophy
* letter from the president
* virtual tour

Here's what is on my employer's home page:
* full name of school
* school motto/tagline
* search engine
* feature story
* press releases
* “Know – Your connection to a world of ideas” – no, I don’t know what it is
* 47 links besides the press releases and the Know links, rather well organized
Yep, pretty similar.

And here is what xkcd says people are looking for and my comments on how to find it on my employer's page:
* full name of school - yes, this is actually on the home page
* list of faculty phone numbers and emails – one click (“Directory”)
* campus address – one click (“Contact information”)
* application forms – five clicks (“Prospective Students,” “Entering
Freshmen,” “Getting In,” “apply for freshman admission,” “online
ApplyTexas Application for Admission”)
* academic calendar – three clicks (“Calendars,” “Academic Calendar,”
semester of interest)
* campus police phone number – two clicks (“Offices A-Z,” “P”)
* department/course lists – I don’t know what this means. You can get
to a list of departments in one click (“Colleges and Schools”) and to
the course schedule in three clicks (“Students,” “Course Schedules,”
semester of interest)
* parking information – two clicks (“Parents and Visitors,” “Visitor Parking”)
* usable campus map – one click (“Campus Map”)
Those were my first tries (today--I do have quite a bit of experience with the home page, though).

Except for the application, I'd say it's not that bad. However, you do have to look through 47 easily ignorable links to find those things in one to three clicks. They are not just sitting there welcoming you.

In related news, my state Legislature recently passed a law to make certain higher education information available on the Internet. Course information including syllabi and faculty CVs (resumes) for all courses for all state universities must be made "accessible from the institution's Internet website home page by use of not more than three links." A list of work-study employment opportunities must be available one click from the financial aid page. And information on cost of attendance must follow uniform standards and be "prominently display[ed] on the institution's Internet website."

The vote was unanimous. Interestingly, none of those things are on xkcd's list of things people are actually looking for either.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Functioning search engines accessible from the front page do at least partially cover a multitude of sins. -sally