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tameonePost at 2010-6-17 07:52 | Show This Author's Posts Only
abstract:

We're looking for your comments in the areas of general appearance, usability, coding, and search engine optimization.  Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Thanks!  http://bbs.prog365.com/images/sites/smile.gif


The ACS Design website at http://www.acs-design.com has been established for several years.  The site owner would like to add new content and possibly change the appearance a bit, but is hesitant to make any large changes that might affect his search engine rankings.
We're looking for your comments in the areas of general appearance, usability, coding, and search engine optimization.  Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Thanks!  

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crownjewel82Post at 2010-6-17 07:52 | Show This Author's Posts Only
In the general appearance category I generally find that red is a color that is better reserved for an "alert" color. Cooler colors are generally more inviting to users not to mention easier on the eyes in many cases.
I'd advise either going with a series of images in your header or using one image and a gradient. The combination just doesn't seem to work.
In the coding category, I'd have to say that those are a lot of nested tables for such a simple layout. It could definitly do with some organizaiton. I'd also advise shooting for at least the minimum standards set forth by the W3C. Implemented correctly, they will make maintenance much easier and less costly.
From a usability standpoint your site seems fairly workable. Since this is a commercial site I'd advise making sure you implement some of the more reasonable ADA standards like adding alt tags for images and not using color for direction.

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tameonePost at 2010-6-17 07:52 | Show This Author's Posts Only
crownjewel82 - Thank you for your comments.
I understand the basic guidelines for posting for a critique (test for W3C standards and such).  I'm guessing nobody else has replied because you pretty much said it all, IMO.  
I'm trying to remain impartial about the ACS Design website, because I'm asking for the critique on behalf of the site owner who is a prospective client.  We discussed some of the issues.  He wants to remain open-minded and do some research about what changes should be made.  After all, every designer/developer has their own style and ideas about how a site should be built.
Would anyone argue that it's not necessary to code to standards, or that updating this site (while leaving the existing content as is) might hurt its search engine rankings?
Maybe someone who is disabled could share their experience of the site?
Any other ideas on how it could be improved visually?
I would really appreciate any other thoughts the folks here would be willing to share, even if it is a simple nay or yay to confirm what crownjewel82 said.
Thanks again.

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gthingPost at 2010-6-17 07:52 | Show This Author's Posts Only
I will have to second the red.  It's really sharp and makes the site difficult to look at.
Otherwise it's a good minimalist design.  I would center it in the browser, which would help it a bit.  (I'm using FF2)
Also, you should make your title text instead of an image.  You won't be able to get the same font, but that font is not great anyway, and not consistent with the rest of your page.
Wrapping the title of your page in an h1 tag will help you in the search engine rankings.
Also, coding to standards DOES help your search engine rankings.
The four content areas at the bottom are good.  Short and to the point - I like it.  You might try giving them a light gray background or something to give the page a little weight and contrast.  Something like the gray from your navbar.



We're looking for your comments in the areas of general appearance, usability, coding, and search engine optimization.  Your thoughts are greatly appreciated.
Thanks!  http://bbs.prog365.com/images/sites/smile.gif

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