Site Critique

[pmjd]

Hello all,

I've been redesigning a website for my Uncle's garage/car hire business and would appreciate any comments on any aspect of it. It's my first one, believe it or not. I know it doesn't pass correctly as xhtml, but that's down to one of the scripts I'm using and am awaiting to hear back from it's author.

There are also a few pictures missing in the car & van hire sections, as I'm waiting to get these. In general I'm interested in how usable the site is, are the colours too much/gaudy (mix of car hire firms and my Uncle's sign colours) is the layout clear etc.?

http://www.elftronics.co.uk it's hosted on my own website for testing purposes

Thanks in advance if anyone has a look:waycool:

[philsmove]

I get cannot be found

[pmjd]

Odd, it's working for me both from the link I posted and typing it in manually:confused:

[CJ]

I got to the site OK. Went to cars for sale... £1 mill for a ford zetec?? I'm guessing it's a gold plated engine??

Then accidentally closed it again, cos I'm a genius...:doh: More in a bit...

[pmjd]

I got to the site OK. Went to cars for sale... £1 mill for a ford zetec?? I'm guessing it's a gold plated engine??

Then accidentally closed it again, cos I'm a genius...:doh: More in a bit...

Only cause it's my car and wanted to put anyone off, not unless you know of any rich idiots with a million to burn, if so I might be persuaded to part with it:wink:

[Lee Bartholomew]

Looks good.

One thing I would do though is put the location in the header (under the number or something) or at the very least, the town the garage is located. This will let people see right away they have a local garage.

Also on the Home page you have contact and location links twice. I would remove the three top links to EMAIL CONTACT and LOCATION and instead list the actual email (clickable) and address.

Final thing (for now) the pictures you are using could all do with being sized down a little. The site takes awhile to load.

Other than that it looks good :grin:

[HelenB]

Nice car :D

From a lay point of view

Doesn't look gaudy and layout is clear

I kept searching for a "back" button on the website (I know I can use my browser back button) although I'm not sure if that's cos I was having a peek around and wanted easy quick navigation.

Would it be useful to have a "contact us" link under the hire T&Cs? instead of having the link at the top. I'm really used to hire websites where you can specify dates on the website and instantly check availability/book

:flower:

[pmjd]

Thanks for the suggestions Lee:nice:

The garage is located in a small town where pretty much everyone knows everyone else, so the location part is more for visiting tourists to know where it is easily. The main town is Fort William, the garage is located 5 miles away in Corpach, I didn't want it to be too off putting for any visitors, even though free hire vehicle pick up and drop off in Fort William area are available. I'm working on the googlemaps API, where I can highlight an area that collections are available, might make it a bit clearer.

I was a bit unsure about whether to only list the email address at the top of the page. Mainly because it's a bit long "info@slipwayautos.co.uk" and include the contact form link as well, depending on how the website was being accessed i.e. your computer versus internet cafe etc. The email only option might be better though.

I'm still playing about with image quality and have a bit to learn yet. Will get the thumbnails a bit smaller. Are the sizes of the images in the gallery itself acceptable? Do you have any suggestions for a good default size to go for that wouldn't be seen as too excessive?

[pmjd]

Nice car :D

From a lay point of view

Doesn't look gaudy and layout is clear
Thank you:flower:


I kept searching for a "back" button on the website (I know I can use my browser back button) although I'm not sure if that's cos I was having a peek around and wanted easy quick navigation.
I was trying to keep navigation and pages to a minimum so you wouldn't get lost pages down, would a bread crumb trail help? i.e. you are in Home>Vehicle Hire>Car Hire ? So you can click back to where you wanted to be a bit more easily.

It used to be part of a larger online booking system from the hire company itself but that was stopped by the hire company. It would be useful but I doubt it'd happen as it would need to be something easy to administer for my Uncle who's, although a mechanic, is not really a computer person. His current website has not been updated in 5 years:really:

http://www.slipwayautos.co.uk

Maybe something like a google calender link could work for vehicle availability. Something to look into and maybe persuade him:wink:


Would it be useful to have a "contact us" link under the hire T&Cs? instead of having the link at the top.
Not sure, I was quite keen on having contact info, mainly phone number and email, prominent and easy to find at the top. It's rather buried away in the current site.

Thanks for having a good look:grin:

[bigdjiver]

If you want the site to be found by the desperate in urgent need of a repair and relacement then location info is vital.

People start reading at the top left. I would have Vehicle Repair, Hire, MOT, Sales on the top of the page.

Could you have a google map displayed showing local accomodation? You scratch their backs ... A customer with a breakdown may need it.

http://seohimanshu.com/2010/03/22/optimizing-for-local-web-search/

[Lee Bartholomew]

It used to be part of a larger online booking system from the hire company itself but that was stopped by the hire company. It would be useful but I doubt it'd happen as it would need to be something easy to administer for my Uncle who's, although a mechanic, is not really a computer person.

Ask yourself if it's worth doing an online booking system. Writing one from scratch is not easy ( I know!). How much will it get used? How many cars does he have for hire? How will the bookings be taken at his end? Will their be deposits and card payments? etc etc etc

If only a couple of cars a month are hired out then it's not worth it.

The way I would look at it is this....

Would having online booking increase the amount of hire business he does to the point it would pay for the hours and hours of work in writing the code and maintanance?

[bigdjiver]

Think about how your site looks to people with poor sight using phones to search Internet.

[Lee Bartholomew]

Think about how your site looks to people with poor sight using phones to search Internet.

Again, work out if it is worth spending the time and effort to do this on such a small site. You may be able to find stats on a control panel with the current webhosts that the current site is using, showing what percentage of browsers have accessed the site in the past.

If it's a very small percentage and the site is only getting, say 50 hits a month, then I personally would not overly worry about mobile browsers.

Having said that though, mobile browsing is becoming more and more popular.

Just weigh it all up. :nice:

[Dreadful Scathe]

Think about how your site looks to people with poor sight using phones to search Internet.
If you have poor sight, what the hell would you use a tiny screened phone to search the internet - and for car hire too :)

[philsmove]

Having said that though, mobile browsing is becoming more and more popular.

Just weigh it all up. :nice:

You also need to look at the competition
if you are the only garage with a phone friendly web site, you should pick up all the enquiries from smart phones

[Rocky]

I like the site and can't add more than has already been said other that a little tweak to the language maybe here and there. For example on the contact page it says:

'Fill in the bits below and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.'

Which is fine, but 'Please complete the details below and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.' just sounds better IMO.

Also on that page you have a 'wil' with only one 'L' '..will only be stored by us and wil never be passed or sold on to any third parties.'

Little things, but overall it looks good!

[bigdjiver]

If you have poor sight, what the hell would you use a tiny screened phone to search the internet - and for car hire too :)Your car breaks down in the back of beyond ...

Look at the world through your customers eyes.

[Gav]

If you have poor sight, what the hell would you use a tiny screened phone to search the internet - and for car hire too :)

Look at the world through your customers eyes.

You wouldn't see very much! :na:

[Dreadful Scathe]

Your car breaks down in the back of beyond ...

Look at the world through your customers eyes.
well, i wouldn't expect partially sighted people to even own such a phone - what would be the point? I think perhaps such a person would possibly use the phone as a...phone! :) :rolleyes:

and ditto what Gav said, he got that joke in first :)

[Gav]

well, i wouldn't expect partially sighted people to even own such a phone - what would be the point?

Does anyone else the the irony of a person whose eyesight is so poor that they can't see their mobile screen, looking up car breakdown services? :WetHaddock:

[Dreadful Scathe]

Does anyone else the the irony of a person whose eyesight is so poor that they can't see their mobile screen, looking up car breakdown services? :WetHaddock:
well, yes, but one criticism at a time :) if i looked at the big picture i wouldnt be wasting my time on here in the first place :)

[bigdjiver]

good vision is 20/20 , anything less is partial sight.

There are too many products designed by 20 years olds for 20 year old sight.

The fact that we are discussing motorists might be a clue to the half-brained that I was not discussing the almost blind. I don't have time to be facetious or precise, I am trying to help.

Useful tool (http://trends.google.com/trends?q=garage%2C+%22car+hire%22%2C+%22Vehicle+re covery%22%2C+%22vehicle+hire%22&ctab=0&geo=gb&geor=all&date=all&sort=0)

[Lee Bartholomew]

good vision is 20/20 , anything less is partial sight.

There are too many products designed by 20 years olds for 20 year old sight.

The fact that we are discussing motorists might be a clue to the half-brained that I was not discussing the almost blind. I don't have time to be facetious or precise, I am trying to help.

Useful tool (http://trends.google.com/trends?q=garage%2C+%22car+hire%22%2C+%22Vehicle+re covery%22%2C+%22vehicle+hire%22&ctab=0&geo=gb&geor=all&date=all&sort=0)

Then if they are driving, they should be using glasses :na:

[Dreadful Scathe]

good vision is 20/20 , anything less is partial sight.

No it isn't, and I'm not sure anyone but you thinks so. Following from here (http://www.patient.co.uk/doctor/Blindness-and-Partial-Sight.htm)



...convention is that partial sight involves:

* A visual acuity from 3/60 to 6/60 with a full field
* Up to 6/24 with moderate restriction of visual field, opacities in the media or aphakia
* 6/18 or better with a gross field defect (e.g. hemianopia) or a marked constriction of the field (e.g. glaucoma or retinitis pigmentosa)

Blindness is legally defined as 'so blind that they cannot do any work for which eyesight is essential'. In practice, this translates into:

* A best corrected visual acuity below 3/60 or 1/18
* A best corrected visual acuity better than 3/60 but below 6/60 with a very restricted visual field



the requirement to drive a car ... is that the person [must have vision roughly equal to] 6/10 on the Snellen visual acuity chart

...although I don't know what that means. :)

[DavidY]

Then if they are driving, they should be using glasses :na:Some people have good long distance vision (eg. can safely spot cars, road signs etc) but poor close-up vision (eg. to read web pages which don't work well on a mobile).

[robd]

As far as I can see the business does not do breakdown recovery so the whole debate around smartphone accessibility seems a bit moot. In such circumstances people will be looking for a recovery firm and I'd expect that firm to recommend a local garage.

The site itself looks clean if a little bland IMO. I liked the icons but the rollover on them irritated me and I am not sure why. Lee makes good points about balancing the effort expended in adding functionality against the likely call on such services. Personally I feel if the website is to do anything more than claim its corner in cyberspace I'd like to be able to get quotes for hires/repair work (not necessarily immediately but via the site). I'd expect also that a section for testimonials/references from past customers may help convince people unfamiliar with the business of its trustworthiness and reliability.

[DavidY]

In such circumstances people will be looking for a recovery firm and I'd expect that firm to recommend a local garage....and then the the garage says it'll take 3 days to fix ('can't get the parts, sir..') so, rather than spoil your holiday, you need a hire car. The hotel you're staying at charges the earth for Wifi so you're looking for hire car websites on your phone...

I think there are probably quite a few situations where something unplanned happens and you need a garage or hire car company but your phone is all you have. So I'd definitely consider phone accessibility.

[Lee Bartholomew]

I think there are probably quite a few situations where something unplanned happens and you need a garage or hire car company but your phone is all you have. So I'd definitely consider phone accessibility.


but if it's in a little village in the back woods somewhere, how likely is that?

As I said, with these things (esp an unpaid job) weigh it all up. Work out if it's worth putting the effort in for something someone might use.

If they are really that stuck, then they would call directory enquiries.

[pmjd]

Think about how your site looks to people with poor sight using phones to search Internet.
Nice point but I'm more inclined to agree with DS, if you have poor uncorrected eyesite you are unlikely to use a mobile phone with a small screen for internet access.

I have tried to take in to account some accessibility things, by trying to use good contrast in colours and made sure all the images are correctly described in the ALT tags.


Again, work out if it is worth spending the time and effort to do this on such a small site. You may be able to find stats on a control panel with the current webhosts that the current site is using, showing what percentage of browsers have accessed the site in the past.
It was in the past and there have been rumblings from the hire firm about retrying an online booking system. It's something that would be well and truly beyond my capabilities to write, at most I was thinking of something easier such as a calendar link to show car availability.

There are four competing businesses, two offer online bookings but one of these is a redirect to a national hire firm.


Little things, but overall it looks good!
Thanks Rocky, it's going to have an overall check on spelling and phrasing before it's published properly. I think I was in a more flippant mode when I wrote the text of the contact page:whistle:


As far as I can see the business does not do breakdown recovery so the whole debate around smartphone accessibility seems a bit moot. In such circumstances people will be looking for a recovery firm and I'd expect that firm to recommend a local garage.

The site itself looks clean if a little bland IMO. I liked the icons but the rollover on them irritated me and I am not sure why.
You're right on that one Rob, aside from the AA (who will tow to who they think best at the time) only one garage in the area offers breakdown recovery.

Bland, possibly, I did have in mind trying to put a picture of some sort in the page header but I'm also trying not to clutter things up to much there too. Originally I had the icons as just that but thought I'd try out a small animation to make it a bit more lively, though if it's annoying one too many it may be removed.

[bigdjiver]

... Work out if it's worth putting the effort in for something someone might use... Don't make something people might use, like Google, Facebook, Twitter ?

On the www testing is cheap, the tools are free and superb.

People whose car has broken down are going to need a someone to repair it, perhaps a recovery vehicle, perhaps a hire car, taxi service, hotel. If a garage offers service and information about all those things it is going to have a good chance of being the one that gets called. If the garage directs business to local trades there is a good chance they will reciprocate.

Use of phones to access the internet is increasing at a phenomenal rate. Just seek and you will find, on page one at that:

"Lessons taught by top uk teachers Mike Rosa and Lee Bartholomew with a fun freindly atmosphear"

Hmm...

[Lee Bartholomew]

Use of phones to access the internet is increasing at a phenomenal rate. Just seek and you will find, on page one at that:

"Lessons taught by top uk teachers Mike Rosa and Lee Bartholomew with a fun freindly atmosphear"

Hmm...

Here did you get that from? it's not on our website.

[SPROGGS]

"Lessons taught by top uk teachers Mike Rosa and Lee Bartholomew with a fun freindly atmosphear"

Hmm...


It was on UK Jive....:rofl: :rofl:

http://www.uk-jive.co.uk/org-details.asp?OrgID=608

[Lee Bartholomew]

It was on UK Jive....:rofl: :rofl:

http://www.uk-jive.co.uk/org-details.asp?OrgID=608

Must have been a cached page or something because the spelling is fine on it.

[SPROGGS]

Must have been a cached page or something because the spelling is fine on it.

:confused:

[Dreadful Scathe]

he's pointing out that bigdjiver pasted 'freindly atmosphear'

[SPROGGS]

he's pointing out that bigdjiver pasted 'freindly atmosphear'

So whose laughing at the spelling mistakes then..:wink:

[Dreadful Scathe]

So whose laughing at the spelling mistakes then..:wink:
oh i know, I got it ;), but he didn't so I was just clarifying the spelling issue :) now i realise what your :confused: meant, it was all futile :)

[SPROGGS]

oh i know, I got it ;), but he didn't so I was just clarifying the spelling issue :) now i realise what your :confused: meant, it was all futile :)

:really: I could'nt possibly comment :wink:

[Lee Bartholomew]

oh i know, I got it ;), but he didn't so I was just clarifying the spelling issue :) now i realise what your :confused: meant, it was all futile :)


Oh I new what he was getting at. I just chose to ignore it. Why derail another thread with a pointless argument? If he wants to start on that one, he is more than welcome to start another thread.

[Beowulf]

I like the site and can't add more than has already been said other that a little tweak to the language maybe here and there. For example on the contact page it says:

'Fill in the bits below and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.'

:yeah:

Looks good. But agree with Rocky's comment above. Sounds much more professional.

[bigdjiver]

... business ....

... In general I'm interested in how usable the site is, are the colours too much/gaudy ....is the layout clear etc.?.....

Its a business, you should be primarily interested in how much profit it brings in.

= (% potential customers see it * % read it * % buy * profit per customer) /1,000,000

Your site should be about trusted content. I would have a section on local accomodation and another on the best local views. If you can suggest a local tourist activity they can enjoy while they are having their car checked and/or fixed I'd do that.

www.mequoda.com (http://www.mequoda.com) is an Internet Marketing site that practices what it preaches. What it preaches can be found in a series of free "White papers" you can download.

The list includes a whitepaper on Mobile. I found the partial ** list of websites aimed at mobile phones very interesting. It includes http://m.caranddriver.com/

Being one of the few sites someone can read does give you an advantage.

**(partial as in Engish, not as in medicine, why would anyone pretend I was talking medical conditions?)

[Dreadful Scathe]

**(partial as in Engish, not as in medicine, why would anyone pretend I was talking medical conditions?)

oh get you..."partial sight" is a specific term you misused, get over it :)

[bigdjiver]

oh get you..."partial sight" is a specific term you misused, get over it :)No, it is English I used correctly. When did you last do something useful and constructive? Or are those other English words you cannot understand?

[Dreadful Scathe]

No, it is English I used correctly. When did you last do something useful and constructive? Or are those other English words you cannot understand?
certainly in the context of driving "partial sight" is a specific term, if you did not know this, fine, but i can't be blamed for assuming normal use (and making a joke out of it). Perhaps its the first thing that occurs to me at work as i sit 2 rows behind someone who is partially sighted - his screen font is so big i can read it with ease.

In response to your question, I dont recall anytime where I did anything useful or constructive, ever -except...ahh, yesterday I velcro'd my daughters shoes on. But, thanks for asking anyway :) :rolleyes:

I have got a question for you though. Have you ever admitted you were wrong? ;)

[Gav]

yesterday I velcro'd my daughters shoes on.

On what?
I velcro'd my bosses shoes onto the floor once. :D

[bigdjiver]

...I have got a question for you though. Have you ever admitted you were wrong? ;)Yes, I waste time on time wasters,and I am wrong to keep company with them. I am wrong to get upset when I try and pass on hundreds of hours of research time for the benefite of others and get dissed for it, but I do.

You and I do not belong in the same space.

Thanks to all that have entertained and informed me.

[Dreadful Scathe]

Yes, I waste time on time wasters,and I am wrong to keep company with them.

Why do you keep company with them then ? and why is it wrong? maybe its a charitable act on your part that may help the time wasters in the long run.


I am wrong to get upset when I try and pass on hundreds of hours of research time for the benefite of others and get dissed for it, but I do.

Yes, it is more healthy to not get upset, so I can see where you are coming from here.


You and I do not belong in the same space.

Ah, the telefrag. Nasty right enough.


Thanks to all that have entertained and informed me.

why? are you leaving ?