Monday, 22 October 2007
ICAS Website
Visiting the homepage for the first time I found myself bombarded with a sea of text – different sizes, different fonts and different colours, and seemingly scattered across the page in no particular order or layout. A good homepage should be a starting point for someone wishing to find the information they want as quickly and as easily as possible. However, the ICAS homepage is immediately confusing. It should be welcoming i.e. a clear heading with some nice images or graphics. The ICAS homepage offers neither and indeed it does little to make me want to explore or spend any more time than necessary on the site.
When navigating the website, it does not seem to get any easier on the eye. Almost every link leads to masses of text. There is no consistency in the colour schemes or layout of the pages and when I went from the ‘Insolvency’ section to the ‘Continuing Professional Development’ section I thought I was on completely different website.
It could also be said that the uninspiring appearance of the ICAS website does little to help stave off the stigma attached, by some people, to the accounting profession that it is dull and boring!
The appearance of the website, however, is not the most important aspect. The ICAS website is mainly a source of information for those in the profession and those considering the profession. It does indeed contain plenty of information, probably everything one would wish to know about ICAS, but it is important that this information is easy to find and there lies further room for improvement for the ICAS website. Down the left hand side of the page is a column of headings which are fairly comprehensive in terms of covering all the information contained in the website. However, some headings lead to 2 or 3 sub headings whereas the ‘Technical and Research’ heading leads to 22! It might be useful to group these sub-headings under 2 or 3 different headings to save the user having to trawl through the list of sub-headings to find what they are looking for. There are also headings on the homepage such as ‘Information for Members’ and ‘New Courses/Conferences’ which are not included on the left hand side. This means that unless the user scrolls to the bottom of the page they will completely miss these pieces of information. It would be wise to include these headings on the left hand side menu to avoid this.
Other, smaller issues include The ‘FAQ’ section of the website, which leaves a lot to be desired. Surely the purpose of such a section is to obtain quick answers to common questions. The ICAS website simply gives the phone number of someone who can answer the question. Surely it would save the time of the user and these individuals if the answer were to be typed out and presented on the website.
Overall, it can be said that the ICAS website is full of valuable information for those in the accounting profession but the structure and design of the website should be altered to make this information easier and quicker to find. With clearer headings and sections this can be achieved. A more stylish appearance would also help facilitate this. An example of this is the ICAEW website which is far more pleasant to look at and much easier to navigate. Headings and sections are clearly laid out in a much tidier fashion and I can find the information I want within a few clicks.
When navigating the website, it does not seem to get any easier on the eye. Almost every link leads to masses of text. There is no consistency in the colour schemes or layout of the pages and when I went from the ‘Insolvency’ section to the ‘Continuing Professional Development’ section I thought I was on completely different website.
It could also be said that the uninspiring appearance of the ICAS website does little to help stave off the stigma attached, by some people, to the accounting profession that it is dull and boring!
The appearance of the website, however, is not the most important aspect. The ICAS website is mainly a source of information for those in the profession and those considering the profession. It does indeed contain plenty of information, probably everything one would wish to know about ICAS, but it is important that this information is easy to find and there lies further room for improvement for the ICAS website. Down the left hand side of the page is a column of headings which are fairly comprehensive in terms of covering all the information contained in the website. However, some headings lead to 2 or 3 sub headings whereas the ‘Technical and Research’ heading leads to 22! It might be useful to group these sub-headings under 2 or 3 different headings to save the user having to trawl through the list of sub-headings to find what they are looking for. There are also headings on the homepage such as ‘Information for Members’ and ‘New Courses/Conferences’ which are not included on the left hand side. This means that unless the user scrolls to the bottom of the page they will completely miss these pieces of information. It would be wise to include these headings on the left hand side menu to avoid this.
Other, smaller issues include The ‘FAQ’ section of the website, which leaves a lot to be desired. Surely the purpose of such a section is to obtain quick answers to common questions. The ICAS website simply gives the phone number of someone who can answer the question. Surely it would save the time of the user and these individuals if the answer were to be typed out and presented on the website.
Overall, it can be said that the ICAS website is full of valuable information for those in the accounting profession but the structure and design of the website should be altered to make this information easier and quicker to find. With clearer headings and sections this can be achieved. A more stylish appearance would also help facilitate this. An example of this is the ICAEW website which is far more pleasant to look at and much easier to navigate. Headings and sections are clearly laid out in a much tidier fashion and I can find the information I want within a few clicks.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)