Website Error Analysis of Colleges and Universities on
Long Island

 

Search Engine

Search engine plays an important role in accessing information. Instead of browsing into each page going form one link to another one can simply type the required information and get the appropriate result. The colleges and universities are divided into following categories according to the search engine:

a) schools that do not have a dedicated search box and information accessed only through navigation and linkage [cwp, briarcliff].

b)schools that their search engine are empowered by Google only [poly, new york health professions, molloy, touro – not on homepage] 

c) schools  that have only in-house search engine as part of  their web design [cornell, ow, Nassau (only for directory faculty/staff, not on homepage), esc (missing faculty and courses – visible on homepage, five towns(search box not on home page), hofstra (also question search - faq), Suffolk, yale, nyit – not on homepage - search for NYIT, merchant marine, only for courses, and must click on search not enter, webb – error on each input].

d) schools that have both in-house and Google. [St. Joseph (in-house only for faculty staff, Brooklyn (own seach for different directories, farmingdale (own search for directory, Princeton (in-house for people)]

e) schools that have both in-house and other commercial engine [stony(in-house for directory and UntraSeek].

 

Content and Context

Content refers to the volume of information on website that  is informative.

Context- The material on your site is meaningful and appropriate to your site. Context gives meaning to the page’s content.

Correctness and Credibility

Correctness means information should be correct. Credibility means information should be verified and backed up by data, references and other materials.

Currency and Continuity

 

Currency  Information should be relevant to the present.

Continuity-  Information should have a vision and continue into the future.

Completeness and Coverage  

When searching the campus directory, it only allowed search by last name. (not complete) (nas)

Size limit exceeded and returned no results, for ex. Smith (Cornell)

Completeness- Information should be complete.

Coverage-  Information should have enough volume.

Consistency and Conciseness

 

Consistency- Site deign should match and be recognizable throughout the site as well as be relevant and to the point.

Compelling and Complement

 

Web site is impressive and appealing however it should consider the reality of institution. For example, a scenery that is beautiful and belong to the college.

Community and Customization

 

Community- Site should be designed and cater to your audience.

customization- Site design should be mindful of your intended audience.