I would value the opinion of the web designers out there.

I have been having a go at putting together a website (at this stage it still needs alot of work) for the Credit Union that I have been on the board of directors of since prior to it's registration as a credit union. I have temporarily put this on my personal webspace and here is a link to it:

link removed see new link below

I realise that there are a number of errors that need correcting but will go back to these to correct them later. This is my first ever attempt at website design so constructive criticism is welcome, particularly related to it's ease of use etc for the novice or disabled user. Is there anything I could do to improve it? Does it leave users with unanswered questions?

I will now throw this open for you to let me know what you think - please don't get too technical as I am very much a novice in this area.

Get rid of the cyan background...bit harsh on the eyes.

I'd have to agree about the background.

Having said that when you DO remove it I think the page may look a bit 'white spacey'. Nothing wrong with that but it may feel a little empty.

But it's OK - clear, loads fast, has all the information, no distractions for visually impaired people, clear, well spaced links.

Not sure about the way that 'History of Firth Park Credit Union' stretches down the column one word per line - just doesn't look right to me. Also, where it says 'Current Day' it's more accurate to say 'Present Day'.

Sorry to nit-pick!

Hope this helps - good first shot, though!

Joe

Thanks alot I'll alter that colour and look at the layout on that column.

Have a look around for 'free web templates'. It's a really good place to start if you have limited web design experience - you just add your data into the page templates.

Wendy - don't hang up but you need to put something (like a faded watermark on the background) just to fill the 'white space' once you've got rid of cyan.

Just to keep the aesthetics of the site. Might be an idea to change the purple too - to a more pleasant colour. Does the Credit Union have a logo - what colours are used in that? Would tie into what you are looking to promote.

However for a first effort not bad at all!

I did try a background pattern but it seemed to interfer with the text but I'll give it another try - thanks for the idea.

I've only just got the jpeg of the logo so didn't have that when I originally created the page from what I remember the colours are a purpley pink but I am trying to keep away from Reds and Greens incase any users are colour blind. I do need to work on that colour though I put the purple in because I was running out of ideas.

btw Internetowl I don't bear grudges - life's too short for that I made my point and that is an end to it, so I wouldn't hang up. :D Thanks for the ideas anyway.

Originally posted by alchresearch
Have a look around for 'free web templates'. It's a really good place to start if you have limited web design experience - you just add your data into the page templates.

Do these work within dreamweaver or is this working directly in html?

Originally posted by wendy
Do these work within dreamweaver or is this working directly in html?

It's just general html, not platform specific, so it'll work in anything, Dreamweaver, Frontpage, whatever.

Hope that helps :)

Thanks Rich!:thumbsup:

As I said I am fairly new to this area and have only done a short taster course at Hallam so still finding my way around it all.

you can find a lot of background that are textured - which may be a bit gentler on the eyes.

It looks very good so far - have to agree with that the background needs to go

Moon

I thought I'd resurrect this thread because I have now redesigned the website from a template in Contribute 3 and we now have a domain name. Again it is still under construction and I have not transferred all the data over yet but I would welcome comments on the new site for Firth Park Credit Union.

www.firthparkcreditunion.org.uk

That looks very nice Wendy. Only thing I'd change would be the font in the main logo on the right.

I used Ariel what would you suggest?

I like the font sorry I just wouldnt space it out like that prehaps position it a little better.

I didn't mention how well you achieved the look and feel for that site I think you have done really well :)

Thank you very much :blush: but it's really a doddle with Contribute just like altering a word document really.

Looks great so far I think

It's good, apart from the rollover images on the left hand side menu bar. It looks very messy when you roll the mouse over them.

Originally posted by t020
It's good, apart from the rollover images on the left hand side menu bar. It looks very messy when you roll the mouse over them.

Simply widen the menu by about 10 pixels to solve this problem. Or use shorter text on two of the menu items.

Originally posted by adaline
Looks great so far I think

I'd agree 100%, very tidy and clear.

The site seems fab to me, bit I love the sentiment more!!

K X

Originally posted by Phanerothyme
Simply widen the menu by about 10 pixels to solve this problem. Or use shorter text on two of the menu items.


I've adjusted it a little now How's that!

Originally posted by wendy
I've adjusted it a little now How's that!

Better, but I think it would look better still if the text just changed to white instead of changing size too.

I can see your point but I'm not quite sure how to adjust that yet plus it's too late at night and my brain's not working properly now I'll have another look when I get the chance.

it doesn't seam very adaptive to different screen resolutions

Pete could you be a bit more specific please.

Originally posted by wendy
Pete could you be a bit more specific please.

You get horizontal scrollbars when view in any res less than 1024X768. Needs reworking to display correctly in anything less.:(

Originally posted by sccsux
You get horizontal scrollbars when view in any res less than 1024X768. Needs reworking to display correctly in anything less.:(

Thanks for the info I'll look at that later.:)

If you can, try and keep the navigation bar at the left "fixed" in position all the time. For example, when you click on "Our History" it would be better if the bar was still at the side, instead of the user having to click BACK.

The logo and colour schemes are great - very professional. But, I'd definetly replace the title. You may be better creating an image containing the text, possibly right-aligned.

Originally posted by alchresearch
If you can, try and keep the navigation bar at the left "fixed" in position all the time. For example, when you click on "Our History" it would be better if the bar was still at the side, instead of the user having to click BACK.

I used a different template for the history page so I would have to 'redo the page from the beginning to do this.

Originally posted by alchresearch

The logo and colour schemes are great - very professional. But, I'd definetly replace the title. You may be better creating an image containing the text, possibly right-aligned.

Which title do you mean here? :confused: