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Old Dominion University Student Web Site Analysis

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In developing this research, I plan to determine whether Old Dominion University (ODU) graduate web site, found at https://www.odu.edu/graduateschool, meets student needs and, if not, what design elements would better meet these needs. I hypothesize that these needs are not currently being met, as I often struggle to navigate the site as a graduate student myself. I constantly hear and share complaints about said web site with fellow graduate students. These complaints, which are often focused around a need for important deadlines and other timely information, do not seem to be represented in the current web site. From my own experience and opinions from other graduate students, there are currently three ways students find such artifacts. …show more content…

While Potts borrows from Latour, as does Spinuzzi, her focus on Actor Network Theory (ANT) creates a new perspective. Potts (2014) suggests that “using this theory as a method gives…researchers a tool to indentify actors in order to trace how these actors create information from raw data around them to meet their localized literacy needs” (p. 27). Because students tend to utilize social media and email instead of the university web site, using Potts’s approach provides a way to analyze these artifacts and apply them to the new, more cohesive web site and heuristic this research hopes to …show more content…

This study found that three main elements are needed: consistent font style, consistent text and background color, a fast loading time, and well-placed hyperlinks. Hite and Railsback (2010) also determined that website development teams should possess several traits, such as marketing and technical skills and knowledge of user-interfaces and effective content. Because hyperlinks were noted as one of the most frustrating components for study participants, Hite and Railsback (2010) also suggest these design rules: do not use colors other than blue or photos/bullets as links, but do have an easy way to get to the home page. Hite and Railsback’s (2010) provide an excellent list of design elements that have been tested and proved, which will act as additional foundation for my analysis. I also plan to use their methods as a foundation for my own, since they were able to analyze a large amount of websites in a relatively short

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