Troubled Websites

A few weeks ago I was thinking about an event we wanted to visit. I decided to go to their website to get more information. The opening page was fine and I was able to get to the menu page easily. From there on in it was an ordeal! The menu page needed to be activated to use the controls just to get into the sub-pages. The menu icons moved. So, even with the controls activated, you had to time your cursor perfectly to catch the selected icon just right before the page would open. If you happened to miss (which I did frequently) you had to start all over again. Once a sub-page was open, it had some kind gimmick to get to the information and, to make matters worse, they were all different. One of the pages had floating bubble that had to be captured with the cursor before the information could be accessed. The bubbles moved quickly so they were difficult to get to and click on. I am sure the web designers had a lot of fun designing this site. It was an expensive site and I am sure it had all the latest bells and whistles, but from my point of view it was just down right frustrating and annoying. I spoke to a computer savvy friend of mine about it and he suggested that the site had been design for kids because it seems to have incorporated some of the challenges that can now be found computer games. That may be well and good and perhaps the kids who visited the site loved it, but it’s not the kids who drive to these events and it’s not the kids who make the make the final decision on where to go and what to see. It’s the parents, and they don’t usually play these computer games. Yes, to be sure, some of them do, but the majority doesn’t. Most parents just want to get the information they need easily, with a minimum of hassles, so that they can make an informed decision. Interesting websites are important because you want to catch the readers’ attention. Being too cute is definitely a negative! My suggestion to festival organizers is to make your website interesting but simple and user (adult) friendly. And, as an added thought, make sure your site has a way for readers to contact you. There is nothing more frustrating than to have a question or comment about a festivals or an event and not to be able to reach someone. Include a contact page that has telephone numbers and e-mail address. The whole idea for having a website is to inform those who want to attend your festival or event. If you make it difficult they just won’t bother.