CONTENTS

The contents of the website interface include text, image, video and sounds.  The contents are used appropriately to cater for the target audiences needs. The text is clear and not over crowded.  The headings have slight design elements to them although are still easily read whilst also standing out.  There are not too many images on the page and where there are they have been used effectively.  The images are also sized well.  The video on the website is currently covers the crisis in Fiji and is used to display a conference on the topic.  The sound from the video is very clear and easy and allows it to be easily understood.

The way all the elements are organized and presented allows the viewer to easily be navigated around the website in a specific order of hierarchy.  The viewer also has control over what stories they would like to read further into, what topics they would like to read about, whether they would like to help and make any donations etc.. The list of reader control goes on and on.  

AMNESTY: SOCIAL NETWORKS & LINKS

There are also a number of social networks that are linked to the page. Networks including Facebook, Twitter, Myspace and youtube.  Links other than social networks that are located on the website are:

• -        More News/More events
  
• -        Act Now. Donate (Make an Impact)
  
• -        Find an action centre in you area
  
• -        Legal/ Privacy
  
• -        Contact Us
  
• -        Media Room
  
• -        Jobs
  
• -        Shop
  
• -        Wiki
  
• -        Site Map
  
• -        Library
  
• -        Update details
  

These links are all important and useful links to have on the website to assist viewers in easy website interaction.   Elements that make most sites Web 2.0 are those that are interactive via blogs and podcasts. This innovative and interactive way of creating and administrating websites by user choice is noticeably something that Amnesty has achieved. With the use of RSS Feeds, mashups, AJAX and more Amnesty has created a very user friendly 2.0 website.   

 

 

INTERACTIVE ELEMENTS OF WEBSITE

The interactive elements of the website in my opinion are ‘your message’ and the ‘facebook group’.  Both these elements enable viewers to have their say and get involved.  The ‘your message’ allows anyone to join up and write a letter or send an email to for example a minister on a topic they believe needs addressing. The second interactive element the ‘facebook’ group I believe is a great way for people with like minded interest to join the group, get to no each other, whilst also been educated on the lasted new and action that Amnesty is evolved in.  

LAYOUT

DOES IT CATER FOR THE TARGET AUDIENCE?

The layout of the website is very easy to use with great topics across the top menu bar.  These include: ‘home’, ‘about’, ‘news’, ‘campaigns’, ‘how you can help’, and ‘donate’.  This is a good number of topics to have across the menu bar, not to few and not too many.  They are also very relative and useful topics.  There is the possibility however that these topics could be dropdown to further make the website user friendly…

The layout is easy to read and follow with not an unnecessary amount of elements been used. The layout is not over crowded, nor is it crammed packed with too much information. 

There are also great topic headings throughout the website which I think have been positioned in a specific order of hierarchy.  These topics include ‘news’, ‘action take’, ‘what’s on’, ‘about/success’ and’ your area’.  These are headings that enable the view to quickly comprehend what Amnesty International is all about. 

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL - APPROPRIATNESS OF THE INTERFACE DESIGN

The Interface Design of the Amnesty International Website has been designed well.  There is a strong and effective uses of colour, with the prominent colour been yellow.  They have used the black and grey shades to effectively impact on words that are important and to create a somewhat background gradient.  The use of the prominent colour is also subtle.  As yellow can be very bright it is nice to see that there is not too much, distracting viewers from the important information that the website holds.

At the top centre of the website there is a large image, which, I believe they use to tell a story visually. They use the picture to make a strong impact on the views, in order for them to gain a greater understanding of the particular event.  This is further emphasized with the ‘Make an IMPACT’ section located directly next to the image. 

The layout appropriately represents Amnesty’s house style and displays appropriateness for the positioning of topics. The topics are positioned in order to be read, for example the news is located on the top left hand side where your eyes initially look to begin reading something.  For Amnesty, world news is of great importance and is considered to be the hierarchy.

There is not a distracting amount of image and type design seen on the website, although there are subtle elements that are used effectively. The over all interface has been constructed well. 

Along side the positives of the website there are not too many negatives.  Although when the user first views the page they see the top storey image and then only the titles that are below.  They have to scroll down to continue reading.  Perhaps it would be nice to see the contents that is related to the headings been seen and then to scroll down further to continue discovering other topics… 

AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL 

COMPARISON BETWEEN ‘WEB1.0’ & ‘WEB 2.0’

One of the most significant differences between Web 2.0 and the traditional World Wide Web (Web 1.0) is the greater collaboration among Internet users and other users, content providers and enterprises.    Web 2.0 is not s specific software that can be purchased but is more a collection of approaches to using the net it a new and innovative way. 

Here there are just of few of the’ FEATURES’ that clarify the difference between Web 1.0 and the new 2.0.

WEB 1.0                                                                      WEB 2.0

DoubleClick > Google AdSense

Mp3.com > Napster

Britannica Online > Wikipedia

Personal Websites > Blogging

Screen Scraping > Web Services  

Content Management Systems > Wikis

Ofoto > Flickr