Good Website, Bad Website

In my opinion, the definition of a 'good' website is fluid. There are many good websites and they are not all identical.

For instance buyhandmade.org is a great website. The buy handmade pledge is simple and so is the site. By keeping the page clean and neatly organized the group makes it as easy to take their pledge and see others who have taken the pledge. Also the mostly black on white color scheme is easy to look at.

While the website is simple, it is also recognizable. The unique font and graphics look handmade and give the website a signature look.

By being simple without being boring, the Buy Handmade Pledge website gets my vote for 'good' site.

The definition of a bad website, is similarly difficult to pin down. Take the amendthecpsia.com site. While it talks about an important issue, the website looks dry and boring and is difficult to navigate. While the site works, I think it is 'bad' because I want to leave it as soon as I get there.

In addition to the bad color scheme, the home page is very text-heavy. This requires the visitor to read through a lot of article titles that all look the same to find information. This might be acceptable if the visitor is familiar with the CPSIA, but (in contrast with the Buy Handmade Pledge site) for people who are new to the issue there is no way of knowing where to start or which articles will introduce you to the topic.

For a website that advocates an issue that is important to the creative community, this website is as dry and hard to navigate as a Walmart parking lot in August.