Sunday, January 11, 2004

By Adrian McCoy

Here are a few sideline comments from our Web reviewers, who also recommend checking out an interesting Internet address -- www.alexa.com -- that monitors traffic on each of the candidates' sites, pointing out the most popular features.

Alexis Chontos, Web master for the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, used what designers call the "architectural features" of a Web site as basic criteria to evaluate the sites for President Bush, Howard Dean and Richard Gephardt. These features are usability, navigability, evolvability, universality, identity and cohesiveness. "In the case of a site dedicated to promoting a particular presidential candidate, all of these features are important," Chontos says.

The best sites establish a strong identity for that candidate, she says, and allow the visitor to feel comfortable with the purpose of the site, to easily navigate through the pages and to find information quickly.

Chontos tested each site on several different machines, under various resolutions and different browsers, and thought all three "presented well."

John Mahood of Imagebox Productions approached the critiques by listing the pros and cons of the Dennis Kucinich, John Edwards and Wesley Clark sites, using the same criteria as the others.

Mahood said he was surprised not to find more use of polls or surveys. "I think the candidates might learn a lot from their visitors to improve their campaign, and their visitors might learn something about them, with these simple online technologies."

Aside from general makeover tips, Mahood thinks campaigners should learn that the Web is a very different advertising tool from TV: "When you run that ad during the latest episode of 'Survivor,' those viewers may or may not have any interest. When you post something on your Web site, you can almost guarantee that the visitor has taken the time to find [you] and is quite interested in learning more about your campaign. Make it easy for them. Tell them very simply why and how they can support you."

Dave Haseleu of CyBerJaz used similar criteria in looking at sites for Carol Moseley Braun, Al Sharpton, John Kerry and Joe Lieberman, analyzing good and bad features and making suggestions for improvement.

Haseleu tested each site's download times through various methods Web developers use to see how quickly a site can be loaded. Braun's site was among the best. He rated Sharpton's site "good." For Lieberman and Kerry, he said, "Dial-up users may experience a wait that is less than ideal. But overall, the results were acceptable."

He thought all four candidates missed the boat by not including breakdowns of issues that affect distinct groups of voters, such as the elderly, labor or the middle-class voter. Similarly, he felt they could generate more support by adding sections relevant to voters in the different primaries: a place where the Iowa voter could go, for example, and that others could skip over.

"We see it all the time with a business Web site. What people care about isn't that your product has this great capability; it's what this capability will mean for me."

Selling a politician isn't that different from selling a product. "We have a lot of features on these sites and kind of an absence of the benefits."

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