RMIT Web Review - Assessment
RMIT Libraries Homepage http://www.lib.rmit.edu.au/libmain.htm
This screen has been assessed according to a working set of criteria available [on-line} at:
http://www.cinemedia.net/FOD/DuckDigital/criteria.html
Heuristic overview
Apart from the use of frames without the option of a no frame option this site is clear, easy to use, and provides an effective tool for accessing the University Library. At some of the sites deeper levels text font sizes are too small to read.
Access to the Library catalogue through Liblink involved too many steps to be user friendly and timed out before I could finish with a No Session message. Liblink itself had an excessive download burden of 121.05K which took 35.63 seconds. Although it offered a text only option this was refused and the large bitmap image was downloaded anyway.
step 1. enter library: http://www.lib.rmit.edu.au/index.html
step 2. select catalogue access: choice of Liblink or telnet
step 3. select Liblink
step 4. select RMIT library from jigsaw puzzle bitmap
step 5. select RMIT library again this time from GeoWeb
step 6. arrive at keyword search form
Some Suggestions for internal areas of the site:
- Information Skills: increase font size
- Electronic Databases: increase font size and increase text colour contrast
- Electronic Journals: restructure with site map
- Subject Specific Resources: increase font size and increase text colour contrast
- Internet Resources: increase font size and increase text colour contrast
- Audiovisual Services: last updated February 1997
- Business Information: bring content forward
- Loans Services: integrate look and feel with RMIT Library site
- Document Delivery Services: bring content forward
- External Services: integrate look and feel with RMIT Library site
- Information Skills: increase font size and increase text colour contrast
- Acquisitions: bring content forward
- Announcements: bring content forward
- Opening Hours: increase font size and increase text colour contrast
- Library Staff: increase font size and increase text colour contrast
- Publications: update, bring content forward increase font size and increase text colour contrast. (Last modified: November 1996)
Download Time
The down load time for this screen was within the recommended range.
URL Size Time (seconds) http://www.lib.rmit.edu.au/libmain.htm 2.22 K 0.62 images/logo5.gif 13.82 K 3.84 images/menu.gif 5.00 K 1.39 images/rmitusmll.gif 1.43 K 0.40 Total 22.47 K 6.24 HTTP Request Delays 2.00 Total + Delays 8.24 Accessibility Suggestions
- Provide alternative text for all image map hot-spots
Line 8: <MAP NAME="libmap"><AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="0,0,193,38" HREF="http://www.lib.rmit.edu.au/libcat.htm" ALT="RMIT Catalogue"><AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="0,38,203,68" HREF="cata.html" ALT="Other Catalogues"><AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="0,69,202,92" HREF="ereserve/ereserve.htm" target="_parent" ALT="e-Reserve"><AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="0,92,239,119" HREF="e_dbase/" target="_parent" ALT="Electronic Databases"><AREA SHAPE=default HREF="#menu"></MAP>
- Client-side image map libmap contains a link http://www.lib.rmit.edu.au/libmain.htm#menu not presented elsewhere on the page
- Use the LANG attribute to identify the language of the text
- Client-side image map libmap contains a link http://www.lib.rmit.edu.au/e_dbase/ not presented elsewhere on the page
Browser Compatibility Suggestions:
- Required attribute ALT is missing from tag AREA for browser(s): HTML 4.0
Line 8: <MAP NAME="libmap"><AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="0,0,193,38" HREF="http://www.lib.rmit.edu.au/libcat.htm" ALT="RMIT Catalogue"><AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="0,38,203,68" HREF="cata.html" ALT="Other Catalogues"><AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="0,69,202,92" HREF="ereserve/ereserve.htm" target="_parent" ALT="e-Reserve"><AREA SHAPE=RECT COORDS="0,92,239,119" HREF="e_dbase/" target="_parent" ALT="Electronic Databases"><AREA SHAPE=default HREF="#menu"></MAP>
Metadata:
<META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META NAME="GENERATOR" CONTENT="Mozilla/4.05 [en] (Win95; I) [Netscape]"> This metadata is proprietary and does not conform to the syntax or content of the Dublin Core emerging standard.
Prepared by Duck Digital
[Voice] 61 3 96511510 [email]
simonp@cinemedia.net