New Whitehouse Website Looks the Goods
23 June 2009 - By Sean Fishlock
I usually only comment on Australian websites, however I stumbled across a new look White House website recently and was very impressed by the latest incarnation of the White House website. I was pleasantly suprised by its, well - white - look and that it shows off almost every latest Web2.0 trick in the book.
With the change of US presidency, a White House website (www.whitehouse.gov) was launched a few months ago sporting a clean look (below).
The previous website was a fairly staid and conservative blue affair. It had the cliched podcasts and RSS feeds as well as a rich media interface (videos and photos) that were fashionable about a year ago.
So here's my impression of the new site ...
The current/new site features an impressive and bold DHTML/AJAXfeature frame whilst maintaining a strong connection to the brand. This is one of the most impressive examples of the JQuery script that Iam yet to see. It allows bold marketing messages and images with links to various sections of the site and even supports embedded video.
The main menu has been rationalised providing for easier navigation and most of the links are contained in a large sitemap in the footer which also makes for a pretty neat place for the breadcrumb trail.
The old fashioned RSS/podcast is replaced with a "Get Updates" feature. The blog is now one of the most prominent features on the website.
I particularly like the "Signed Legislation" section. This is a completely new feature and central to the design and obviously addresses what was probably a burning need and frequently requested information. The list is quite long, but this seems to actually lend areal sense of action and responsibility to the site and is probably that way as it appears to be updated so frequently.
Finally the "Stay Connected" section neatly groups all of the social networking and social bookmarking sites, effectively giving the site a personal presence but at the same time keeping at arms length. A nice touch.
The website appears to pass all the basic web accessibility checks, however, I have a pretty big concern about contrast (which is unusual for a predominately white website), as this website is borderline in that department. While the feature panel is now verystrong, the rest of the website appears slightly washed out and features fading gradients (especially the policy banners and Stay connected sections on the bottom right).
Contrast is an increasing issue with the accessibility of government websites. Vision Australia is particularly big on contrast. Many aspects of the Whitehouse website feature effects that can be a little difficult on the eye and I have 20/20 vision. This could present problem for visually impaired users of the site. I'm not sure what the US equivalent is to the Disability Discrimination Act, but I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't look to favourably on this aspects.
That aside, this site has pretty quickly become one of my personal favourites.
The main menu has been rationalised providing for easier navigation and most of the links are contained in a large sitemap in the footer which also makes for a pretty neat place for the breadcrumb trail.
The old fashioned RSS/podcast is replaced with a "Get Updates" feature. The blog is now one of the most prominent features on the website.
I particularly like the "Signed Legislation" section. This is a completely new feature and central to the design and obviously addresses what was probably a burning need and frequently requested information. The list is quite long, but this seems to actually lend areal sense of action and responsibility to the site and is probably that way as it appears to be updated so frequently.
Finally the "Stay Connected" section neatly groups all of the social networking and social bookmarking sites, effectively giving the site a personal presence but at the same time keeping at arms length. A nice touch.
The website appears to pass all the basic web accessibility checks, however, I have a pretty big concern about contrast (which is unusual for a predominately white website), as this website is borderline in that department. While the feature panel is now verystrong, the rest of the website appears slightly washed out and features fading gradients (especially the policy banners and Stay connected sections on the bottom right).
Contrast is an increasing issue with the accessibility of government websites. Vision Australia is particularly big on contrast. Many aspects of the Whitehouse website feature effects that can be a little difficult on the eye and I have 20/20 vision. This could present problem for visually impaired users of the site. I'm not sure what the US equivalent is to the Disability Discrimination Act, but I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't look to favourably on this aspects.
That aside, this site has pretty quickly become one of my personal favourites.
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