WOU Website

　
Post -> WOU Website
by Janet Kelly - Thursday, July 22, 2010, 01:15 PM

Wow! This was a really tough assignment for me. I filled the evaluation sheet out the best I could, but I really didn't understand most of what they were talking about. I obviously need to learn the technology language more. I am not confident about my answers at all.
I think the WOU website is mainly accessible, but it is definitely not perfect. I could not find the text only link on the homepage. I find this rather strange. I think it definitely belongs on this page. I found that the text only option is not available on other pages too. For example, I could not find it on the Admissions page.I had a hard finding the link to the accessibility page. I finally found it at the bottom of the page. I think this should be at the top of the page for students who need it.
The links to change the font size and the color were easy to use. However, I am not sure about the choice of colors. They seemed rather dark to me.
I do like the drop down menu at the top of the homepage. This makes it easy to get to sites you might frequently use.
I think my biggest issue with WOU technology is getting help when you need it. In my personal experience, the Technology Department has been slow to respond to my requests and had no concern for my tech "crisis".

Post -> Website Accessibility -> Re: Website Accessibility
by Janet Kelly - Thursday, July 22, 2010, 01:22 PM

It is nice to know that I am not the only one who is illiterate with technology terms. I also had to guess on some of the items and leave others blank because I didn't understand what they were asking. I agree that this website is not fully accessible to all students. Perhaps in time it will be.

Post -> WOU website -> Re: WOU website
by Janet Kelly - Thursday, July 22, 2010, 01:33 PM

I also had a hard time with the terminology. This made it very hard for me to fill out the accessibility checklist. I agree that the "Web accessibility assistance and compliance" link should not be at the bottom of the page. It should be at the top of the page so people who need it can easily find it. Also, the text only link should be at the top of each page.　
　
　
Re: WOU Website
by Tonya Steiner - Thursday, July 22, 2010, 01:12 PM

Janet,I agree that the text only option was difficult to find on the main pages. However, after clicking to a more specific page often the text only option was at the top of the page. But I agree that it should be at the top for the home pages as well.I also enjoyed the drop down menus and Quick links section. I hope to add this to my blog, if I can figure it out. I have not had that much experience with the WOU website since this is my first official class through WOU. At first I found it difficult to find the WolfWeb and how to register for classes. But eventually I figured it out after just trying different links (trial and error). I can mostly find what I need. It is nice that I can email staff people with questions if I can’t find an answer to my question on my own.


Re: WOU Website
by Michelle Doring - Sunday, July 25, 2010, 04:42 PM

Janet,
I think many of these categories refer to behind-the-scenes features that most of us never see. It was confusing to me, too. I have had trouble in the past navigating the WOU website, and as you said, tech support. One of the particularly confusing things is that there are links for Banner Web, Wolf Web, and WOU Portal, which are all different places you can "log in!" I have no idea what any of these are! It's also frustrating to me that I have to log in repeatedly to check my email, check my Moodle, and check my schedule or account balance. I wish they could all be consolidated!
You mentioned the color schemes, and I even think the colors of the normal pages are difficult to read. I would encourage website developers to avoid using grey body text.