Your views on the homepage of a Norwegian College

I am working at a Norwegian College and I would really appreciate your views on the website design of our first page.

http://www.hiof.no

The text is in Norwegian, so you don't have to think about that.

I will be really greatful for any suggestions on how to make it better.

I have a few things that I would like to ask you, but first, I need some opinions, this way you don't just think about my own views

Thanks

Jens

 

I like it. It's very nicely laid out.

The only thing i'd change is when the links are hovered. I'd have the text colour change to white as well as the background colour chaning. Just means that the link will still be easy to read (contrasting colours and all that, so it's not a dark colour on a dark colour)

 

Thanks, I haven't thought about that.

Jens

 

It's often something people forget about until testing a site. It's a simple fix though so it's not really a problem.

 

I'm impressed. Primarily, I really like the image of the two people, with one of them looking up at the viewer. It's like he's saying "hi!" Between the picture, the simple color scheme, and the layout, the site is very welcoming.

I do have a few concerns. First, the light blue box at the bottom of the left side of the page has the text "Flere søkealternativer." When I mouse over this, the background turns a shade too close to that of the text. I'm thinking maybe you should make the text black or at least significantly darker. Also, there's a block of text in the white section that says "NYHETER" and has smaller text next to it. This looks a little weird to me. I would suggest moving the smaller text to directly under the larger text, but still above the line. Also, the mouse-over on this smaller text makes the background the exact same color as the text, which should definitely be fixed.

Other than that, you're heading it amazing and I like the contrast of the pink text against the blue and white. I have to assume the pick text is some of the most important on the page, which is good as the difference in color draws the eye to it. Also, I don't know if this is outdated or correct, but the current copyright listed on the page at the bottom right is 2006.

 

Thanks a lot for the feedback. I will probably start to do the changes next week.

I am also wondering, what do you think about all the links on the page? There are a lot of links, especially in the menu on the right side (next to the large image). Is the text too small, and should we use fewer links that are more visible instead?

Thanks

Jens

 

As far as I can tell, this is some kind of a university site. Considering all the different aspects of a university, I understand there being so many links on the left side. You might want to make the smaller text a little bit bigger, but I really like how the whole box is set up.

One of the first things I noticed when I first opened the site was the menu in the center of the page, on the left side of the white box. The small, short bits of text make the menu under the larger title look off balanced, but then the dates on the right side of the box help that. I don't if maybe the dates are the last time the page was updated, or indicate some kind of news report, but I like them.