Toronto Highschool Website Critiques
Chaminade Catholic Secondary School – http://www.tcdsb.org/chaminadecollege/
Upon visiting this website, I found that there is no information or an introduction, making it very unwelcoming and confusing. My first impression of this website, unfortunately, was a negative one. The bright green, yellow, and red colour scheme really bothered my eyes. I’m aware, though, that these particular colours are the school colours of Chaminade. However, in my opinion they should have incorporated their schools colours elsewhere so to not irritate visitors eyes. One great aspect of this website is that all their information in the side bar is up to date, and their use of background history is very interesting and useful. Although, when clicking on “Info” the font did not flow consistently with the home page, in fact it seems as if it had switched to a whole different layout. The ‘Report a Bully’ addition is a great idea, but it should not be displayed in the sidebar. In my opinion it should be displayed in a drop down menu under “Info” or “Help”. The reasoning for this is because the ‘Report a Bully’ button is really childish on the front page. Also, the title of the webpage is an “Untitled Document”. This should read, “Chaminade Catholic Secondary School” therefore it lets the viewer know what website they are in fact visiting. In conclusion, with a new colour palette, better information provided, and better usage of Adobe Photoshop and/or Macromedia Flash player, this website would be informative and appealing to the eye.
Loretto Abbey Catholic Secondary School – http://www.lorettoabbey.org/
My first impression of this website was that it was very simple and easy to follow. This, of course, is a positive thing. However there should be some excitement with graphics to draw graduating elementary school students to this particular school. The overall colour scheme of this website is simple, representing the school very well with clear font size and colour. What I did not like was the excitement, and the lack of a true welcoming to the school website. A great feature, however, was that they gave you the schools contact information and address right then and there, so that you did not have to waste time looking through the website to find this information. The information given in the category “News” is up to date. However, the “Newsletters” link needs updating since 2007; which is unfortunate because that is a very useful to provide a newsletter to parents. What should be included with the staff is the staffs e-mail address, which would be useful to student who have missed out on school work from illness or personal reasons. In conclusion, with some excitement from graphics and updated information, this website would be more appealing to the eye and be beneficial to both students and the parents.
Dante Alighieri Academy – http://www.danteacademy.ca/
My first impression of this website was the very slim, simple layout. It stayed true to the school colours, and showed a very welcoming introduction on the first page. However, I find it unnecessary to provide the weather on the schools website, seeing how it is not what people will go to their website to find out. The Schools Daily Announcements is a nice touch, however it should be contained on the schools website and not link you to Dante’s blog spot (http://www.danteacademynews.blogspot.com/). Not to mention, their blog spot is a hott pink colour, which is unappealing to the eye. However all their information is up to date and very useful. Also on the home page, they provide a very poorly made virtual tour of the school. There was very limited pictures of the school, which is unfortunate to a soon to be student at Dante Alighieri. A great aspect of this website is the search bar provided at the top for easy access to information. In conclusion, with some appealing graphics and some pizzas with a new layout, this website would be a very attractive one.
Cardinal Carder Catholic Secondary School – http://www.cardinalcarter.ca/
Before visiting this website, I was expected a great artistic and organized layout, since Cardinal Carter is a school of the arts. My initial impression was amazed at how simple, yet fun and resourceful this website was! I really liked how they incorporated pictures of students smiling in the layout, making their school seem very inviting and fun. However when starting to read it, I noticed this was just an entry way for the viewer to chose how they want to enter this website. For example, they gave you a choice whether you wanted to see the intro, not see the intro, enter with basic HTML or enter with flash. I clicked “enter with intro” and was surprised to see an animated of what seem to be a story. Unfortunately, I found the animation to be too slow and boring, and didn’t see how it related to the school at all. The actual website after the intro had been constructed with some errors of unevenness, in regards with padding. I found there to be no sort of text on the first page where there should have been. This made the website feel uninviting. The ‘multimedia’ button was absolutely pointless. However, the buttons do have cool roll-overs. In conclusion, there is a nice use of information, but there is a lack of usefulness to this website.
Bishop Allen Academy – http://www.bishopallen.ca/
My first impression of this website was that it was very simple, yet exciting and easy to follow. I was not expecting a great artistic and organized layout, since Bishop Allen is not a school known for the arts. However I was fairly surprised upon visiting this website. The introduction was very welcoming and the use of resources and information was clear and easy to follow. The colour scheme over all was amazing, simple and legible. The drop down menus was a very nice touch, making the information provided easy to follow and organized. Also, the website is up to date and is in fact working. All the information provided makes it a very useful and informative website, making the school look very academic focused. There is useful information on just about every class that Bishop Allen has to offer, which is a great touch. There is also a search bar, which is essential when having a website with a lot of information provided. In conclusion, this is what I ultimately think Marshall McLuhan’s website should include. Except with more intriguing graphics and our own personal McLuhan touch.
