Quick to load, yet looking better

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Quick to load, yet looking better
by ante on Wednesday 01/Nov/2000, @04:02

"However, we decided a long time ago that we wanted a web site that was quick to load, and that if there was choice between looking exciting and being a no-nonsense way to get to the information you wanted then we would go for the latter. "

You are quite right about that! I always liked the free bsd ( http://www.freebsd.org ) site for those qualities. However, I think the bsd site looks very good while the new KDE site is a bit dense. I like the free bsd colors better, but that is a question of taste - KDE choose blue, ok.

Some points:
- The new site could use some more white. The three blocks that start with KDE is... fill up the space. I keep it simpel, I compare with the bsd site: there the blocks have headers: What is ... Cutting edge ... , etc. Headers make for good reading as have been discovered ages ago :-) People do not read web pages, they scan them (As surveys show.). So give them headers... It solves the problem the site is dense, it makes the info more readable.

- Gis already remarked it could be more colorful. Yes, the blue links on a blue background look quite grey, dull. It is also hard for visually impaired people. This should be changed, if only for accessability.

- The box with the links at the left side takes 1/3 of the width. It does make the links prominent, very good. On the other hand, a 1/3 - 2/3 balance looks dull, not exciting. Changing colors in the links box makes the links better readable, so the width can be brought down. It does not take heavy graphics to make a page look more exciting.

While the free bsd and KDE sites seem to have the same goal (quick to load, no nonsense) the bsd one is very beautiful, the new KDE one is not attractive visually. More close to home: the KDE's iconfactory ( http://www.kde.org/artist/introduction.html ) , while using almost the same style is much better too... While the bsd site is almost provocative in it's use of colors, the iconfactory is within the "corporate look" KDE uses.

Glad you've got the internals right! :-)

Ante

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