Massive Online Newspapers Review

During the celebration of The Star’s 10th Anniversary, they did it with technological grace by launching a new look for their website; TheStar.com.my Little did they know the crowd back in 2005 was already very demanding especially those who read online content.

Okie, maybe I’m exaggerating the last sentence since not many in Malaysia actually care about usability and accessibility half the time. However, I’ve been specially requested to review few other online newspapers in follow up of my own; The Star Online.

In this review, I’ve covered Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Daily Telegraph, The Times UK, Washington Post, Guardian Unlimited, and Independent.

I’ve kept the reviews very short and concise according to Homepage and Content page.

– – – – –

LATIMES (Homepage)
The website layout is like CNN. I find the text small. My attention is according to the image placement on the website and not by the headline. Navigation seems squished.

LATIMES (Content)
The content gains priority even though there are several ads. The accessibility controls (text resize, print, etc.) aren’t clearly presented.

– – – – –

NYTIMES (Homepage)
Good use of text size for main headlines but creates a reading problem for the not so important news due to the small sized text. The navigation is hopeless because the lines are too close. Arrangement of content lower however is good.

NYTIMES (Content)
Main content area is dedicated to the reader. The extra functions (email, print) are overshadowed due to its small text and area consumed in the overall layout. The Related Articles below does present a little additional value to this area. However, this would only work if readers really don’t mind reading older news.

– – – – –

TELEGRAPH (Homepage)
The website is old school and is a good example on why newspaper websites should be made fluid and not a narrow fixed width. I don’t know why but I hoped the navigation bar had a rollover background color with the hovering red text. :P Content is presented hopelessly because due its super narrow layout, they sacrificed readability to accommodate the narrowness. Arrange of its content is quite good. The animated latest news is very bad due to it fighting for attention against animated ads. The three huge buttons on top for some reason doesn’t want to make me click them.

TELEGRAPH (Content)
The narrow column does its job greatly here in giving full attention to the content. The extra features above the banner are hidden away due to its size and placement.

– – – – –

THE TIMES (Homepage)
Love the top header because it’s clear though the search makes it confusing. I like the navigation but would’ve preferred a darker background color (black) with white text. Arrangement of content is very good though certain sections have a consistency of irregular text size.

THE TIMES (Content)
Content page isn’t well managed. There’s just too much on the right side that won’t be given any attention at all. The bottom features of print or email won’t work well because they’re mere icons without labels. The bottom Also In This Section isn’t very good because the lines look like a single paragraph than standing alone.

– – – – –

WASHINGTON POST (Homepage)
It’s weird that they’ve got 2 brands on the top. I don’t believe the top navigation button would work because it just looks unorganized. The arrangement of content on this website is brilliant. I vouch for it being the best in comparison of all I’ve seen so far. They’ve done very well in allocating the right area more towards advertisers.

WASHINGTON POST (Content)
Their online newspaper would fail terribly in newly registered members because you’re only notified of the requirement to be a member to read the articles after you’ve clicked a headline. That’s just plain dumb even if a newspaper have been advertising like crazy offline. I bet the dropout rate is quite a lot unless they’ve got a lot of loyal readers.

– – – – –

GUARDIAN (Homepage)
The header area is useless. It’s cluttered and the navigation doesn’t work as a proper navigation. It looks like something experimental. If Jakob were here, he’d say that the slogan or description is the worst thing done to it. It’s small and hidden. The animated headline is bad as mentioned before. I love the center column of presented column but show sympathy of both the sidebars because they don’t present itself as anything interesting.

GUARDIAN (Content)
The content is done well though the left sidebar is useless with its small text. Do they really expect only young people to read this online content? Sigh. The In This Section is worthless not only due to its size but because at the bottom more people would click on Related Articles than the previous.

– – – – –

INDEPENDENT (Homepage)
Navigation is clearly presented though it seems they’re still searching for a brand/identity. The text is small and the sections aren’t segmented into their own category. It looks like someone just pasted text in random locations. There isn’t any guide of what to read after the latest headline.

INDEPENDENT (Content)
This is by far the best presentation for a sub-navigation. The implementation of the breadcrumb is a worthy addition to the overall surfing experience. A 2-column article doesn’t work online unlike print because the web user scrolls up and down unlike scanning up and down for offline articles. The accessibility is clear but placed in an odd spot because no one would really notice it. They need to either implement boxes or side borders at least to define each column.

– – – – –

New Straits Times Malaysia (Homepage)
The navigation on the top would half the time be ignored because half the time people visit online to read the news. The animated Top Stories is a useless feature because we aren’t watching television. If everyone paused to read those, who’s going to surf the rest of the website? The navigation needs to be more spaced and I don’t know why but I’d prefer a background color change as well. I find the text size of 10/11px too small not to mention the leading needs to be increased. With all the text being black without underline, how does a person who just learned to use the computer know which is a link?

New Straits Times Malaysia (Content)
The content looks like it’s being squeezed between two walls. Don’t anyone listen to the publication team about a ‘gutter‘? The extra function of Email and Print is well presented and easily understood. I think articles with similar interest or fitted in the same category could be promoted at the end of the articles. This’ll help promote readership and page views. It’s funny that NST concentrates so much on their news that they don’t set aside easier reading material (comics, horoscopes, lifestyle..etc.)

– – – – –

I forgot to review our other local newspaper online; New Straits Times but I suppose that’s done now. I’ve also created a cool poll with dPolls help to see roughly how many people actually read our local online newspapers.