Does this Web site work? Schreiner University (www.schreiner.edu). (First Click).

BEST FEATURES

* This site is the ultimate in user-friendliness. The home page is set up with the main areas of News, Event Calendar, Contact Admission, and targeted information areas: Info for Students, Info for Parents, Info for Alumni & Friends, and Just Visiting. It also has a more standard navigation menu on the left-hand side of the page, a site index, directory, calendar, and weather.

* Someone did his homework here. Subpages such as Student life and Financial Aid are further segmented by departments, or most-wanted drift-downs. Financial Aid, for instance, drills down to Questions & Answers, Tuition & Fees, Schreiner Scholarships & Grants, Download Important Forms, etc. But additional navigation menus move visitors to absolutely anything else they can think of.

* Site pages load quickly (even with slow dial-up connections)--key to the success of any site.

* What a site for sore eyes! The home page is vibrant, with a striking color palette that imparts a sense of energy and youth.

* Action shots of happy students are everywhere on this site, bringing the pages to life. And since both current and prospective students tend to rate schools by the enthusiasm of the kids they attract, this is smart, smart, smart!

* The page layout and contents indicate that the site is updated regularly (though I did find some outdated stuff in the Parents' and Honors Program sections).

* The home page "sells" the school to prospective students while keeping current students coming back to the Web with here's-what's-happening news about students" activities on campus.

* Info for Parents opens with a welcoming, reassuring letter from the VP of Enrollment & Student Services. Teamed with her photo, it puts a face on what otherwise could be perceived as a faceless committee of individuals determining a student's fate.

* Kudos for recognizing parents as key decision influencers and for their important role in student retention. Not all campus Web sites offer parents their own section.

* The Academic section offers a nicely organized presentation of the school's majors and programs in the context of their degrees offered. Schools frequently muddle this section by presenting majors in the context of the school or college that houses them. Prospective students don't give a hoot about the school's internal organization. They just want to know, "Do you have my major or not?"

* The Admissions section is right on! It has a great positioning message in the upper right corner and is full of interesting-looking links and photos. (But must every male in every photo wear a baseball cap?) I especially like the Why Schreiner? section and the rotating marketing messages.

* The Campus Web Cam, which provides a live showcase of the campus and its goings on, is a great idea, but it doesn't refresh the pictures often enough.

* The Student life page is a winning marketing tool for new and prospective students.

NEEDS WORK

* The Web site is not accessible to all. Aside from the Google image on the home page, the site is devoid of any <alt> text. Alternate text, embedded within the image tags of a Web page, provides the user with feedback. This feedback is visual when an image is absent or loading (or spoken, for the visually impaired with audio browsers or text readers). All pages should contain <all> text for all images, as well as <title> attributes for all page descriptions.

* The site has an overall friendly feel, but is it too trendy for an educational institution? Current and prospective students may be awed by the "coolness" of the site, but other visitors--parents, faculty, and donors--may be turned off by it, regardless of the quality of the content.

* Color choice seems arbitrary, instead of providing a sense of hierarchy/importance, or as a differentiator of areas of the college.

* Internal pages sometimes appear cluttered and unfocused, and lack a common identity. Location of information changes greatly from page to page, so users get lost easily.

* With home page real estate at a premium, why are there two links on the home page to facilitate sending the page to a friend? One asks for a lot of information about sender and friend, but does not deliver an automated e-mail to recipient; the other requests the friend's e-mail be entered in a box (found on nearly all top-level pages), and results in an automated message from sender to friend, with a link to the specified page.

* The fonts look too busy and should be more consistent.

* The text is difficult to read on the Technology page because it is printed over the picture.

* The text in some of the page layouts is flush left within the box it occupies (see Student Life). Is this intentional? Eliminating an expected margin is distracting and makes the text harder to read. The eye always appreciates white space within a layout.

* The information request form asks for "Name of College" which, presumably, would only apply to transfer students. There isn't any explanation, so prospective freshmen may not understand.

* The location of the school needs to be displayed more prominently. Currently, it's hidden at the bottom of the screen.

* Information is not available for all majors.

SUGGESTIONS

* The left-hand navigation pane (home page) holds promise, but needs help. The typeface and spacing is visually appealing, but consolidating links into digestible chunks will improve the site. Yes, every area of the college would like top billing, but concessions must be made to facilitate navigation. The problem gets worse with the number of links present on internal pages.

* Make the Search box accessible from any page.

* The site needs a stronger model or template on which pages are based.

* The Web Cam would be improved with a faster Web server and more cam positions.

* The grainy resolution of some of the photos (also too tightly cropped in some instances) detracts from their effectiveness. The site would also benefit from more balance between the students and the places on campus where they live, study, and play.

* Put information about all majors in the Academic section.

* This is more of a "push" (versus "pull") site. The school misses opportunities to engage visitors. For instance, once a visitor submits the information request form, he's dumped into a blank white page that says, "Thank you" and then asks him to click again to get back into the site. The student has taken the time to fill out the form only to be met with a bland, uninspiring response. The university should create a segue page that suggests specific activities and opportunities on the site. There should also be an automatic e-mail response to every inquiry, providing the visitor with some basic information: a contact name, number, and/or e-mail link, and suggestions for other sections of the site that might be useful.

* A Campus Security Link should be prominently added to the Parents section.

* The school has missed an opportunity to brand itself. What makes this school different from the 3,300+ other schools that serve this market?

WEB SITE EVALUATION PANEL:

Stephanie Geyer directs the Web Site Development and E-communications Services for Noel-Levitz (www.noellevitz.com), consultants specializing in higher ed student recruitment, financial aid, student retention, market research, publications, and Web development.

Bret Goodwin is a senior at Bristol Eastern High School (CT).

Kathy Grayson is the parent of a college student.

Ken Lalli is professor of Web and Graphic Design at Norwalk Community College (CT), and a freelance designer.

Liz LeFrancois is a guidance counselor at Bristol Eastern High School (CT).