Political sites - Who gets our first preference?

— Published May 31st, 2004  |  by David Moore   |  1 Comments

With the election season in Ireland nearly on us, we thought we should review the sites of the major political parties. 'A lot done, more to do' could sum up our findings, with most offering only a limited range of information in an outdated manner.

Starting with the two biggest parties, Fianna Fail's site (http://www.fiannafail.ie) greets you with an animated Flash logo that annoys and frustrates in equal measure. Other old-school appraoches include the construction using frames and the scrolling news ticker (something also seen on several of the other sites).

These are very seldom a good idea, distracting visitors, breaking accessibility guidelines and often failing in certain operating system and browser combinations.

There is topical news (with a good position on the homepage), but the last listing in the events section was March's annual conference, and the policy area is a little thin - instead of position papers we get press releases. It might not surprise visitors that the site only gives you the information the party wants you to have, but those who take the time to explore should be rewarded with some detail.

This lack of a user-centered approach (or should that be voter-centered?) is also seen elsewhere - there's no search, the navigation doesn't change to show your location, and there's no breadcrumb trail. The use of frames also makes pages difficult to bookmark and index.

The outdated feel of the Fianna Fail site is repeated over at Fine Gael (the other major party, for non-Irish readers), where a splash screen greets visitors - very 1998 - announcing the party's spring conference: old news delivered in an old style (http://www.finegael.ie).

There are some up to date stories on the homepage, but too much space is given to a photograph and profile of Enda Kenny. If we didn't know he's the leader by this stage, the party really is in trouble.

The events section is current but the campaign news is from last November and January - unforgivable with two weeks to go before election day. But maybe they don't really have anything new to say.

The Labour site (http://www.labour.ie) has a more modern feel, with clear navigation and a breadcrumb trail and site map. A right column of latest news on the homepage is well implemented, but the navigation doesn't work at all on Macs using Safari, so they're not getting any votes from the graphic design industry. And surely "Members Login" should be "Members' Login" - so that's no votes from any editors, either.

That said, they offer separate subsites for the three current campaigns - local, European and referendum - a simple idea that works well. Their policy material is available in HTML and .pdf format, which is a nice touch, but again it's a little on the thin side.

The Progressive Democrat site (http://www.progressivedemocrats.ie) has a similar modern feel to the Labour site, with clear design and a well thought-out homepage. However the policy documents are old and only available in .pdf format (which you discover when they're launched without warning).

Since there's no consistent sublevel navigation, however, it's hard to delve deep into the site (for example, the About Us page offers a large number of extra links at the bottom of an already long page).

The Sinn Fein site (http://www.sinnfein.ie) looks very bad, but offers some features the other parties lack, including an RSS feed of their news stories, and audio and video clips in Real format (more appropriate than FF's QuickTime or .avi formats, which need lengthy downloads before viewing). They're also the only site to have an online shop, where you can purchase Remember the Hunger Strikers bumper stickers, and the 2004 Republican Resistance Calendar.

They might be trying to distance themselves from the other parties, but they also make some of the same mistakes - scrolling news headlines on the homepage, and a main navigation that doesn't work on IE for Macs.

Worst by far of the sites is that of the Green Party (http://www.greenparty.ie) - an amateurish effort, with very poor design, broken links from the homepage and overuse of frames. There is some useful information there, but it's difficult to find, and the site reflects very poorly on the organisation.

Some recommendations for the parties looking to win votes from iQ Content analysts:

• don't use scrolling news tickers
• check your sites in all major browsers and operating systems (not just Internet Explorer on PCs)
• don't use frames
• keep all the sections of the site up to date
• offer a depth of information
• don't use Flash on the homepage
• don't use splash screens
• make your sites accessible

So which way has the decision gone? The Greens are eliminated on the first count for their terrible showing, but the other party sites seem to reflect their organisations quite well. The Sinn Fein site is a little bit scary but with some slick implementation (such as the RSS feeds). The Progressive Democrats site looks OK at first, but lacks depth and has some outdated ideas.

Of the big two, Fine Gael's site lacks direction and isn't especially good at any one thing. The Fianna Fail site makes no concessions to what voters might actually be looking for, but presents a consistent and well-managed image. Which, despite a certain sloppiness, leaves the well-structured Labour site as the best of a not particularly good lot - any chance we can abstain?

Scores

Criteria	(full marks)	FF	FG	La	PD	SF	Gr
Content Value	(45)	27	24	29	24	23	18
Functionality	(15)	1	4	1	3	3	1
Site Design	(25)	10	10	17	13	7	6
Total	(85)	38	38	47	40	33	25

Related Links:

• Fianna Fail's site - http://www.fiannafail.ie
• Fine Gael's site - http://www.finegael.ie
• The Labour site - http://www.labour.ie
• Progressive Democrat site - http://www.progressivedemocrats.ie
• Sinn Fein site - http://www.sinnfein.ie
• Green Party - http://www.greenparty.ie