Criteria for evaluating a Web site:

Scientific American (http://www.sciam.com)
Content
OVERALL	Overall, quite compelling. The "scientific articles" repurposed from print address complex scientific topics, but are interesting and relatively easy to understand. In addition to repurposed content, the site also offers access to the Ask the Experts, SCIAM Frontiers TV series, includes notices of jobs available in the science field, and offers some Web site reviews.
Is the site frequently updated?	Home page changes weekly. You know because there is a "Week of…" on the opening art.
Is the site out of date?	The April issue of the print magazine is featured, even though the May issue is already on the newsstands.
Is the information authoritative and accurate?	SCIAM is a highly respected magazine which has been published over 100 years. Without taking time to actually verify facts, I'd say it was very authoritative.
Design
OVERALL	The design is pleasing, if a bit dowdy. Design gets much simpler (spartan?) after the home page.
Does it complement the content?	Yes… the scientific nature of the content is best delivered in plain text, accompanied with diagrams. No flashy colors or text treatments are needed.
Is multimedia present?	There are a few animations -- only where needed to illustrate something, but not very many. Could use some more.
Is it used effectively, or just as decoration?	The animations usually illustrate a scientific concept.
How much space devoted to content vs. navigation?	On the home page, there's a lot of space devoted to buttons. On the inside pages, the navigation buttons are a bit large. Content could be pushed up a bit more if the navigation was reshaped in a vertical.
How much "stuff" is on each page?	The individual articles have all the text on one page, with thumbnails linking to larger illos. Some of the larger stories could be broken up into multiple pieces, to avoid scrolling so much.
How does it look at 640x480, 800x600, 1280x1024?	640 -- Pretty good. The main highlight shows, but the navigation is lost. 800 -- Better. All the navigation shows, but there is white space. 1280 -- Not great. Some white space on the home page, and the body text is way too small.
Structure & Navigation
OVERALL: Is the site structured efficiently and easy to navigate?	Yes. Two main "navigation" areas, one for content, one for housekeeping. Although, "past issues" and the current issue cover are grouped with the housekeeping buttons. No attempt has been made to group stories by category--only by date--making it seem to print-oriented.
How many levels are there?	Really only three: Home Page, Index Page, and Content.
How many clicks does it take to get to the good stuff?	One click to the current feature stories, two clicks to past issue features and other stories.
Must you return to the home page to get to other sections?	In most cases yes.
Does the site offer good navigation?	Simple and easy to navigate, although a topic-oriented navigation may be better.
Is navigation consistent throughout the site?	Mostly… the "Ask Our Experts" has a different style home page.
Is there a search offered? Is it accurate and precise?	Yes. Relevance ranking seems accurate, search terms always appeared in the articles.
Is there a site map? Do you find yourself returning to it often?	No real "site map" although the main menu acts as one. You are always returning to the main menu to navigate.
Does the site take advantage of hypertext?	Yes, stories are linked to each other, and there are numerous links to other sites, both from within a story and in the "bookmarks" section. Perhaps, though, there could be differentiation between on-site and off-site links.
Speed
How fast is the server?	Seems fast, although it "died" in the middle of a session.
How large are the pages?	Not too large. Perhaps some of the longer articles could be broken up into smaller pages.
How many small/large images?	The banner navigation could be smaller, but largely a text-based site.
Technology
OVERALL: Does the site use advanced technology effectively?	No evidence of advanced technology (Java, video, DHTML) beyond the Javascript buttons on the home page.
Are plug-ins required to view content?	No plug-ins required.
Is there a "best viewed with…" sign?	Yes *This site best viewed with Netscape Navigator 3.0 or greater.) Although pages look nearly identical in IE3, Nav 4.
Are there multiple versions offered?	No
Are there multiple bandwidth options?	No, but not really needed--pages are pretty slim.
Interactivity
Is there contact or feedback information?	The "feedback" button leads you to a form for submitting comments. There is also an email address.
Is there a community place?	No community (reader-to-reader) forum, but the "Ask the Experts" area invites readers to submit questions in nine topic areas. Note: after checking back over several weeks, the letters don't seem to change. They are dated, though.
Does the community place offer useful information?	Interesting range of topics, answers to some really "big" questions.
Is the community place easily used?	Really no discussion, just a Q&A area.
Overall
What is the purpose of the site?	To inform and entertain readers interested in science and technology.
Does it fulfill its purpose?	Yes. Useful as "leisure" reading, not well-suited for research.
"Under construction" sign?	No.
"Sorry, page moved" signs?	Didn't encounter any.

FEED (http://www.feedmag.com)
Content
Is the site frequently updated?	Yes--daily.
Is the site out of date?	No
Is the information authoritative and accurate?	Impossible to tell how accurate without independently verifying facts of stories. Articles are trendy-expose or think pieces, so it probably appears authoritative to those who agree with the writers. In any case, the design and writing style convey professionalism. The list of contributors includes many authors with credentials.
Design
OVERALL	A simple design, with the 'skyline' motif built-in to the navigation. This site is about ideas, so the design is secondary. Perhaps the logo on the opening page is too big.
Does it complement the content?	Yes--kind of a tabular, tabloid style layout. Many highlights present, plus it gives you one entire story right up front.
Is multimedia present?	No
How much space devoted to content vs. navigation?	The navigation takes up too much space.
How much "stuff" is on each page?	The stories are pretty long to scroll through, not easily read.
How does it look at 640x480, 800x600, 1280x1024?	Although designed for the 640 width, pages are long and there is lots of scrolling required.
Structure & Navigation
OVERALL: Is the site structured efficiently and easy to navigate?	Fairly easy, although the navigation guides you to the most current stuff in any category. Not really useful for pinpointing a specific story or browsing through a topic. There are four "sections" (Feed Daily, FeedLines, Document, Filter etc) that aren't explained anywhere. You have to be a regular to figure it out.
How many levels are there?	Really only two -- the home page and the content. The categories aren't surfaced until you get to a story.
How many clicks does it take to get to the good stuff?	One click!
Must you return to the home page to get to other sections?	No-- you can rotate through the most current story in each section.
Does the site offer good navigation?	A bit sparse. The zine has lots of stories, but you can only go to them by going to the "site index."
Is navigation consistent throughout the site?
Is there a search offered? Is it accurate and precise?	Couldn't find a search.
Is there a site map? Do you find yourself returning to it often?	Yes--the "site index" is a site map and chronological list of all stories in one section.
Does the site take advantage of hypertext?	Yes, terms pop up "metalinks" with definitions. Very cool (for Javascript users) Also, stories have "cyberia" sidebars with external links.
Speed
	Somewhat slow, compared to other sites. Pages are large in K. Could also be the server, but more likely due to complex layouts, Combination of frames, ads, many images.
Technology
OVERALL: Does the site use advanced technology effectively?	Uses some bulletproof javascript, otherwise nothing else.
Interactivity
Is there contact or feedback information?	Not obvious, but there are email addresses for all the authors on the masthead.
Is there a community place?	Yes--Each story is accompanied by a robust, threaded discussion forum. Also, the "Dialog" is a thread accompanied by a story.
Does the community place offer useful information?	Yes--Postings seem intelligent and on-topic. Probably due to the kind of audience the site gets.
Is the community place easily used?	A bit complicated. Sometimes you jump right from the story into a message, sometimes into the thread/subject line list.
Overall
What is the purpose of the site?	A social commentary zine, catering to the Web savvy crowd. A bit smug in tone, and useless if you don't agree with their viewpoints.
Does it fulfill its purpose?	Yes, although you wonder if it and other zines like it are viable.

Detroit Free Press (http://www.freep.com/index.htm)
Content
	A daily news publication, part of the Knight-Ridder family. Although it covers all the same national/world topics as every KR publication, it specializes in local Detroit metropolitan area news. Also offers a more colorful section called "Yaks Corner" for kids, which has a much better design and a guide to local activities of interest to kids.
Is the site frequently updated?	Yes… daily.
Is the site out of date?	No.
Is the information authoritative and accurate?	Based on the parent publication's reputation, yes.
Design
OVERALL	Columns tend to be very narrow, sometimes leaving only 2 words on a line. This makes stories hard to read. Many of the highlights have the headline (presumably from print) and no subhead. This can be a problem.
Does it complement the content?	Yes, it looks very newspaper-like, and succeeds in floating many current story highlights to the top.
Is multimedia present?	Some sound clips in the music section, but nothing otherwise.
Is it used effectively, or just as decoration?
How much space devoted to content vs. navigation?	Sometimes huge, meaningless photos and art took up the whole screen. (Tech)
How much "stuff" is on each page?	Sometimes too much… index pages have numerous navigation bars. The text can be stretched out too thin.
How does it look at 640x480, 800x600, 1280x1024?	Designed for the common denominator of 640x480, but doesn't resize to accommodate other designs.
Structure & Navigation
OVERALL: Is the site structured efficiently and easy to navigate?	Relatively easy to jump from section to section. Organized a lot like the newspaper, which most people are familiar with. Overall the site navigation is ok--you never get the "lost" feeling. Although I'd like a quick-scan of all the news. Sometimes links take you to associated sites (auto / AP) without any warning, and this can be jarring.
How many levels are there?	Only three -- Home / Section / Content
How many clicks does it take to get to the good stuff?	One click and you're in the story.
Must you return to the home page to get to other sections?	Sometimes yes -- sometimes no.
Is navigation consistent throughout the site?	No… navigation bars, menus, and highlights change from section to section. Plus, some sections lead to other Knight-Ridder sites w/o warning.
Is there a search offered? Is it accurate and precise?	Seemed accurate although very little help offered. When searching for "Kevorkian" came up with a couple dozen sites, all ranked at 100% although it didn't turn up a huge special report called The Suicide Machine. Charged $1 per record for access to the "news library."
Is there a site map? Do you find yourself returning to it often?	Nothing labeled as a site map, although there is a "site index" which lists all sections.
Does the site take advantage of hypertext?	Sometimes stories have links to related stories and other material on the web--but not always.
Speed
How fast do the pages load? How fast is the server? How large are the pages? How many small/large images?	Quite a fast site overall. Encountered no problems or slow downs in any of my visits. Only images on many pages are the navigation menus. Some stories have numerous graphics which can slow things down.
Technology
OVERALL: Does the site use advanced technology effectively?	Nothing fancy on this site.
Are plug-ins required to view content?	Didn't encounter any.
Is there a "best viewed with…" sign?	No--none required since the site is designed to the common denominator.
Are there multiple versions offered?			SA
Are there multiple bandwidth options?			SA
Interactivity
Is there contact or feedback information?	Yes--email link. Also, numerous authors put their email addresses.
Is there a community place?	Yes--there are numerous active forums. Many stories have topic-specific threaded discussion areas. "Welcome to the Kevorkian forum" There are also interactive personals and classifieds, which can be considered "community" given they are based on the Detroit area.
Does the community place offer useful information?	Some are more useful than others. More of a spouting-off area, although it makes people feel like they're part of things. These are not moderated…I found pornography in one of them.
Is the community place easily used?	Yes, very easy!
Overall
What is the purpose of the site?	To deliver everything that a newspaper delivers, and more (interactive forums, etc) Given the fact that the Web isn't bound by geographical boundaries, it makes you wonder why the DFP offers national news on the Web--it may be more popular if it focused on embellishing local information, listings etc. The site lacks a focus.
Does it fulfill its purpose?		Yes
"Under construction" sign?		No
"Sorry, page moved" signs?		No

KidsHealth (http://KidsHealth.org/)
Content
OVERALL	There is A LOT of information here, most of it very useful and informative. This is a case where the information's usefulness is diminished by a poor design.
Is the site frequently updated?	Daily… indicator on bottom of page shows when last updated. Plus, there are daily features.
Is the site out of date?	No.
Is the information authoritative and accurate?	Although I don't really know, it seems so, especially because of the "We subscribe to the HONcode principles of the Health On the Net Foundation" banner. There is also a disclaimer, which lends credence to the site. The site could do a better job of explaining some health topics up front. For example, the guide to infections for parents. http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/common/index.html
Design
OVERALL: Does it complement the content?	The site is a bit schizophrenic, with three designs for three audiences. It appears that parts of the site were built at different times, and just connected together. The kids site could have larger text, more graphics, but doesn't. Also, the language doesn't seem to be directed towards kids--perhaps teenagers. Some large words go unexplained, although there are pronunciations for scientific terms.
Is multimedia present?	Some--in the kids section.
Is it used effectively, or just as decoration?	Yes--used for visual demonstrations.
How much space devoted to content vs. navigation?	Content is prominent, navigation is fairly large, and always at the bottom of the page.
How much "stuff" is on each page?	Although there didn't seem to be too much on a page, some of the pages seemed overly long, causing a lot of scrolling. The content could have been arranged more compactly, or split up into multiple pages.
How does it look at 640x480, 800x600, 1280x1024?		Designed for the 640x480 screen, and it doesn't expand.
Structure & Navigation
OVERALL: Is the site structured efficiently and easy to navigate?	Confusing navigation. Although the idea of three parallel sites (Kids/Parents/Doctors) seems good, in reality it gets confusing once you're in. There seem to be multiple entry points/home pages, that all look different and confusing. What is the difference between "Home" and "Contents" and "??? Section" on the menu?
How many levels are there?	There are too many clicks needed to get from the very first page to any content.
How many clicks does it take to get to the good stuff?	4 -- not too bad considering how much content is here. If you consider "Kids/Parents/Drs" as the home page, then only a couple clicks.
Must you return to the home page to get to other sections?	Yes--either the home page or the contents page.
Does the site offer good navigation?	Not really, although text links are ok, some of the graphical menus are pretty vague. See http://www.kidshealth.org/parent/development/topic_index.html Also, you never have any idea of "where you are." The site is lacking in visual cues.
Is navigation consistent throughout the site?	No. It changes from section to section. Sometimes, clicking on the same label will do two different things on two different pages.
Is there a search offered? Is it accurate and precise?	Yes, it seems accurate and precise. Funny that there isn't a different search for kids and parents--or that there is a search at all for kids.
Is there a site map? Do you find yourself returning to it often?	There is a site map, although it is only linked to from the search page. On other pages it is called "destinations." It uses Javascript, which is problematic, and numerous small gifs with too-small text and inaccurate ALT tags.
Does the site take advantage of hypertext?	Yes, some, but not a lot. This site could benefit from a glossary linking.
Speed
How fast do the pages load? How large are the pages?	Many of the pages are largely text, and some can be long. The pages' table structure mean you can't see any part of the page until the whole thing is loaded.
How fast is the server?	The server seems a bit slow at times. Sometimes had to hit "stop" and try reloading because a page seemed stuck.
How many small/large images?	On many of the pages, images are large and purely decorative.
Technology
OVERALL: Does the site use advanced technology effectively?	Some of the navigation relies on Javascript with no alternatives. This can be deadly, because as people surf suddenly nothing happens with no explanation.
Are plug-ins required to view content?	Yes--the multimedia demonstrations in the kids section require shockwave. This can be disappointing--especially to kids.
Is there a "best viewed with…" sign?	No
Are there multiple versions offered?	No
Are there multiple bandwidth options?	No
Interactivity
Is there contact or feedback information?	Yes--but you have to offer demographic information first. There is also a webmaster email link, which probably gets inundated with medical questions.
Is there a community place?	Yes, but it is mislabeled. There is no place where you can interact with other Web site visitors.
Does the community place offer useful information?	Only offsite links
Is the community place easily used?	No
Overall
What is the purpose of the site?	To offer information relating to children's health issues.
Does it fulfill its purpose?	Not really -- the content is buried under a poor design.
"Under construction" sign?	No
"Sorry, page moved" signs?	No

Nolo Press (http://www.nolo.com/)
Content
OVERALL	The site has amazing depth in its category. The encyclopedia, legal dictionary, and various "how-to" articles are extensive: this is not just a site with "teasers" leading you to purchase Nolo products. But, you can download/ purchase Nolo software and books online as well. Overall, a very useful site. The jokes are usually tasteless, not needed, and could be a turn off to visitors.
Is the site frequently updated?	No way to tell without checking back on a regular basis. No date is displayed
Is the site out of date?	The newest thing is dated March 25, so hasn't been up dated in a few weeks.
Is the information authoritative and accurate?		Assume so. The site is based on the popular legal and business advice book series, and has a favorable reputation.
Design
OVERALL	This site isn't about design. It uses a lowest-common denominator design: no fancy graphics, no complex tables. Most of the site has a consistent look and feel, although there are sections where this falters.
Does it complement the content?	The design may be a bit whimsical for legal information, but does fit with the "do-it-yourself" feeling of the content.
Is multimedia present?	No, and not at all necessary to enhance the content.
Is it used effectively, or just as decoration?			NA
How much space devoted to content vs. navigation?	Navigation takes up a small strip on each page, leaving the rest to highlights and content.
How much "stuff" is on each page?	Either highlights or the actual article itself, that's all.
How does it look at 640x480, 800x600, 1280x1024?	The pages resize to fit your screen. Look fine at all resolutions.
Structure & Navigation
OVERALL: Is	The site is structured efficiently, and is easy to navigate with only four sections.
How many levels are there?	4 -- Home-Section-Category-Content. Although there are category links on the home page.
How many clicks does it take to get to the good stuff?	Because some of the encyclopedia categories are listed on the home page, only 3.
Must you return to the home page to get to other sections?	Not always. The encyclopedia category pages offer links to other categories. But from the content-level pages, you can go up to the category, or up to the home page.
Does the site offer good navigation?	Yes… only a few menu choices, but the choices are clear.
Is navigation consistent throughout the site?	Not always-- the banners can change from section to section, and the bottom text-only banner changes, although it does become context sensitive.
Is there a search offered? Is it accurate and precise?	Yes--and it seems fast and accurate.
Is there a site map? Do you find yourself returning to it often?	Yes--and it lists every category available. Because the "Home" and "encyclopedia" are also linked on each page, the site map isn't the main navigation.
Does the site take advantage of hypertext?	Some of the individual articles have hyperlinks to "additional resources".
Speed
How fast do the pages load?	It seems quite fast.
How fast is the server?	No problems encountered
How large are the pages?	Very small--usually under 10K. They are largely text only, not too large.
How many small/large images?	Only a half dozen images on the entire site, and these are cached so you only have to download them once.
Technology
OVERALL: Does the site use advanced technology effectively?	The only technology used is secure online ordering and a Javascript/CGI-based shopping cart. The shopping cart didn't work, and didn't offer a link back to the home page.
Are plug-ins required to view content?				None
Is there a "best viewed with…" sign?	No--simple and flexible enough design that it looks good in all browsers.
Are there multiple versions offered?	No--flexible enough design that none are needed.
Are there multiple bandwidth options?	No--small enough that none are needed.
Interactivity
Is there contact or feedback information?	Yes--they solicit feedback and have a disclaimer that they will not answer back. There is also an automated technical support form/script for their software.
Is there a community place?					No
Does the community place offer useful information?					NA
Is the community place easily used?					NA
Overall
What is the purpose of the site? Does it fulfill its purpose?	The Nolo Press site is a Self-Help Law Center--and it does offer generic legal advice and basic explanations of legal concepts in layman's terms. Presumably not as much as you get from purchasing the books, but still useful.
Other:	Remarkable that this site doesn't have a newsletter/mailing list to keep people coming back.