Website Review: Center for the Homeless

While it is clear that the site was authored by a member of the Center for the Homeless staff, the exact identity and qualifications of the author remains unclear. Nonetheless, the website contains information that can be used to contact the Center for the Homeless and its staff. The “About this Site” page contains the general e-mail address for the Center for the Homeless, and the “Contact Us” page contains the telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address for Center for the Homeless. The website lacks advertisements aside from that of the company that designed the website’s layout and the nine local businesses and eleven local radio stations that specifically support the Center for the Homeless Cars Program. While advertisements are almost nonexistent, there are numerous links and graphics that encourage users to donate to the Center for Homeless. In fact, there is a graphic on the homepage featuring NASCAR driver Ryan Newman that encourages users to donate vehicles to the Center for the Homeless. Thus, judging by the repeated requests for donations, all expenses are probably covered by donations, fundraisers, and community partnerships with other non-profit organizations in which services are shared with the Center for the Homeless. The website does not target one particular type of audience. The website appeals to employment-seekers, would-be volunteers, potential donors, and members of every age, race, gender, and socio-economic class. The goals of the website are also varied—the site attempts to educate the general public about the Center for the Homeless, the services it provides, and the ways in which it combats homelessness. The site then uses this information to persuade potential donors to contribute to the Center for the Homeless. There seems to be no commercial element to the website; in fact, the Center for the Homeless does not even sell apparel, tickets, or any product on the site as a fundraiser. The site remains focused on its goals of education and persuasion, and this focus makes the site very effective at educating the general public and recruiting donations. Requests for donations are omnipresent, and clearly indicate the need for the Center for the Homeless to constantly receive donations in order to survive. Despite the ever-present requests for donations, the site covers a broad range of subjects from self-sufficiency programs, community partnerships, news bulletins, and upcoming events. However, the website does not present its visitors with an overwhelming amount of information. It provides the audience with enough information to answer all major questions, and refers users who want further information to the Center for the Homeless staff. The information even appears grammatically correct and free of misspellings.

Aesthetically, the site is actually quite pleasing. Each page in the website is divided into identical rectangular sections, and within each section text is perfectly oriented and colored so as to contrast with the background of that section. Headings are formatted differently than body text thus making it clear what information is a heading and what information is simple text. The only animated graphic in the website is a small rectangle in the upper right-hand corner of each page that alternates between two images and encourages visitors to the site to donate to the Center for the Homeless. However, since the text color and background color in both images remain the same, the graphic is noticeable yet not annoying. Text and images are in line with each other and are arranged in an organized fashion that enables easy reading of all written content. There are no distracting banners, no music playing in the background, and no pop-ups of any kind. This does not indicate a lack of imagination, but rather a commitment to maintaining a professional image that potential donors will find informative and worthy of contribution. However, some pictures currently on the website cannot be viewed clearly, and others are pixilated or amateurish. Nevertheless, graphics and text interact in a pleasant way that does not obscure the content of the site, but rather provides the Center for the Homeless with an image of a professional, results-oriented organization.

In terms of interactivity, the site again performs excellently. Dead links, glitches, and errors are completely absent. All hyperlinks, even hyperlinks to other websites, work flawlessly. The website does not contain embedded video or audio files, but that does not detract from the functionality or the aesthetics of the website. What does detract from the functionality of the site is the absence of a search box. Even though the information on the website is neither too detailed nor too broad, the website does cover a broad range of subjects and a search box would be a huge help to visitors who are unfamiliar with the site. The site also lacks other advanced interactive elements such as page trackers, guest books, polls, shopping carts, and interactive games. However, as mentioned previously, their exclusion may be in keeping with the goals that the Center for the Homeless has for its website. For, even without advanced interactive features, the website provides helpful information and portrays the Center for the Homeless as a professional organization. The user’s control is admittedly limited. There is no flash introduction to the site and the user cannot alter the language, text size, or font color of the website.

The website for the Center for the Homeless has a good sitemap that enables users to fully understand the composition of the website. While the sitemap does not list every page that comprises the website, and while the link to the sitemap should be moved from its current location so as to become more easily noticeable, it easily teaches visitors all about the site’s hierarchy of pages. The column of links that are at the left of nearly every page enables clear and easy navigation of the website. Furthermore, body text is clearly differentiated from hyperlinks and users can get information from the website efficiently and effectively. In truth, there are no animations or color changes that would occur as a result of user feedback, but each page loads quickly and users are not confused by the site’s operation. The website makes use of no audio files whatsoever, so it is readily accessible to people who have hearing disabilities. Furthermore, most of the graphics and hyperlinks have ALT text that could be read by screen readers used by the blind. The website is not restricted to a particular software platform and is even equally functional on Internet Explorer, Safari, and Firefox.

In summary, the site does an excellent job of conveying information that appeals to the various types of individuals that the Center for the Homeless needs: employees, volunteers, and donors. In addition, the site operates flawlessly and is both professional-looking and aesthetically-pleasing. Unfortunately, the site lacks advanced interactive features like a search box, and the quality of the site’s graphics needs to be improved. Regardless, the absence of advanced interactive features and high-quality graphics does not prevent the site from effectively achieving its goals of recruiting donations and educating the public about the Center for the Homeless. The needed improvements are minor, so the website for the Center for the Homeless is deserving of 3.5 stars.