a trip to Vandy

I have always had this thing when it comes to University websites, I love to visit them. Maybe because I dream of eventually going to one of them. Because of that I am exposed to academic based websites and I eventually have certain qualities that I like stored up in my head. Here are a few:

• Fast load speed of website (since I am impatient)
• Complete information (especially for those who are interested in their school)
• Simple and credible designs
• Easy to understand, whether through their layout or information provided
• Visuals
• Not too much of the unnecessary design or widgets

All of the positive qualities that I liked pointed to Vanderbilt University’s (http://www.vanderbilt.edu) website. My favorite among the university websites I have visited (I must tell you, I visited a lot of them, from different countries as well).

When you enter the site it will take you only a few seconds for it to load, even if they have a slideshow and even a video feed present in their homepage. Speaking of their homepage, it provides you of a news feed regarding school activities and also their upcoming events. The slideshow let’s you take a peak into the student’s campus life and will also provide a link for interested students.

The site will provide you with all the information you need, everything can be easily found on their menu which can be seen on the left side of the site or their very own search engine, the menu makes use of simple terms and when your mouse hovers over those terms sort-of a drop menu will be seen, showing much more specific topics. This will then lead you to the information you need, and will also show you a list of helpful links which are related to the information on your screen.

The site may provide you with the information you need but at times it gives you a feeling of being bombarded with too much information, sometimes even requiring you to scan through texts just so you can find the information you need. Another downside is that it provides you with too much links requiring you to jump from one page to the next, but it will surely provide you a link back to the homepage and even if you seemed to have moved from one page to another, you will never reach a dead end, it will either provide you with another link related to the topic or a link back to their homepage (as mentioned). Also, there are links that requires you to jump, not another page, but to a different website without warning, which is another downside.

Ohh wait, it provides you with a detailed site map, it helps!

When it comes to design, it is simple and clean. It makes use of the school colors, and even if you go to other websites related to the school (check out the medical center site), it also makes use of simple and clean colors making it credible. The text is just of the right size which makes it easy for you to read. Most pages will also provide you with visuals but some won’t making the said page dull and full of text.

To put it briefly, Vanderbilt’s site, in my opinion is well thought off. It is simple and provides you of the information that is needed, which is the main factor for the visitor. It exudes the Vanderbilt spirit and credibility. Any person, parents or their children, who will visit this site will surely gain knowledge about the school because of complete information and easy to understand terms.