2 posts tagged “web design”
I can't imagine why, but Americans covering the EPL just don't write about it with as much enthusiasm and depth as Brits. (In all fairness, they don't cover the NFL or MLB like Americans either.) As I bemoaned earlier, decent RSS and well designed sites weren't the norm when looking at UK online media for soccer news. Fortunately, my expat friend Chris, loyal Charlton fan (my sympathies), and frequent Guardian reader, set me straight. I'm now a total Guardian Unlimited Football junkie with stats galore and tons of content. Woohoo!
What's the deal with the lack of properly implemented RSS integration on UK website properties? BBC has RSS icons across its site, but they didn't actually integrate RSS auto-discovery into their homepage. If they did, modern browsers and RSS readers could easily grab the content which encourages return visits and site loyalty. US News, The New York Times, CNN and ESPN all have it done right. OK, yes, BBC does have RSS integrated on subsection homepages (see the Sport and News sections for example), but that isn't obvious to visitors and RSS readers unless they dig deeper which assumes that they have the time and interest to do so.
So, why do I care about UK sites? Well, anyone who knows me knows that I'm a big Chelsea fan. It kills me that the official Chelsea team and the English Premier League websites, which provide lots of interesting news, analysis and interviews, don't offer RSS at all. I actually want to know what Jose Mourinho has to say this week. I shouldn't have to wade through a tangle of links to find it. And while I'm talking about the Chelsea website, I must point out that it is absolutely horrible. Whoever designed it should be ashamed! The slash page (they sometimes even have multiple splash pages) does nothing for the site. There's absolutely no value added. The whole thing really looks like it was put together in 1998 and hasn't been touched (other than content changes) since. Even Charlton's site looks better!
Wake up UK and get your content syndication and site information architecture act together!
