Abstract

The gateway to any Web site is its homepage. Thus the design of the homepage is critical to make a positive first impression and to guide the visitor through the site. The purpose of this study is to analyze the homepage on New Zealand's top 50 Web sites to assess their compliance with internationally recognized standards for Web homepage design. Twentyfour Web homepage design criteria in three areas – page design, navigation, and usability – are applied to the homepages using observation as the research methodology. New Zealand homepages are well designed in criteria such as text font, color, and highlighting for emphasis. NZ homepages also meet international standards for logo placement, provision of navigation links, and avoiding the use of frames and popup windows. On the other hand, there is room for improvement in homepage layout, link descriptions and color, and provision of site maps and privacy policies.

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