The Episcopal Church is offering a survey on the current web site. Take it here.
Questions include:
1.What user group to you consider yourself?
2. What areas of site are you interested in? (choose those that apply to you)
3. How satisfied are you with the current site?
4. How difficult is it to find what you are looking for? (very difficult is the choice at the top!)
5. What would you change about the site? (several choices – choose all that apply)
Take the survey — what else would you want in the survey?
What do you find user friendly or not?
@episcopalcafe @episcopalchurch How about we start by making the survey mobile friendly.
— Joe Rogers (@realjoerogers) June 8, 2016
All Content © 2017 Episcopal Café
Yes, it would be nice if the survey were optimized for mobile devices.
The current site seems clunky and fusty--the dark colors don't speak to me of the joy of our faith, and the dimness of the stained glass suggests we connect dimly with the world at large.
Content-wise, the site really speaks more to insiders than the world at large. Sure, we know what the "marks of mission" are, but if you're wandering in from the web, your response would be, "Huh?"
There's also no real thesis to the site. Nowhere on the landing page do we see, in ten sentences or less, the answer to the question, "What is The Episcopal Church, and why should I care?" Instead, the user must rummage around an endless succession of second-tier pages that seem like they were gobbed together by a committee. Perhaps better to set up self-maintained microsites for specific ministries....
An FAQs section would be great. My bet is that there are 10-15 topics that cover 95% percent of the questions the site receives.
Lastly -- and this is off-topic, I realize -- can we please have a welcome center at 815? Bad enough we pay for that oversized heap, but it's hard to say that The Episcopal Church welcomes you when there is no welcome center at HQ.
I support Kristin's comments and would add:
how about a topical listing of the current policies/statements adopted by General Convention (with links to previous statements on the subject)
how about two websites. One for seekers and one for leaders in search of specific information they need to do their job.
They didn't ask this-- but the front page takes forever to load properly-- even with a fast connection and the images take up way too much space on the screen relative to the text / navigation menu.
I would entourage them to consult with designers who understand how to make a site that is easy to navigate.
Things I want:
Larger, easier to read fonts a fast loading front page, pages that resize well and don't get weird/difficult to navigate if the user zooms (I have normal vision for someone over 45, in that I wear progressive lenses and frequently have to use the zoom in web browsers to make text large enough to read without strain). I really don't like websites with windows that open if you roll over them or that don't leave enough space on the page when I zoom in), sites that are easy to navigate on a mobile device but that aren't just about using the site on a phone.
If they actually asked me-- here are the 3 things I would use the site for if it actually worked well: finding out info about the national church -- especially during general convention years, finding local churches to attend when I travel, and finding out more about Episcopal Relief and Development (I know they have their own web-site, but it would be nice if the connection was more explicit for when I share information on ERD with my non-churched friends).