How to Read a Webpage

Here is the Tesco website homepage, i.e., the first page you come to when you go to Tesco’s website:

Wow! So much information! Where to begin?

I’m going to use the Tesco page above as an example, to help you make better sense of how websites work, so that you can make them work for you.

 

I have been with customers looking at a website, and I know that the customer is not engaging with what is on the screen. There is too much information to absorb, there is a seeming jumble of words and images, and trying to read in the traditional sense (start top left, line by line down the page, finish bottom right) does not work very well at all.

(Although I’d say I was very familiar with how websites work, I know exactly how these customers feel. When I watch those Saturday afternoon football results programmes (on the BBC, or Sky Sports News) I find it very difficult to know where to look! I’m trying to listen to the commentator, there is a tickertape banner at the bottom of the screen, there are latest scores mid-way down the screen, there are league table scores on the right, and … and …! Argh!! Where to look??? I’ve been practising lately, so I’m getting more relaxed with the programme, but it has been an interesting challenge. Young people seem to have no problems with it. Is this an age thing? Or an experience thing? Answers on a postcard to …!)

 Now back to the Tesco example. Let’s start analysing how this page works – and it is a very successful type of webpage. If we know how it works, we can begin to see how we can make sense of it for our purposes.

 The first point to make is that this page is not designed to be read in its entirety from top to bottom. In fact, it is the kind of text that is specially designed so that it is OK not to read everything on the screen.

Let’s go back a stage – why are we looking at the Tesco website? Usually, when going to a website, we have a particular purpose for being there. That idea of purpose is going to help us, because it will make us read the page in a particular way.

But Tesco are a clever bunch! They know that we go to their website with our purpose in mind, but they also want to give us other options for being there. I may have gone to Tesco to look at insurance prices, but I cannot avoid seeing the top banner. Not only is it eye-catching, but it is also at the top of the page, the part of the page I’m going to see first when I open the Tesco Homepage for the first time.

Also notice that the Tesco name and the Tesco slogan (“Every little helps”) are in the top left corner of the page. The top left corner is a very important part of the page, because as competent readers we naturally want to start reading this page from top left (and we expect to finish bottom right – see what Tesco have put there!)

If I am strong-willed enough to resist the temptations offered by Tesco, I can now start to find what I want on this page.

To do that, I need to skim and scan.

Skimming is speed reading to get the gist of a page or text.

Scanning is looking for a specific piece of information.

Both involve quickly letting the eye rove over the page, with a particular purpose in mind.

 Try it with the Tesco picture above:

• Where would you click on that page to look at the price of wine? (Easy!)
• Where would you click to buy flowers? (Quite Easy)
• Where would you click to do online grocery shopping? (Harder)
• Where would you click to find out how to contact Tesco? (Quite Hard)

If you’ve done the last one, you will have found the border at the bottom of the page, beloved of companies who want to make you search hard for some kinds of information. (I wonder why!)

Some of us need to practise skimming and scanning. Most youngsters these days are taught those skills at school, but some, possibly older users of webpages, may be put off “getting to grips” with a website because they think they have to read every word on the page. Not so! It’s OK to skip parts of the page as you skim and scan.

There are times when we all need to read the small print on screen very carefully indeed, but that’s a topic for another piece.

For the moment, it is sufficient if you have:

·         understood something about how website pages work, especially ones belonging to commercial organisations;

·         had a go at skimming and scanning;

·         understood the importance of having a purpose for going to a particular website and for skimming and scanning.

Now for homework!

Go to some other supermarket websites, give yourself a purpose for being there, and practise skimming and scanning to find what it is you are seeking.

You may also want to comment to yourself on how different or how similar supermarket websites are, in terms of:

·         general layout;

·         top left/bottom right usage;

·         top banner/bottom border content.

Not only will you be able to make sense of website pages, but you will also be more aware of the techniques companies use on their websites to separate you from your money!

Have fun skimming and scanning – making websites do what you want them to do.

Coping with Change

Have you had a look at Windows 8 yet? If not, you are in for a surprise.  It looks very different. Already I’m reading articles in IT magazines and on the internet guiding us through the newness that is Windows 8. I don’t remember such articles when Windows 7 arrived.

At the moment, I’m taking the advice of a recent internet article that advised dedicating specified amounts of times in which to get to grips with key aspects of the new operating system.

I can cope with change in the world of IT. To some extent, I have to if I am to be able to deal with the questions and problems that my customers bring to me. If I’m honest, I quite enjoy the prospect of getting to grips with a new piece of software, or exploring the changes to an upgraded version of an old favourite. I try to keep up-to-date with hardware developments, and regularly talk to suppliers and “strategic alliance” companies about up-coming developments and trends. I read the magazines, and subscribe to email newsletters.

But, having said all that, I’m finding it hard to learn to love Windows 8. I will persevere, of course, because there is a step-change in this operating system that has to be grasped.

Windows 8 is designed for the touch-screen generation, those who are at ease with the tablet and the smart phone, tapping and swiping. Touch screen monitors are now on the market, so that the touch-screen facility in Windows 8 can be enjoyed.

My guess is that Windows 7 and Windows 8 will exist in parallel for a while, with W7 being used in the kinds of places where a mouse and a keyboard are most effective. W8 will appear on tablet computers (e.g., Microsoft’s competitor for the iPad market, called the Surface), and possibly some smart phones. Eventually, touch-screen monitors will become the “order of the day”, and W8 will gradually take over from W7.

To many of my customers, however, change is not welcome. The world of IT is fast-paced, always moving forward, full of innovation and improvements. To some people, that world is exciting; to others, it is scary.

Let me illustrate my point:

·         Some customers notice if an icon on the desktop has moved or changed;

·         a change to the login procedure for email, for example, upsets and confuses;

·         a button that used to do something no longer does it.

And if those changes are noticed after I have worked on their PC, they blame me.

Now, some changes are inevitable if you update software. Mostly, software updates are for security reasons, plugging holes in software that virus-makers can exploit to get into a PC and do some damage. A few updates are cosmetic, but they are in the minority.

Changes in webmail access are often made by the webmail provider for security reasons – the commonest moan is that the computer  no longer remembers a password. But that’s a good thing if you forget to log out correctly when you access your emails in your local library or in an internet café in Mumbai.

 So, how can we cope with change better? I wish there was a simple answer. But there are some things that we can all do, to help us deal with the changes that are inevitably going to come along.

 Most of us have set ways of doing things on a computer. If we want to access our emails, or go on the internet, or load a Word document, or …. Whatever it is, we tend to do the same thing every time – because it works and it is easy to remember. We are all creatures of habit.

 One of the beauties of computer hardware and software is that there are usually multiple ways of doing something. Why? Because if one way fails, there are other ways of achieving the same end.

 For example, if I want to open a saved Word document, I can:

·         Open Word, go to the “open file” icon, and find the file;

·         I can open Windows Explorer, seek out the file, double-click it, and Word will open and load the file;

·         I can go straights to Documents (or wherever I saved the file), find the file, double-click it, and Word will open and load the file.

 If I want to go on the internet using Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, I can:

·         Double-click its icon on the Task Bar (at the bottom of the screen), if its icon is there;

·         Double-click its icon in the Start menu (by clicking the Start button, bottom left of the screen);

·         Find the icon in the All Programs menu from the Start button.

 And now a hardware example – if I want to play a music CD, I can:

·         Insert the CD, wait for the PC to recognise the disc, and choose “play audio CD with …”;

·         Insert the CD, go to Computer (“My Computer” in Windows XP), click the CD icon;

·         Open Windows Media Player, choose the File menu, select the CD player, and choose the track to play.

But why, do I hear you cry, are there all these ways of doing the same thing? Yes, one way would be simpler. But sometimes choices can be our saviour.

Let’s supposing our preferred way lets us down – a virus hides the icon (yes, some can do that!), or someone accidentally deletes an icon, or for some inexplicable reason, our usual way just is not working. To know that there are other ways of achieving our purpose can be very reassuring.

While relying on one way of doing something is normal, we also need to know that there are other ways of doing whatever it is. All it needs is a bit of problem-solving skill and often some help from Google.

Or contact a Computer Technician!

The world of IT is full of choices – a bit bewildering at times, but great for users of the hardware and software. There are different operating systems, different browsers (for exploring the internet), different programs for accessing emails, different suites of office programs – the list is endless.

We need to know about the choices available, even if we do not regularly make use of the range of options. But, should disaster strike, and, for example, your favourite browser starts playing up, it’s good to know that there are other browsers you can download (for free!) to get you on the internet. And the same goes for many other key computer activities.

Now it’s time for me to return to my Windows 8 tutorial. Just when I  thought I’d got my head around Windows 7, Microsoft presents us with Windows 8. The march of progress is relentless and cannot be resisted.

PS Anyone want a copy of Windows 3.1???