2. Logo Placement
Logos are typically placed in the upper left of the page, but some
TV websites subvert the stereotype such as ITV who have placed
their logo in the centre of the page. This in turn makes the ITV logo
and website more recognisable and unique, whereas the BBC and
Channel 5 follow the typical placement.
When there are multiple
windows open on a computer,
the consistent left placement of
the logo allows them to be
aware they are still viewing
their website.
3. Main Navigation
The main navigation appears at the top of the website, and this is the most
recognised placement for the navigation bar. ITV again subverts this
convention by placing their navigation bar underneath the two large
images showing this week’s most talked about episodes.
Changing where the
navigation bar is can confuse
viewers and cause them to
leave the website, as people
do not want to be searching
all through the website to find
what they want. Having the
navigation bar at the top of
the page creates consistency
and allows for the users to
navigate easily.
4. Images
Images are an obvious website convention, as a website without
images would be rather boring, unprofessional and unattractive. The
audience are interested in seeing images to understand the information
text a lot clearer. If a website avoided using images, it would be
cramped and overcrowded of text. The websites usually include one
large, eye catching image and several smaller images. BBC, ITV
Channel 4 and Channel 5 all follow the website convention as it is
popular and professional. We will follow the conventions of including
images because it is more suitable for the audience,
5. Link Styling
Clicking links has become second nature for web users, as
they want to know what is clickable and what isn’t. When
this is broken it becomes confusing for the users and can
cause them to visit an alternate website. A classic link is
defined by being underlined text or text in a different colour.
You should avoid underlining words which are not links,
and avoid using different coloured texts for non-links.
6. Button Functionality
A button is a feature which is often used on websites as it is extremely
intuitive. This highlights that they should be clicked, but you should ensure
that all buttons link to something. A button that doesn’t link to another web
page or area of your website will be confusing to users. The button
functionality is different on each website however they are still fairly similar.
For example, on Channel 4 the links get bigger, however, on Channel 5 the
links underline.
7. Standard Icons
Icon conventions are useful as they provide a clear
explanation without words. For example, if you want to
contact the TV website company an envelope can signify
email, and social media icons signify social sharing.
Replacing these with more original icons will confuse the
users and they will be likely to leave your website.
8. Visual Hierarchy
Visual hierarchies are encountered many times throughout
the day, for example newspapers, billboards, invitations
and even cereal boxes use this hierarchy to let us know
what to read first and which information is the most
important. Using visual hierarchy on a webpage brings
readers back to this familiar structure, and processing the
page becomes automatic. Losing this hierarchy is only
going to confuse viewers.
9. Clear Naming
So many TV channels are competing for attention on the web, it is
important to use creativity in order to allow your webpage to stand out.
Users want information first, so to ensure that the audience stay engaged, it
is important to include clear naming which has been presented visibly.
Channel 5 have a variety of different channels to fit different audience
types. For example Channel 5 USA’s viewers are mostly going to be
Americans. Even though Channel 5 have more than one obvious website,
they still advertise each channel clearly.
10. Social Networking
Most TV Channel websites, such as BBC, ITV and Channel 5,
includes social networking links allowing the viewers to become
an active audience and to source information about the shows
onto their person profile sharing it with their friends. Typically, the
main audiences that use the social networking option are aged
around 16-34 year olds, because younger people tend to use the
internet and social networks more frequently than older people.
As a group we have agreed to use the social networking link that
directs the audiences to Twitter, Facebook and Google+. We
think this feature is important because our TV Channel is
typically aimed at people around 16-34 year olds. If we were to
avoid using this feature our TV Brand would struggle to reach a
large audience and will not be as popular as other channels,
because it is not being shared or expanded.
