The BBC News Web site is one I visit often to glance at world news. While there is quite a bit of content and many stories include visual aids, such as photos, videos and maps, the photographs that accompany stores are often posted at a small size. Looking at the source code, it appears that the BBC uses a content management system to post its content. So, it’s tough to say exactly how large these photos are. Regardless, they’re smaller than I, as a photographer, would like to see my work published.
Apart from the small size of most of the photographs, the site itself is quite user friendly and easy to negotiate. On the left side of any given page is a menu for the different areas of the world and key topics. If a user would like to find news another way, there are several options. There is a search bar at the top of the page. There is also an interactive map, from which users can click an area of the world of interest.
The place I find myself most often is the Video and Audio page, where content is listed by “Editor’s Pick." While this site is usually quite easy to navigate, I ran into a dead end when selecting “Andy and Jay-Z: BBC’s Marr meets rapper” video. I was sent to a page that read, “404 – Page Not Found.” Perhaps the content was moved, updated or deleted.
Overall, it’s a relatively clean, user-friendly news site. The layout, with its sans-serif font-family and the color red, is appropriate for a variety of news stories. I would suggest posted the photographs larger and updating the Audio and Visual page to include the latest information for the “Andy and Jay-Z” video.
