As the shadow of the general election looms the political parties are manoeuvring themselves into position, both in the real world and online. Fingertips’ Ian Shine takes a look at what the different parties’ websites tell us about them. This week, Labour fall under the microscope
The Labour Party’s website hits us on entry with the “A future fair for all” slogan as it attempts to set out its election campaign stall from the off.
In this respect it’s streets ahead of the Tories’ sprawling homepage, which scrolls down for an eternity and features little to tell us about the defining features of the party.
The Labour homepage is short, graphically professional and displays a good use of the colour wheel to draw in browsers’ clicks.
Blue: NHS staff for Labour.
Dark green: Parents for Labour.
Weird pink: Teachers for Labour.
Yellow: Pensioners for Labour.
Light green: Students for Labour.
Claret: Business for Labour.
It’s all very coherent and easy to navigate, and all serves to back up their slogan that a fair future exists for all of us.
A touch of genius
Once you click on one of these coloured options the main body of the homepage scrolls across to give a preview of what Labour does in these areas, in the words of a Labour supporter. The touch of genius is that it keeps you on the homepage, rather than making you impatient and getting you lost by leading you to another part of it.
Even when you click on the “Hear more from teachers/students, etc…” link, you remain on the homepage as the text comes to you, rather than you having to go to it.
There’s a big emphasis on people on the site, with quotes from the general public plastered all over the place. It might seem a little bit self-serving and repetitive, but: i) if you don’t serve yourself in politics, no one else will; ii) this repetition hammers home the fact that Labour has a guiding aim that it is following and genuinely believes in.
Just compare it with a click on the Conservatives' site. It’s hard to even tell at first glance that this is the site of a political party. It could as easily be a news website as it gives prominence to stories (today at least) on Charlie Whelan’s “new militant tendency” and “Boosting the Economy with Technology”.
If the Tory site says one thing about the party it is that it has no overriding vision or direction.
If the Labour site says one thing about the party it is that it knows what it wants (or at least what its campaign will focus on) and it is going after it, with public support.
What else?
The only other things on the homepage are a “Donate” button, links to Facebook and Twitter, and five arrows that effectively use the same colours as before: claret; blue; weird pink; dark green; light green.
These lead to the other key areas of Labour’s upcoming campaign: economic recovery; health; education; “standing up for the many” and jobs.
These arrows again lead to nice, brief, focused pages that get across Labour’s message in around 250 words, while keeping the aforementioned arrows down the left of the page to allow for easy navigation around the site.
Each section also invites comments from readers, thus furthering the image that this is a party for all, and one that is interested in what we all have to say.
Flawless?
Yes, this is a political party’s website, so you can’t believe everything that you see on it, but in terms of the image it presents it is a rounded one that is much more accessible and understandable to most people than the one pushed by the Tory’s website.
It’s about as close to flawless as I could imagine a party’s website to be, but maybe next week’s visit to the Liberal Democrats’ site will prove me wrong.
In this respect it’s streets ahead of the Tories’ sprawling homepage, which scrolls down for an eternity and features little to tell us about the defining features of the party.
The Labour homepage is short, graphically professional and displays a good use of the colour wheel to draw in browsers’ clicks.
Blue: NHS staff for Labour.
Dark green: Parents for Labour.
Weird pink: Teachers for Labour.
Yellow: Pensioners for Labour.
Light green: Students for Labour.
Claret: Business for Labour.
It’s all very coherent and easy to navigate, and all serves to back up their slogan that a fair future exists for all of us.
A touch of genius
Once you click on one of these coloured options the main body of the homepage scrolls across to give a preview of what Labour does in these areas, in the words of a Labour supporter. The touch of genius is that it keeps you on the homepage, rather than making you impatient and getting you lost by leading you to another part of it.
Even when you click on the “Hear more from teachers/students, etc…” link, you remain on the homepage as the text comes to you, rather than you having to go to it.
There’s a big emphasis on people on the site, with quotes from the general public plastered all over the place. It might seem a little bit self-serving and repetitive, but: i) if you don’t serve yourself in politics, no one else will; ii) this repetition hammers home the fact that Labour has a guiding aim that it is following and genuinely believes in.
Just compare it with a click on the Conservatives' site. It’s hard to even tell at first glance that this is the site of a political party. It could as easily be a news website as it gives prominence to stories (today at least) on Charlie Whelan’s “new militant tendency” and “Boosting the Economy with Technology”.
If the Tory site says one thing about the party it is that it has no overriding vision or direction.
If the Labour site says one thing about the party it is that it knows what it wants (or at least what its campaign will focus on) and it is going after it, with public support.
What else?
The only other things on the homepage are a “Donate” button, links to Facebook and Twitter, and five arrows that effectively use the same colours as before: claret; blue; weird pink; dark green; light green.
These lead to the other key areas of Labour’s upcoming campaign: economic recovery; health; education; “standing up for the many” and jobs.
These arrows again lead to nice, brief, focused pages that get across Labour’s message in around 250 words, while keeping the aforementioned arrows down the left of the page to allow for easy navigation around the site.
Each section also invites comments from readers, thus furthering the image that this is a party for all, and one that is interested in what we all have to say.
Flawless?
Yes, this is a political party’s website, so you can’t believe everything that you see on it, but in terms of the image it presents it is a rounded one that is much more accessible and understandable to most people than the one pushed by the Tory’s website.
It’s about as close to flawless as I could imagine a party’s website to be, but maybe next week’s visit to the Liberal Democrats’ site will prove me wrong.
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