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Elias Group Comparative Review

Team D

Web-240

University of Phoenix

May 6, 2013

Neal Sergeant

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Elias Group Comparative Review

This is a comparative review for evaluating the design criteria for The Elias Group. The

websites that are being compared are Bob Goodlatte's website (http://goodlatte.house.gov/) and

the Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP website (http://www.jmbm.com/).

Initial Impression

The initial impression of Bob Goodlatte's site is that it is overwhelming with information.

The purpose of the site was immediately noticed since “Business Opportunities with the Federal

Government” is titled in large text. This sites target audience is the constituents from the State of

Virginia. The site looks the same in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome.

The initial impression of Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP’s site is the modern

design and the categorization of the links were appealing. Instantly the purpose of the website

was to provide legal services. This sites target audience is clients with legal issues. The site

looks the same in Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome.

Contact Information

Bob Goodlatte's contact information was only available through an email form only.

There were several other office information but they were below the fold. His site is and official

governmental House of Representatives website since the domain end in house.gov. The

different headings were used including paragraphs and links.

Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP’s site has a "Contact us" on the navigation bar.

When hovered over it displays the contact information for the main and additional offices.

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Initially the site does not indicate that it is legit but within the "Our Firm" page they show logos

of legitimate services they belong to. The different headings were used including paragraphs and

links.

Design and Layout

Mr. Goodlatte's site has appealing colors but the layout was basic. The site has a

horizontal navigation bar on the header and vertical navigational links on the right side bar. The

navigation bar has several drop downs that let you see where you want to go. A "Home" tab is

located on every page of the site. The navigation bar is consistent on every page.

Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP’s site also has appealing colors but the layout was

basic. The site has a horizontal navigation bar on the header and navigational links on the footer.

The navigation bar has several drop downs that give you a small description and lets you see

where you want to go. A "Home" tab is located on every page of the site. The navigation bar is

consistent on every page.

Navigation

Mr. Goodlatte's important information is place in headings or use in the dropdown. Each

page in this site has links in the content and in the right side bar. The "Press Release" articles

display links with their dates. The header slides have images that contribute to the user

experience.

Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP’s important information is placed in headings or

used in the practice area dropdown. Each page in this site has links in the content and some

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pages have a side bar and there are links there too. This sites individual articles have their dates

displayed at the top of the article. The headers slides show the four partners, the different teams

that practice a particular area and this does contribute to the user experience.

Mr. Goodlatte's site has no spelling errors or broken links. The navigational ease on this

site is impressive. The header slides can make a website pleasing to the eyes. This site needs to

have less images and content per page.

There were no spelling errors or broken links found on Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell

LLP’s site. The design and intentions of the header slides are impressive. The header slides can

make a website pleasing to the eyes. The simplicity of this site is good.

These websites provide design features that can be implemented to reach the same

audience that The Elias Group is also trying to reach. We have links to government resources as

well as content about attorney advocacy and government assistance.