Web Usability with "The State Worker"

For some reason, The State Worker took just over four seconds to load. I suppose I could blame the lag time on Sac State's WiFi connection that I'm currently using in my perch here on the fourth floor of the AiRC building.

Upon first glance at the initial home screen, I see the site's blue link bar right in the middle of the page as if it were being used to mark the line between ads and actual content. Above the blue link bar lies a stationary ad for Target's pharmacy services. The blog's title stands out in a crisp graphic that reads "THE State Worker" in bold, yellow text. This helps me out because I know right away that the content will be located underneath that banner. However, buddied-up on the right side of that banner is an ad for Hill Physicians, California Credit Union League, and Baja Limo Service. Overall, there is not tons of extra screen real estate, as I can read the date and title of the latest blog entry towards the bottom of the screen. That being said, I can only read two sentences of the story before I have to scroll down to continue reading.

Luckily, the ads I mentioned are the only one on the site, and the best part is, they STAY at the top of the page. From here on down to the bottom, The Sac State Worker is full of its latest news stories, each one sprinkled with links, the date it was posted, and how many comments have been submitted about each particular article.

All of the images used on The State Worker are generic and contain no ALT text attributes, not do the tags and links inserted throughout the articles. Speaking of links, journalist Jon Ortiz does a good job at including appropriate links in appropriate places. He has the knack for linking just the right amount, and separating his own words with quoted blocks from the governor's many "official" statements towards state workers. The links to site navigation in the blue bar at the top of the website are handy, but not the easiest to navigate through. Rolling your mouse over "Our Region," for example, changes your options under the blue line, but once you scroll across them, be careful you don't accidentally roll over a different topic - your "blue line" options will change quickly. Basically, you're dealing with a 1/4 inch space to slide your mouse across to select the topic of your choice... Think of it as playing "Operation" with your mouse on screen.

The links that I find particularly helpful are the tags at the bottom of each story. Clicking on "furloughs," for example, will take you to a list of all stories tagged under "furlough." This is nice to have if you want to skim over past stories covering the same topic. These tags are easy to spot in each post's structure. I would consider these links valuable. In fact, I don't think The State Worker has any irrelevant links whatsoever, besides the ad banners at the top.

There is an invisible frame that separates the posts on the left from other useful information and archival posts on the right. The right side of the bar yields blog categories, about the author, Ortiz's latest tweets, and other stories you can find on sacbee.com. Rounding things off, the right column on the page has an at-a-glance calendar, monthly archives, other stories "from around the web." Overall, these right-sided links come in handy for casual and dedicated readers alike.

The latest post is titled "Schwarzenegger files response in furlough appeal case." I bet you can all guess what exactly it covers. It is a light post, but the "snippet" Ortiz puts in from Schwarzenegger's camp serves its purpose entirely. Including the governor's statement, the entire article is only four sentences long. But having just been posted this afternoon, there are already 25 comments in response - that's four more than when I started reading the site tonight. See for yourself here.

...Wheel of Fortune category - Popular words of 2009. "This word best defines California during the Schwarzenegger era:"
F_R_O_G_
... I'd like to buy a vowel....