The Villager is an online publication ran by students and contributors of the Stevenson University community. Found on this site, are posts regarding campus news, local activities, and the various ventures, and accomplishments, of both Stevenson students and faculty.
Linguistic
The language used throughout the site is quite simple and straight forward. With this, there is an increase in accessibility for those of various education levels. There are previews underneath the thumbnail images for the posts. However, these previews only consist of the first sentence or so of the post and lack eye-catching or interest-sparking information.
Visual
The fonts and colors on this site are uniform with the exception of the posts themselves. However, the layout is overly simple and not engaging to the eye. Used are simple square pictures for each post with most of them being group pictures. For someone scrolling pass, these images offer no insight to the content of the posts, nor do they stand out. Also included on the site, are mass amounts of negative space. Which in this case, is just a white background.
Aural
There are few posts that contain videos. Of said posts, most require the user to access and play the videos outside of the site. There is otherwise no use of sound or music on The Villager.
Spatial
Posts on this site are contained in a way that prevents unwanted blending of previews or images as they appear to be restricted in a column format. The categories are repeated twice on the home page despite there already being designated tabs for said categories, on the top of the front page. With this, recent posts are pushed towards the bottom of the page.
Gestural
There is a massive lack of opportunities for readers to engage with each other, the posts, or their authors with the exception of viewing videos that often require the reader to use an outside source or search engine. As mentioned before, many images on the site are basic group pictures that contain little to no excitement aside from a few smiles. Those that include action shots rather than still moments or generic images are much more eye-catching and appealing.
Conclusion
In conclusion, The Villager sufficiently puts campus related news and events in one space. However, the lack of luster and interactivity dampens the user-friendly experience. Although the website is easy to navigate, there is little to keep a reader engaged for prolonged periods of time or wanting to make multiple visits.
1. I think the introduction into the topic of your analysis is written well, however this paragraph should conclude in a thesis or a claim that you are trying to prove. Although, the content of the body has a multitude of claims that could tie into an overall thesis.
2. All of the available modes are written and analyzed, and these descriptions are provided with examples detailing how the website uses the mode and if the use was effective.
3. The analysis contains opinion-oriented affordances, such as interest and attractiveness in regards to the site. There is some mention of technical affordances, such as user-friendliness, but those could be expanded on a little more.
4. There are no screenshots so support the claims made in the analysis, but there are multiple opportunities to add them into the text and to add a little more detail into why these choices are unappealing to the audience.