The Villager is a student-run online newspaper at Stevenson University. A new edition is released weekly with sports updates, featured school events, reviews and more. A visual rhetorical analysis of the The Villager reveals that the website lacks in several multimodal areas that would contribute to success for the online newspaper.
Modes and Affordances
Linguistic. The word choices and messages are simple to understand. However, some of the story titles are not clear and could confuse readers. News stories are written so that all types of audiences can read and understand the purpose of the story. However, there are inconsistencies in the editing. Some stories and highlights have obvious spelling and grammar errors, while others are cleanly written. The font is standard and easy to read. There are probably more visually appealing fonts that could be read just as easily, but I don’t think the font used devalues the articles and website.
Visual. The website is lacks a lot of elements that could make it more visually appealing. The overall layout is so simple that it makes it less interactive. There is not much color to the website either; it is very basic. A plain white background with black letters and a dark green header does not draw the eye in easily. Nearly every article and link has related pictures that add to the value of the story. The addition of images makes readers more likely to be interested in the stories. The images in the articles are also well-placed so that the text is broken up, making it easier to read.
Aural. The only aural aspects that the website are videos posted by staff. Since this is an online newspaper, the occasional video of athletes or interviews seems sufficient in portraying its purpose.
Spatial. The Home Page is convenient as it provides highlights to all aspects of the newspaper. All parts of the website are also easily accessible via top and side navigation bars. Stories are featured with an image, but specifically on the news page, the uneven alignment of images and text make the page seem jumbled with thoughts.
Gestural. The images and videos posted are important in getting viewers and readers to further interact with an article or segment. Some of the articles’ feature pictures are enticing enough to spark further interaction with an article, but some of the plainer images can deter a reader. Static images with students participating in events help attract attention because they are more relatable.
Stevenson University’s The Villager is riddled with positive and negative affordances. Each of the multimodal modes has basics needed for an easy and accessible website; however, there are definitely aspects that could be improved to draw more people in to website and what it has to offer.
