iSchool Orientation

http://www.ischool.utexas.edu/orientation/index.php

Intended audience
Students new to the UT iSchool.

Usefulness of content
This information is critical for students new to the iSchool, especially if they hope to register successfully. The registration checklist is perhaps the most useful feature because it gives, in order, the steps needed to complete registration in the iSchool, information that is not available anywhere else. The other key piece of information specific to the orientation website is the date, time, and place of the face-to-face orientation, which is helpfully highlighted by a surrounding text box. On the other hand, the "Directions" link doesn't actually give you directions, just the location of the Sanchez building. Parking and transportation information is included later, under the "Facilities" link, so it took some time for me to find it. All the other information and links provided were also helpful for a new iSchool student.

Consistency of design
Pages specific to the iSchool orientation website (and the iSchool in general) are very consistent. The format is uncluttered and the orange and blue color scheme is pleasant to look at. A search box appears in the upper right, where you would expect it, and the graphics enhance without overwhelming.

Ease of navigation
The navigation bar on the left hand side of the screen matches the table of contents on the main page, so this is a promising start. However, I found it difficult to navigate the site for a few reasons:

• Sub-menus are not presented on the navigation bar, which makes it easy to get lost while navigating.
• The highlighting in the navigation bar is inconsistent. If you click "Advising and Registration" in the navigation bar, then "Advising" in the main panel, "Advising and Registration" stays highlighted in orange on the navigation bar. But click "Advising and Registration" in the navigation bar, then "How to Register" in the main panel, and "Advising and Registration" is no longer highlighted.
• A further complication is that you get different behaviors depending on the links you follow. Clicking "Faculty and Staff" takes you to a different part of the iSchool site, with a different navigation bar. Clicking "About Austin" opens a new web page in the same window. Some of the sub-menu links open new Firefox tabs and others open in the current window.
  

I found myself wandering off the orientation website and onto other iSchool sites, and was forced to find my way back to the orientation a few times. Perhaps this was intentional, but it made it difficult to discern what information was specific to the iSchool orientation versus what was useful in general. At the end, I wasn't sure if I had found all of the orientation information or if I had missed something while navigating through the other pages. It took me a few sessions to make sure I had covered it all.

Overall, this website was well organized and chock full of critical information, and I was extremely thankful to have it. My only quibbles are regarding navigation. The final piece of evidence for its effectiveness is that I successfully attended the face-to-face orientation and registered without having to bother Carol Carreon, and that's a good thing all around.