The Daily Sucker

Submitter comments: I was just shown this site by an executive in a non-profit organization.  Of course, he thinks it’s the greatest site he’s ever seen, but you may take a dimmer view.

First off, it uses Flash exclusively so there are no pages to bookmark or search via Google.  But the real crime is the way it tries to artificially pump excitement into what are rather drab ideas.  After waiting for a slow-loading video, you are rewarded with a man saying “Hello, and welcome to the site,” and not much else.

The site is designed for a 1280 x 1024 monitor and does not scale to fit smaller screens.  At one point, I had to scroll around just to find the button that would let me return to a previous place in the site.

And for a site aimed at families and youth, its stark, mostly black design scheme seems friendly to neither.  In all, just another showy site that delights clients but annoys and confuses the reader.

Vincent Flanders’ comments: I think the person submitting the site is too nice. This site is a festering pus sore on the soul of web design.

The text and links are hidden unless you click the “X” on the apple. Of course, it took a while for me to notice it. I tried clicking lots of other places first, with no luck. In my version of Firefox, I have all sorts of Flash- and ad-blocker add-ins which look like they kill the menus. There’s nothing for me to click.

Oh. Let’s not forget that the TITLE tag on this site is useless for search engine optimization.

Family Youth Professional Partnership