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The Daily Sucker - Current examples of bad web design

The Daily Sucker

Sites featured in articles like Worst Websites of 2010 often are redesigned, which explains why some sites mentioned in my articles don't match their current look. The Daily Sucker features current examples of bad web design which haven't been fixed (yet).

If you see a site that you think sucks, email the URL to me. No personal pages (personal pages are supposed to reflect the individual's personality and artistic freedom) or web site designers (it would look like a conflict of interest), or others of their ilk.

If I think there's some merit to your selection, I may post it along with some commentary. If you know of a site that qualifies, let me know.

Burbage Carnival – Bad Web Design Example #2 for June 28, 2011

June 28th, 2011 12:12 am by Vincent Flanders

Submitter’s comments: This one is absolutely FOUL.

Vincent Flanders’ comments: Incredibly foul. Does it look like the Indianapolis Museum of Art’s website? (This is my baseline website) No. Then it should.

Note: I’m not saying every site should copy IMA’s design. I’m saying, it’s a clean, effective design and you should strive for that type of design.

Burbage Carnival

Posted in Daily Sucker, Usability, Web Design, Worst Web Sites |


Sport Fishing With Dan Hernandez – Bad Web Design Example #1 for June 28, 2011

June 28th, 2011 12:12 am by Vincent Flanders

Vincent Flanders’ comments: Once again, “Where’s the focus?” Dan has so many ads and self-promotional things going on that it’s difficult to see where to go. It doesn’t help that the contrast sucks on the top horizontal navigation menu so you can’t read the links.

I love ads. My old man was in television broadcasting from 1948-1990, so advertising makes me happy. Hell, I even appeared naked on a full-size billboard to promote an ISP where I was employed. But there are limits to advertising and self-promotion. Basically, when your advertising gets in the way of your content, then you’ve gone too far. Dan’s gone too far. If you don’t want to visit the site, here’s a screen capture.

Sport Fishing With Dan Hernandez

Posted in Daily Sucker, Usability, Web Design, Worst Web Sites |


Gwinn’s Island Museum – An Example of Bad Web Design for June 28, 2011

June 27th, 2011 1:01 am by Vincent Flanders

Submitter’s comments: Small museums should probably get special dispensation like artists because their websites are probably done by little old ladies. But I thought this one was particularly notable. First you click to “Enter.” Then you click to “Come on In.” (Is entering twice a sign of quality?) Then click yet again to see the exhibits

Vincent Flanders’ comments: Entering twice is a sign of bad web design. I haven’t seen a double Splash page in a while. The last one I remember is Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. Personally, I prefer Gwinn’s two splash pages, but I’d prefer they didn’t use any at all.

There isn’t anything right about this site. Seriously, take a look at almost any other museum page. Take my home town museum’s website. Gee, does Gwinn’s look like this? Heck no. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever been to the Indy website, but I like it a lot. It’s simple and you can read it.

Gwinn’s Island Museum

Posted in Daily Sucker, Usability, Web Design, Worst Web Sites |


City of Lake Zurich, Illinois – An Example of Bad Web Design for June 23, 2011

June 23rd, 2011 2:02 am by Vincent Flanders

Submitter’s comments: So you want to contact the Village of Lake Zurich (IL). There’s an “Email Page” link up in the top right of every page. That’s good. Then you click on it.

You are required to know the Email address of your recipient or the form doesn’t work. I have six different Email clients on this box. I could have just used ANY of them if I knew the address I wanted to send to.

Someone’s tax dollars were spent on a buttload of Javascript and zero common sense.

Vincent Flanders’ comments: This story reminds me of a conversation I had with my phone provider yesterday. My credit card had expired and a new one was issued. The only difference was the expiration date. Since I pay my phone bill (and Dish Network and my internet connection) with the credit card, the amount due was approaching a ridiculous figure. The big print on the bill had the monthly total, which was in the usual range. The small print, which I hadn’t noticed until yesterday had the huge total and a notice that my credit card expired.

I called up the billing department and said I wanted to pay. I asked Scott, the guy in the billing department, “You guys knew my credit card expired and you know my phone number because you provide me telephone service. Why didn’t you call me up and tell me about the problem? Or couldn’t you send me an e-mail since you provide my internet service?” His response. “I don’t know. It kinda makes sense that we have ways to contact you.”

If I know the email address of the person I wish to contact, I don’t need your stupid email form. This is really stupid.

The navigation, starting with the home page, is problematic. Under “Quick Links” on the left, are black text links on a darkish blue background. That’s a definite contrast problem. Oh, their home page has lots of contrast problems. According to AccessColor:

Both color difference and color brightness do not meet the recommended standard for 92.44% of the total text.

Here’s a screen capture of the report. Hope the citizens of Lake Zurich don’t have vision issues.

City of Lake Zurich – Email Page

Posted in Daily Sucker, Usability, Web Design |


Oshkosh Gymnastics Center – An Example of Bad Web Design for June 22, 2011

June 22nd, 2011 1:01 am by Vincent Flanders

Submitter’s comments: No words needed to describe this one.

Vincent Flanders’ comments: I can think of a couple of words: big, Microsoft Office, white space, and eight TABLES. According to the Charles Proxy, the home page eats up 3.25Mb of bandwidth and WebPageTest says it takes over 20 seconds to load. It’s ugly in a harmless way. On the plus side, the facilities look very, very professional. It’s a shame the site doesn’t.

If your company is totally PC, then this site might be sorta-kinda not suitable for work because of photos of female gymnasts. Hell, how would I know what’s politically correct? I’ve spent my whole life embracing the incorrect <grin>.

Oshkosh Gymnastics Center

Posted in Daily Sucker, Usability, Web Design, Worst Web Sites |


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