Web Pages That Suck - learn good web design by looking at bad web design

Submitter’s comments: This one reminds me of old GeoCities sites from about 1997. It’s painful to look at, thanks to the total lack of contrast (black on dark blue? yellow on greenish?), the blinking things make me want to hurt my browser, and they have no clue what “anti-aliasing” could possibly mean, nor why something anti-aliased for a white background should not be put on that blue … stuff.

It’s quite a large site, and every page is more hideous than the last. There are imagemaps for no good reason, graphicized text to make sure search engines can’t see the navigation and things in the source code that make me cringe…empty links galore, that kind of thing. And these people are selling to multi-million-dollar clients.

Vincent Flanders’ comments: Normally, I might say “Oh, nobody uses their website because they have a catalog and that’s what people use. Wrong. They have a “No printed catalog is available” message at the bottom of the page. Oh, they underscore the message—which is wrong because only links should be underscored. The copyright is from 1997-2012. I think the submitter is right. The site is stuck in 1997.

This is a real company with a really bad website—one that is awfully close to being a Loon Website.

The site is trying to be cute by redirecting folks. If you want to see the site:

1. Copy this url — http://www.pnwx.com/
2. Open new tab or window in your browser
3. Paste in the URL
4. Hit the ENTER key

Or if you want to read the diatribe – Pacific Northwest X-ray. I haven’t read it because I’ve heard it all before <grin>.

Submitter’s comments: A nomination for the Worst Web Page EVER!!

Vincent Flanders’ comments: Not sure if it’s the worst web page ever, but it certainly is the worst page today.

I don’t understand the light yellow text that runs throughout the page. Are they trying to stuff keywords? Are they trying to talk about their product? It’s in English so you’d think I know, but I don’t.

Teacup Pigs Full Grown

Vincent Flanders’ comments: Technically, this page is trying to “save” all the “Under Construction” animated GIFs, so it could be looked at in a positive light. On the other hand, it’s trying to save all the “Under Construction” animated GIFs and that doesn’t seem like a good idea. Billy @zoompf found this site and tweeted it.

If you want to see some amazing animated GIFs, try Reed & Rader.

Somebody at Lightspeed Software made an animation of me back on November 21, 1996. I can’t claim to be the first to be animated, but I’m among the early ones. You gotta love the Ben Franklin haircut.

Under Construction Animated GIFs

Vincent Flanders’ comments: My British readers are, as you might suspect, dignified, reserved and a bunch of other nice terms. They’re even polite when discussing the newly redesigned BBC Sport page. If you read between the lines, there seems to be a sense of anger and disappointment <grin>.

Submitter’s comments #1: Until the end of January 2012 the BBC Sport site was far the best UK site for general sports information, with clear, easily findable information about sports news, results and fixtures, but take a look round the site now.

Basic things that were previously available one or two clicks away from the home page, such as a list all of today’s football (that’s what you probably know as “soccer”) fixtures involving British professional teams, now take an age to find, and then you can never be sure that you have found everything because you have to check each individual English, Scottish or European league or cup competition to see if there are any matches.

And all this while having your eyes assaulted by seas of yellow in the name of branding. Other obvious failings are images with text obscuring important features, text not being left-aligned and “headlines” squeezed into a ridiculously narrow column down the centre of the page.

There are many more things wrong with this site detailed in the thousands of complaints listed at:

Live page issues
Changes to the BBC Sport website
More on our new website
Our new website – next steps

This is a worthy candidate for the Daily Sucker, and I would be amazed if doesn’t come near the top of the list of Worst Websites of 2012.

Submitter’s comments #2: The redone BBC Sports website is in my opinion one of the worst wastes of public money ever and as soon as you head on in there it reminds me of a hazard warning jacket with its profusion of YELLOW! But the most galling of  its glaring problems is how it is set out.

To
Read
Some
Of
Its
Editorial
Content
You
Have
To
Read
Like
This
All
The
Way
Down
The
Column.

The photos are alarming in that they have massive headlines blocking you from viewing the subject. An appalling waste of time, effort and licence payers money.

Submitter’s comments #3: I had to send this as the old site was easy to use, now it is just confusion :(

I used to be able to navigate everywhere by the sidebar in a standard fashion and it was easy to use. Now if I got to find a league from the top menu I get a box appear, however if I look for a team I’m taken to a new web page, it seems to be so cluttered.

Submitter’s comments #4: BBC’s new sports website has GOT to be a candidate for one of the worst designs of the year.  Just came into effect this past week.  What on earth were they thinking of?

Submitter’s comments #5: I am guessing that you have already been told about the “new & improved” BBC Sports website (who ever wrote new and improved obviously doesn’t know the meaning of improved) It is total crap, full of errors, badly designed, impossible to navigate or understand!

It’s the worst website of 2012, no matter what else comes along!

BBC Sports

Submitter’s comments: I’m afraid I have Daily Sucker nomination.  While checking the hours on a (really good) local restaurant, I couldn’t help but notice their web page is absolutely terrible.  Just awful.  I can only assume the owner puts all his talent into the food (which is excellent).

Vincent Flanders’ comments: It figures that the food is excellent—the site isn’t. Sigh. Look. Hire someone, buy a template, do anything but don’t do it yourself. It’s like that commercial for a product or service that I can’t remember (great ad, huh?). It has a doctor playing violin in a string quartet. Obviously, it isn’t going to work. You’re not a designer so stay in the kitchen where you belong.

Bavarian Brathouse