Simple, but with misleading content - DPK
Democratisch Politiek Keerpunt (Democratic Political Turning point) is the result of a merge between two politicians who used to be members of big parties but quitted and started their own. DPK has quite a controversial opinion on a lot of subjects, so I guess it’s al right if I give my opinion on their website.
The site can be found on http://www.dpk.nl which leads you to http://www.dpk.nu. “Nu” means “now” in Dutch, so by putting that after their parties name they state something like “it’s our turn”. Good move on their part.
Remarkable styling and classic homepage
I’m not usually one to comment on styling, but here I have to say the website kind of comes across as if the party is some football club. The reason for that would be the logo. I mean, I totally get the choise of colors: red, white, blue and orange are indeed the colors of the Netherlands. Still, making the logo shield-shaped and striped? Not my cup of tea.
The homepage is classical: two columns and a clear main menu bar. It’s nothing fancy, but there’s no way you’ll get lost on this website. The menu items make sense: they include both the party’s main views on political topics and an overview of the candidates, as well as a way to become involved (“volunteer”) and a contact button. Like I said, it’s a classic. No problems there.
Inconsistent and lacking content
My main problems are with the homepage and the content of the website. Let me start with the homepage. Right below the menu, there’s a banner with five changing images, each one with a short quote on an elections related topic. Those short quotes trigger my interest. So they want a firm but fair policy on immigration? Well, I’d like to read more about that! I click on the image. Nothing happens! They are not hyperlinks.
Ironically, the menu item “turning points”, which I thought would be the election program, says nothing on the subject of integration. Different related parts of a website have to be integrated. If a short statement is made, more information should be available elsewhere, preferably with easy access for the visitor. As it is now, one could easily mistake the “turning points” for the full program, while many of the party’s views on topics aren’t covered. Misleading.
A second problem with the homepage is a minor one: apparently, DPK used their compaign to take pictures of the party leader with potential voters. The photos are available online. However, the banner that announces this is put in the bottom of the homepage, just above the footer. Nobody will ever find it there, why not put it somewhere higher, where visitors will instantly see it?
Actually, this leads me to a third: remember how I said the navigation is decent? Well, it is, but not if you try to collect your photo. You get there through the banner, yet there is no way back (other than the back button in your browser of course). It would be better to integrate the pictures as an easily accessible page on the website.
Cross-browser functioning and conclusion
The website works well across different browsers ans re-sizes to mobile.
All in all, a very basic website, one that could have been made with for example Wordpress. It provides a nice overview, but content on the views of the party is lacking and inconsistent. I’d say it’s misleading, but hey, that’s politics.
My final verdict:
- General design: 7/10
- Content: 5/10
- Navigation: 8/10
- Cross-browser functioning: 8/10
- Average: 7/10
