3.3 Overall appearance and usefulness

This refers to the effectiveness of a resource as a whole.

• is the aim and purpose of the resource obvious at first sight?

The top level of a resource should indicate clearly and quickly the subject nature of the resource. A good resource will not be ambiguous in this way, and will not deflect potential users due to poor communication of purpose. Similarly, all levels of a resource, and all types of resource should make their purpose obvious at first sight.
• is it attractive/functional?

A good resource should also be appealing to the eye. This does not necessarily mean lots of exciting images, animation or sound. A very simple, classic design can appeal as much as a clever, graphically innovative one. It is always important, however, that a resource be functional. In other words, that it have unique information to offer, that it have relevant links to related resources, or that it provide a service.
• does it encourage you to explore further?

A good resource should encourage exploration. However, it should also state its purpose obviously enough that a user may discern quickly whether it is potentially useful or not.
• is the balance of links and text good?

A good resource should have a well-balanced arrangement of text and links. A Web document that has a vast tree of links is difficult to navigate and overwhelming to the eye.
• is the balance of text, images and white space good?

A good resource should also have a good overall balance of information and space. If there is a large amount of space in a given document, it will not fit onto a screen effectively. The user will be forced to continually scroll down the document to reach relevant information.
• how big is the resource?

If a resource is particularly large, it should really be sensibly and logically divided into unique and separate segments of information with good navigation links between each segment.
• if a WWW document is long, is it navigable?

It is acceptable to present a large resource as a whole only if good navigation links are inserted within it.
• how long does it take to download?

It is important to consider this point when evaluating a resource, particularly one which heavily relies on graphics, is a particularly long textual document, or is a large piece of software. A good resource should avoid unnecessarily increasing its downloading time if possible; alternatively it should provide a warning to indicate its size and potential transfer time.
• are there single document options for those resources that may be printed?

If a resource is printable, for example, an online guide, leaflet or book, it is helpful to have it available as a separate, single-paged document to facilitate printing.
• are there alternative options for those WWW resources which contain Netscape specific features such as tables?

A good resource will offer alternative options to itself if some of its information is structured using Netscape-specific features such as tables. If a resource does not offer this, it is likely that the information may be significantly altered or affected when viewed in a non-Netscape browser.