UK newspaper sites 'could improve web design'

27/08/2008

Most of the major newspaper websites in the UK could benefit from further improvements following a round of redesigns in the last 12 months, according to Graham Charlton of E-consultancy.

The researcher highlighted a number of key web design issues that newspapers could do more to improve, including the use of overlay ads and website search features.

Newspapers could also benefit from allowing readers to add comments to news stories as well as blog posts, Mr Charlton remarked.

Other factors brought up by the expert included slow approvals of comments left by website users, automatic playback of audio and low numbers of outbound links.

"Newspapers are frequently linked to by bloggers, so it only seems fair that they occasionally return the favour, especially as many journalists use blogs for inspiration or for background for their own articles," Mr Charlton said.

The Guardian most recently redesigned its blogs section to bring it in line with the rest of the website.