Scuba Diving Websites - What do you look for when viewing a website

[divezero]

The online world is growing and growing everyday. More and more scuba diving lovers are getting the internet and checking for scuba diving websites.

Now our question to you is what do you look for when checking out scuba websites.

Do you care about the quality, whether it is HTML or FLASH, which do you prefer?

What about information, are you looking for general diving info or just for a certain dive spot, etc...

Would you like a general hang out where you can check out videos, talk to other divers, etc.... An interactive website or non interactive.

Also, state your favorite scuba diving website if you like to show others whats out there. We know there are tons of amazing sites for other sports, so lets act as a family, which we scuba divers are, and list our top scuba websites.

 

[LiteHedded]

I despise flash sites for the most part.
i like gear reviews.
there's not enough of them on the internet

 

[DennisS]

It loads fast on a dial up connection.

contrasting type, no green on green or blue on blue

I just dislike black backgrounds in general.

 

[ZzzKing]

I primarily look to see if there is a "ScubaBoard" banner at the top. This place ROCKS!

 

[Reggae Joe]

I'm more concerned about content than how it looks, especially if I'm researching a piece of equipment I want to consider buying, or perhaps information on a dive destination. Boards like these are helpful too, in that it's always good to hear from our fellow peers about things that we're curious or concerned about.

 

[CIBDiving]

Flash sucks. Cookies suck. Scripts Suck, Sites that only work with Macroshaft Intergut Exploder SUCK, Sites that won't load if they can't read your opsys type REALLY SUCK!
Sites that have to much animation also suck.

 

[SparticleBrane]

It better work on my Mac with Firefox or Safari. I'm not a big fan of flash or anything that is moving around to distract me--if it is there it is going to get adblocked anyway. I have 0 tolerance for ads or other pathetic attempts to distract me from the content of a webpage.

I like good factual information. Prices on things are a plus. A good readable font (not microscopic but not ginormous) in a decent color is appealing--I'm not a big fan of cutesy pink script for webpages.

If the site is talking about gear I want to know everything about it. Pictures of ALL sides and angles of the gear are a huge plus. LARGE pictures (or small thumbnails that are clickable to enlarge the shots) are nice as well. I hate seeing small pictures that show me no detail.

A site that has a good search function is nice as well--if all sites came with integrated Google search that would be wonderful.
An easy to navigate layout is a big plus.

 

[cartecs]

Content. Flash sucks. How-To videos (like @ breakthrudiving) are nice and (good) gear reviews are something useful too.

 

[mike_s]

I gotta agree..... the way folks use flash sucks. Flaash itself doesn't suck so bad but they put up pages on flash that are more cartoons and are actually "little use" to use/read. They are also hard to print often.

An effective web page is:
easy to navigate
- quick to load
- easy to print (and fits on page properly)
- NO 'click to enter' page up front
- don't play noises/sounds/etc by default
- no pop ups.
-

 

[Pyromaniac]

Dislikes -

Webpages that dont close and just trap you on their own site.
Flash animations / intro pages
Small fonts
Fancy illegible fonts
'complicated' page layouts where youhave to figure out how to get somewhere via a link, and its not obvious.
Web page words underlined looking like links that are not.
Webpages - trying to print and losing one side of the page.
Background music.
Text / background - combination of colours you cannot read.
Text superimposed onto an background image - sucks big time in the readability stakes.
Cursor tails of any description.


Likes -
Regularly updated sites showing the date of last update.
Large clear fonts
Fonts clear to read on whatever background they are on., like black on white / pale colour.
well laid out and simple to navigate.
Clear links to home and contact info on every page.
Printable pages - partic' if a sales site showing prices in right hand margin...........