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A major review of 450 venues? websites against a set of clear criteria has pointed to some basic principles that all arts website creators should bear in mind. Bob Wallis highlights the key elements of a winning web formula for arts venues.

We all have our favourite designs or quirks ? things we look for in a website ? things that annoy. Technical competence, usability, range and depth of content, functionality and effectiveness of approach are all important, and need to be considered in the design of a site.

Portable technology

Sites must be designed to work on a range of technologies ? ideally in the latest and the oldest versions of Netscape and Internet Explorer (IE).This is particularly relevant now that AOL is going to switch from IE to Netscape, bringing a large number of additional Netscape users online. Sites also need to work on a Macintosh or on a PC. The more complex the site the more likely it is to have problems.

Whilst users are now connecting at a faster line speed than previously, it remains important that the pages they request appear as quickly as possible on their screens. So don?t overload pages with images, and avoid compulsory large downloads such as video and sound. Ensure that the site is on a good server with a fast connection, and for dynamic sites, that the database is fast enough. The HTML delivered to the user must be accurate and appropriate, and provide tags on images so that the user can see what?s coming even before it arrives.

Static versus dynamic

At the planning stage it is vital to discuss how changes will be made. Will they need to be made by the web company, and at what cost? Can they be made by the venue in house staff, and if so do these people need to be trained in HTML? Some venues have clearly spent a considerable amount of money on the original design but have no means or resources to keep their sites up to date. Hence they have an expensive site populated by out of date information.

There are various ways to resolve this. If the venue has long running shows it can simply use static flat HTML pages and change them as it becomes necessary. This simply means that a page is designed, very much like a piece of print, with pictures and text. Some venues design a season page in this way and allow the visitor to scroll down to the current or future shows. This is fine at the beginning of the season but does not reflect well as the number of out of date shows increases.

The alternative to the ?static? approach is the ?dynamic? one. By pulling information from an underlying database ?Today?s Show? is always current. Old information is not presented to the visitor. This approach has its design limitations and is more complex to construct but two excellent examples are Birmingham NEC and the Royal Festival Hall as part of the South Bank site.

Equally you can only sustain competitions, offers and news if you have designed the site in a way that makes it easy to maintain these. Too many sites have out of date competitions, news from last year or a notice section that has said ?Coming Soon? for the past 6 months. Sadler?s Wells and Warwick Arts Centre are good at keeping these areas up to date.

Depth and detail

There are some excellent examples of how to provide detail in the listings and layers of information so that the visitor can delve more deeply into a particular production. Oxford Playhouse does this particularly attractively; as does Wakefield Theatre whose innovative idea of providing a list of other shows similar to the one the visitor is looking at seems to have been picked up by several venues. The best sites annotate their schedules to show Audio Described and Sign Interpreted performances as well as post show discussions and workshops. It would also be helpful if these could be made accessible from the home page, preferably with a large text option.

Maps and travel information are particularly well done by Wycombe Swan, which provides links to AA Roadwatch for traffic news, Multimap for a route-planner and Railtrack for train timetables. Belfast?s Odyssey Arena has an excellent visitor guide, which covers all the options for travel as well as providing hotel and restaurant advice. If I have a general criticism of venue websites it is that they are often too inward looking and don?t use external resources. Maps ? particularly in London ? often only show a couple of streets and a tube station. Interactive maps are helpful, as is local information about shops, eating places and hotels. If you don?t want to do these yourself there are many local information sites, some excellent local mapping resources and even hotel sites that will pay you a commission for booking referrals.

Nice sights

Another growing area of functionality is the virtual tour, which can mean anything from a set of stills to interactive 360° views of the building. I particularly like The Hawth?s because it is done with a set on stage, as is Soho Theatre?s, though I would like to see one done with an audience to create an atmosphere. Blackpool Grand provides a beautiful interior shot of the Matcham theatre, but my personal favourite, even though I can now see it every hour or so on BBC1, is the Minack webcam with its regularly refreshing views come rain or shine.

Online ticketing is an area of functionality which venues have found many different ways of tackling. From links to agencies, to integrated systems, to email requests and even bespoke shopping baskets (Norden Farm) it is obvious that the ability to close a sale is an important option for most websites. Trust and confidence are crucial, and it is essential to make clear to the potential purchaser exactly what is being offered. An email request is very different to a confirmed real-time purchase and you won?t win any fans by pretending that you are offering something you are not.

Expanding horizons

The Abbey Theatre in Dublin provides an excellent example of how to use the website as an educational resource, explaining the history of the building and the mechanics of how it works. Several venues make their technical specifications available as a download; some have their price list available for hirers; and others have password-protected areas for press contacts. The website is also the ideal place to put your annual report.

It is a positive sign that some venues are starting to see their websites as more than a brochure for their shows and are looking at creative ways to involve their customers and encourage them to return. Many sites have an email newsletter and some have a feedback form. The most pro-active are those such as Questors Theatre, Eastbourne Theatres and most successfully the National Theatre whose Talkback board generates some lively discussion and positive criticism.

This is an excellent model for a forward-looking site that is not afraid of dialogue with its audience.

Bob Wallis is Managing Director of Dynamic Listing Limited, e: bob@dynamiclisting.com

Web Rankings
Together with Robert and Frances Iles, Bob Wallis has undertaken a major review of venue websites, published in two reports, one for regional and the other for London venues. Click here to download a copy (MS Excel 97) of his ranking of the top 50 sites.