esPrix 2005 – mauer_reste
The award winner
Hans-Stefan Bolz, University of Bonn
“The website is the result of studies on site, which I did during my “Berlin time” 2003/04 alongside my studies of art history".
Evaluation of the jury
Summary
mauer_reste documents the visible remains of the Berlin Wall on Bernauer Straße, mainly with its own historical images and those taken from literature. In addition, background information and further information are available.
The submission fulfils all esPrix criteria: the content is well structured, graphically appealing and very user-friendly, presented with different media and implemented in a media-friendly way.
Images and quotations are provided with references.
Content
The content is technically correct and is based on the requirements of a seminar in basic studies.
The topic is well structured (historical, topographical, theoretical and practical part) and divided into linguistic units.
The language is generally understandable, but could be improved stylistically, for example by using shorter sentences to avoid nested sentences, which sometimes make up an entire paragraph.
The “good scientific practice” is adhered to. External images are provided with references, the literature used is indicated, as well as the origin of the videos in the form of links. Only in the audio examples the information on source and copyright is missing. It can be assumed that the pictures without indication of source are from the author himself. This should be pointed out in the imprint, also in the sense of copyright protection for the own pictures. Helpful would be short comments to the listed literature and links.
Media
The range of media used is appropriate in terms of technology and content. Text, images, animated images (gif format), sound and videos are used. The application suitable for the media can be seen, for example, in the additional offer of the “Spaziergang” as a printable pdf file and in the before and after views from the same perspective.
The interactivity is rather cautious. There is a reasonable and detailed link structure and occasionally changing pictures on MouseOver, which show before and after views, some even from the same angles. The links in the link collection are named appropriately; a short commentary would be helpful as well.
The city map in the geographical overview is based on a template that is too detailed, so that no details are visible. Here, detailed sections like in the “Spaziergang” would be helpful. The previous offer is too small. The same applies to the “schematic structure”: the inscription of the template is not readable even in the enlargement. The zoom level would have to be adjusted or a graphic conversion adapted to the scale would have to be used or made.
The “Spaziergang” is also available as a printable version and can thus be used as a travel guide, which is also graphically appealing.
Design
The design is very attractive. The individual web page consists of a static (left) and a dynamic part (right). Clear and consistent principles are recognizable, such as black and white illustrations or – as the only use of color – the “green” for navigation.
The texts are set in an easily readable format, high-contrast (black on white) and legible in terms of line size and font. As an improvement, syllabification or ragged margin could be used to prevent individual lines of text from being pulled apart in a reader-unfriendly manner (see “Spaziergang”, nos. 16, 18).
Usability
The navigation is very user-friendly. You can always navigate to the different contents. Only in the texts on history, history and structure, orientation is not guaranteed in principle, because the headline is only displayed at the top and bottom of the page. Therefore it would be helpful to highlight the active chapter in the navigation bar. Overall, the link structure is very clear and the icons are easy to understand.
(Dr. Stefan Brenne, Dr. Bettina Pfleging)
