Web Editing

In chapter six, Carroll discussed the duties of an online editor and how those duties truly affect the experience of an Internet user.

In other words, a digital editor is the head of quality assurance on a website. When the site is first built, an editor wants to make sure everything is up and running like it is supposed to. It’s important to check for spelling and grammar on each story.

They will test usability of the site. They do that by:

-streamlining information for digital consumption

-make sure style is consistent

– each link goes to the correct page

-testing each task the user might want to perform.

In my opinion, multimedia use is the most important feature that websites have today. I want to watch the videos and read the tweets that are featured on each page. If the multimedia does not work on the page, I become a frustrated user. If I’m a web developer or an editor, I do not want to alienate the consumer (visitor). I want their experience to more than pleasant because that brings the possibility of them coming back to your website and becoming frequent users.

Case Study

I’m a huge NFL fan. I also like watching videos in my spare time. Therefore, NFL videos would be right up my alley. However, the video feature on NFL.com is awful. The videos are always sure to play a 30-second ad  but it struggles to play the content I came to the site for.

Since the usability of NFL.com is not up to par, I go to local affiliates and NFL.com’s competitors, such as ESPN, FOX Sports, CBS Sports, and NBC Sports. If your site isn’t usable, it is a very easy way of losing the customers of your product. There are always worthy competitors on the Internet.