Escapism at its Best!
Review by Amanda Vargas on July 20, 2005
RateThatSoldier.com offers a fun escape from the drudgery of daily life. It offers a different perspective on the military regardless of what your political opinions are!
I was able to check out RateThatSoldier.com through two methods…DSL and dial-up connection. Additionally, I adjusted the settings (resolution and colors) on my monitor to determine how different views affect the aesthetic portion of the website. This should enable me to provide you with a better overall review of this website.
Obviously from my short statement, it’s apparent that this is a fun, good-time sort of website that I feel offers an escape from the day-to-day rat race. Keeping that in mind, it is crucial that it maintain a no problems concept when manoeuvring around the site. I did not encounter any issues of this type while I was wandering the site (without registering).
The home page loads quite quickly on the DSL connection (nearly instantaneous despite the photograph) and relatively fast on even the dial-up connection. This is a great plus, because many photo oriented websites can take a long time to load for those without the faster DSL / broadband connections. I did think that the grays of the home page were somewhat of a dull look for this website…while they are not horrible, I think that adding some color to the whole scheme would improve that first glance at the homepage (even though the eye is quite naturally drawn to the picture that pops up). However, even with the somewhat dull monotone approach, there is a professional consistency in the site. This is a large plus in that it ensures that the eye is not assaulted with blinking lights and bright colors from all angles. As I mentioned, I was able to view the site with various resolutions and colors, in doing so, I only disliked the quality at my lowest pixel setting (800 x 640) as it made the pictures appear distorted.
As to the design and content, I must say that I suggest moving the “rating” bar to beneath the pictures. At a glance, I thought this bar was to scroll through the pictures, reversing the location of the “additional photos” and “rating” would be useful as many people make assumptions rather than reading labels…especially on the Internet. I do like the fact that the entire homepage is essentially visible without having to scroll at the 1024 x 768 pixels setting. For a site such as this one, I feel that this ease of manoeuvrability is a huge plus. Actually, the simplicity of moving throughout the website is essential to keeping the interest of the visitor.
Personally, I feel that the subdued nature of the advertising and the graphics is a great contrast to the vibrancy of the pictures that have been submitted. One is easily aware that the links and advertisers are there if they are interested, but they do not detract from the site’s purpose. As I stated before, I think the silver / grey design is a bit bland, but I would not suggest straying too far from these subdued tones.
My overall impression of this site is that it is intended to be a pleasurable, good time site visit. The fact that the advertisers correspond with the fun nature of the site is proof of a design plan well done. The general simplicity of the site, through color scheme, navigation, and graphics helps to keep the upbeat concept that is in line with “rating the soldiers.”
| Content | Accessibility | Design | Features | Overall |
| 8/10 | 9/10 | 9/10 | 9/10 | 9.5/10 |
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