Analysis of BOC website usability

Bank Of Ceylon is one of the leading commercial banks in Sri Lanka.It is a reputed government bank and it was awarded as the no 1 brand in Sri Lanka-Brand finance.Now a days banking industry is becoming more competitive.Therefore to have a competitive edge I think  the website usability is more important because most of the people are interested in online banking.
Now I'm going to apply 25 point website usability checklist to the BOC website.

http://web.boc.lk/

Accessability

1. site load- time is reasonable. 

        BOC site load time is reasonable.It takes less than 10 seconds.

    2.Adequate text-to-background contrast

      We can clearly see the black text in the white background.Website is consisting with contrasting colors such as  black,yellow and white.

    3. Fontsize/spacing is easy to read
  It has enough space between headings and subheadings.But I think it will be better if it has little big font size than existing one.

    4.Flash&add‐ons are used sparingly
    It has used flash and add-ons in its header.

 
   5.Images have appropriate ALT tags
     The web site is consisting with images which have appropriate tag lines.When we click on the images it provide us description of that image.

   6. Site has customnot‐found/404 page
    Site doesn't have customized page.Therefore it's a drawback of the site.

Identity

7. Company logo is prominently placed
  Company logo is properly placed in a identifiable manner.It is an eye catching logo.

8. Tagline makes company’s purpose clear
Its tagline gives the clear idea about the company activities.It includes current promotions and advertising.

9.Home‐page is digestible in 5 seconds
It takes less than 5 seconds.

10. Clear path to company information
company has clear path to information with a tag line of about in the top ribbon right corner.

11. Clear path to contact information
It has clear path to contact information with a tag line of contact in the top ribbon in the right corner.


Navigation

12. Main navigation is easily identifiable
There are two main tabs.One tab is included About,Network,Download,Community and Contact.It is placed in the right corner of the top of the page.In the middle of the page there is a another tab which has different labels such as personal,development assistant, global research,investment and corporate.

13.Navigation labels are clear&concise
Those tabs are clear but they are not placing in a attractive manner.

14.Number of buttons/link is reasonable
It has reasonable number of buttons and links.

15. Company logo is linked to home‐page
when we click on the BOC logo,It is directly linked to the home-page.

16. Links are consistent&easy to identify
There are so many links to each category.As a example under personal category there are links such as current accounts,savings accounts,loans and etc.

17. Site search is easy to access 
 Yes of course.Its site search is easy to access.

Content

18. Major headings are clear & descriptive
The main tabs are in grey color block letters in white background.It can identify clearly but it will be better if it has a dark color letters than grey.It doesn't take the attention immediately.

19. Critical content is above the “fold”

It has 3 critical contents in the header and they are changing advertisements.It gives the information about their current promotions such as MEGA WASI,discounts on their debit cards and their achievement as a no.1 brand.

20. Styles&colors are consistent  
Overall it has good color combination and proper design.This color combination looks professional.

21. Emphasis(bold, etc.) is used sparingly
Main tabs are bold to get the attention of their clients.Under those headings there are bold sub headings too.

22. Ads&pop‐ups are unobtrusive
BOC is advertising their critical contents in the header as pop-ups

23. Main copy is concise & explanatory
The main copy is all about what their clients wants such as online banking,rates and ATM locator.Therefore it is convenient to their clients.

24.URLs are meaningful & user‐friendly 
The URL is also name of the company web.boc.lk

25.HTML page titles are explanatory

It doesn't explain the job title in html page.html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
	<head>

According to my perspective I think BOC web site is an user-friendly web site.Through this analysis I have recognized some  drawbacks and those drawbacks don't create major issues to their clients.But any how if they are trying to improve those areas it will become a more attractive and more user friendly web site.

cheers,
Isuru