Survey of 404 Error Pages For Selected Web Sites

The following table gives a summary of 404 error pages for selected Web sites for participants on the "QA For Web Sites" workshop held prior to the ILI 2004 Conference.

A summary of the column headings is given below.

Web Site
Name of college and link to Web site
Tailored 404 Page?
Y if Web site appear to have a tailored 404 page, and does not use the server default
Description
Brief comments on the 404 page
Rating *-****
* - simple 404 page with little, if any branding
** - 404 page with some elements of branding, navigational bars, help information, etc.
*** - sophisticated 404 page which is fully branded and contains navigational bars, help information, etc.
**** - sophisticated 404 page with additional functionality, such as personalisation.
Try It
View the project 404 page

The ratings have an element of subjectivity. To help in interpreting their meaning additional information is given below.

Table : Explanation Of Ratings
Rating Description Example
- Server default message.  
* May mention name of the Web site but has little or no branding, navigational bars or help information.
** Has some elements of branding, navigational bars or help information, but not all.  
*** Has all elements of branding, navigational bars and help information.
**** Has all elements of branding, navigational bars and help information. In addition provides additional functionality, such as personalised information, information on referrer field, etc.  

 

Table 1: 404 Survey Of Web Sites
  Organisation Tailored 404 Page? Description Rating
*-****
Try It
1 ILI 2004 Conference Web Site Y Error message, but no organisational details, branding or help * Check
2 Framley Museum (fictional) Y Photograph but no organisational details, branding or help * Check
3 Estrella Mountain Community College Y Branded and navigational bar, but slightly misleading message ** Check
4 American University of Beirut Y Branded, navigational bar and helpful error messages *** Check
5 NATO N Server default   Check
6 Public Service Commission (Possibly incorrect address) Y Branded but no navigation or help. * Check
7 education.au Limited N Server default   Check
8 National Library Board N Server default   Check
9 University Library of Oslo Y Branded and bilingual help information ** Check
10 AFFRC N Server default   Check
11 Anglo American Corporation of South Africa        

The information in the table was collected on 4th October 2004.

Notes

Please note the following: