Benchmarking Web Sites Workshop For RSC South East - 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 "Benchmarking For Web Sites" workshop for RSC South East which will be held at Reading College and School of Arts & Design, Wokingham Road campus on 16 th November 2004.

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 RSC SE Web Site N Server default   Check
2 Reading College N Server default   Check
3 Basingstoke College Of Technology Y Branded, bavigational bars, contact details and search box. *** Check
4 Bexhill College N Server default Contains missing image Check
5 The Henley College N Server default   Check
6 Itchen College N Server default   Check
7 Henley Management College Y Branded, navigational bars - but then redirects to home page ** Check

The information in the table was collected on 12th November 2004.

Notes

Please note the following:

Summary

A summary of the findings is given below.

Table 2: Summary
Tailored 404 Page 2 28.6%
Default 404 Page 5 71.4%
- Rating 5 71.4%
* Rating 0 0%
** Rating 1 14%
*** Rating 1 14%
**** Rating 0 12%