ALBERTA VOTES 2008

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Election Blog Squad

It's about communication, part 3

February 20, 2008 | 08:00 AM
PaulPaul Bellows

I'm taking a look at the Wildrose Alliance and PC Party websites...

Wildrose Alliance Party
To be fair, although the Wildrose Alliance party is my least favourite website in terms of readability and navigation — it's busy and a little hard to find my way around — it actually beats out the PC party in terms of overall content. I had it last in my list, but moved it up one because I realized it was only aesthetic issues that had them behind the PC site.

The "Our Vision for Alberta" page is at least as comprehensive as the PC site, and I really like their "5 Point Plan for Alberta" that follows me around the site. There is a multimedia section with the obligatory links to Facebook and YouTube, but there is also a series of Podcasts (does two count as a series?) and a photo gallery that looks like they might start to use it some day.

PC Alberta
The Alberta PC party website is clear and easy to navigate, with good news feeds on the home page and logos from popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter populating the sidebar. But there's one thing missing from any prominent navigation point: a clear list of policies and plans.

It's easy to get to the leader's biography, and there is (under the News & Information link) a single page of policy overview, but nowhere near the detailed information available on other websites. The list of candidates is very helpful though. My previous comment about personal blogs that don't seem authentic is directed at this website.

Overall, I felt that sites were effective when there was a clear list of policies, good summaries of party vision, an easy way to learn about the candidate in my area and the opportunity to get involved or sign up for an e-mail list. For a province where past unwillingness to communicate was one of the major criticisms of the government, you'd think that every party would have spent the time to put together the best possible information.

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