Election 2004: Website Reviews (Episode #1)

So here’s how the mini series is going to work. Each time I will pick a topic and discuss the various party stands and comments regarding the topic. Based on how well they do, I will award them from 0 to 3 points, where 3 is the best. And occasionally, like tonight, I will pick a more fun topic. Note that I will stick to the five parties that hold the majority of support in public opinion polls – Liberals, Conservatives, NDP, Bloc Québécois, and Green Party. Tonight, we review party websites!

Liberal Party – http://www.liberal.ca
The Liberal website is quite clean looking and not too flashy. It has quite a few useful tools for voters like candidate profiles, election ads, and stories in the news. The best part of this site in my opinion is that it uses the latest technology! The main page features a Flash 7 animation, and the entire site is written in ASP.NET.
Awarded: 3 Points

Conservative Party – http://www.conservative.ca/
Similar to the Liberal site, the Conservative website uses Flash 7. Unfortunately, they only use ASP and not ASP.NET! At least its still Microsoft I suppose. The website is very sharp looking, with well designed pictures. The Conservative site also includes a number of useful tools, very similar to the Liberal site.
Awarded: 2 Points

NDP – http://www.ndp.ca/
Does anyone remember the old HotBot search engine? It worked pretty good for it’s day, but it was UGLY. And the NDP Party’s site is no different. This site looks like it is a tribute to HotBot with ugly orange, yellow and neon green colors. I think Jack Layton should fire his marketing people and get a real color scheme. And having to download a PDF to read the platform is stupid. Give me at least a list in HTML.
Awarded: 0 Points

Bloc Québécois – http://www.bloc.org/
So I fire up the Bloc’s site. French, okay no problem. Search page for English. Nothing. Search page for Anglais. Nothing. Oh yeah! I remember now! They are separatists. I hope they win so we can get rid of them. Oh and the guy in their banner looks like a contact lense commercial.
Awarded: 0 Points

Green Party – http://www.greenparty.ca/
My favorite color is green, so this site gets points right off the bat. Unfortunately, the site is written in php, but it more than makes up for that in design! The website is beautiful and extremely well laid out. They also have stuff like the latest news and event listings. Good job on this site!
Awarded: 3 Points

So there you have it! The first campaign issue has been explored (somewhat) and the first points have been awarded. Until the next episode, here are the current standings:

1. Liberal Party – 3 points
2. Green Party – 3 points
3. Conservatives – 2 points
4. NDP – 0 points
5. Bloc Québécois – 0 points