Survey of 404 Error Pages For Selected Web Sites in the NEMLAC Region

The following table gives a summary of 404 error pages for selected Web sites in the NEMLAC (North East Museums, Libraries and Archives Council) region.

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	NEMLAC	N	Server default		Check
2	Discovery Museum	Y	Branded, attractive design, navigation bar and search facility	***	Check
3	Hexham Libraries	Y	Application Server default		Check
4	Newcastle Library	N	Server default		Check
5	Hartlepool Borough Libraries	N	Server default		Check
6	Northumberland Record Office	N	ISP Server default	*	Check
7	Tyne & Wear Museums	Y	Branded, with navigational bar and accessibility aids	***	Check
8	Hadrian's Wall	Y	Minimal information		Check

The information in the table was collected on 10^th September 2004.

Notes

Please note the following:

The online version of this page allows the latest findings to be obtained.

Summary

A summary of the findings is given below.

**Table 2: Summary**
Tailored 404 Page	4	50%
Default 404 Page	4	50%

- Rating	5	62.5%
* Rating	1	12.5%
** Rating	0	0%
*** Rating	2	5%
**** Rating	0	0%