Survey Of 404 Error Pages For A Sample Of Colleges In The South West

The following table gives a summary of 404 error pages for a selection of FE colleges in the South West.

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
  Project Tailored 404 Page? Description Rating
*-****
Try It
1 Exeter College N Server default   Check
2 North Devon College N Server default   Check
3 Richard Huish College N Server default   Check
4 Penwith College N Server default   Check
5 Swindon College Y Branded with logo and help information *** Check
6 Weymouth College N Server default   Check
7 RSC South West N Server default   Check

The information in the table was collected on 19th November 2002.

Notes

Please note the following:

Summary

Summary

A summary of the findings is given below.

Table 2: Summary
Tailored 404 Page 1 14%
Default 404 Page 6 86%
- Rating 6 86%
* Rating 0 0%
** Rating 0 0%
*** Rating 1 14%
**** Rating 0 0%