Web Watch: Revisiting 404 Error Pages in UK University Web Sites - Ariadne


        
            
            Web Magazine for Information Professionals

            
                
                    Home
                
                    Coming issue
                
                    Archive
                
                    Authors
                
                    Articles
                
                    Guidelines
                
            
        



    
        Web Watch: Revisiting 404 Error Pages in UK University Web Sites

    


    
    
        
            
                Buzz

                
                    
                        
                        
                    
                        
                        
                            mis
                        
                    
                        
                        
                            url
                        
                    
                

            
        

        Citation

        	BibTex
	RIS


    
    
        Brian Kelly revists 404 Error Pages in UK University Web Sites.
    


    
        A survey of 404 error pages on UK University Web sites was carried in June 1999 and the findings were reported in Ariadne issue 20 [1]. After a period of 2 years the survey has been repeated allowing trends to be identified. The findings are given in this article.
Why are 404 pages important? Put simply, 404 error pages are probably one of the most visited pages on a Web site. If user's type a URL in incorrectly, or follow a link which has been entered incorrectly, or if the Web site has been reorganised the user will see the 404 page. So it is important to provide functionality and help information to assist the visitor finding the resource they are seeking. In addition, if your institution has invested in a look-and-feel for its Web site it is only sensible to ensure that the 404 page uses the branding.
Current Findings
Details of the current survey are given elsewhere [2]. A summary of the findings are listed below.
Table 1: Summary of Types of 404 Pages	Type of 404 Page	Findings 1999	Findings 2002
	Tailored message (displayed correctly in IE5)	36	88
	Tailored message (but problem in IE 5)	5	0
	Server default (which causes problems with default setting in IE 5)	114	65
	Issues redirect	2	1
	Mis-configured server	5	0

	Note
	The default setting for Internet Explorer version 5 means that Web server error messages below a particular size are not displayed; instead a client-side error message iss displayed.
	If a redirect is issued by a 404 page, this can cause navigation problems (the Back button may be difficult to use).

Trends
As can be seen from Table 1 there has been a significant trend towards use of tailored error messages. This is very pleasing, although there is still a large number of institutions which use the default server error message [3].
Conclusions
Commentary on interesting approaches to use of 404 error messages is not given in this article. However the suggestions given in the previous Ariadne article are still valid, and readers with an interest in updating their 404 error page are advised to read this article [1].
References
	WebWatch: 404s - What's Missing?, Ariadne, issue 20, June 1999
http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue20/404/
	Results of Survey of UK HE 404 Errors Carried Out in June 2002, Brian Kelly, UKOLN, June 2002
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/surveys/404/university-404-survey-jun-02.html
	Summary Of Results of Survey of UK HE 404 Errors Carried Out in June 2002, Brian Kelly, UKOLN, June 2002
http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/surveys/404/university-404-survey-jun-02.html#summary

Author Details
 Brian Kelly
UK Web Focus
UKOLN
University of Bath
Bath
BA2 7AY
Email: b.kelly@ukoln.ac.uk
Brian Kelly is UK Web Focus. He works for UKOLN, which is based at the University of Bath


    


    
        

    
    
Facebook





    
    
Twitter





    
    
Google+





    
    
E-Mail





    
    
Pinterest





    
    
    
    
LinkedIn




    


        
            Ariadne is published by Loughborough University Library

            © Ariadne ISSN: 1361-3200. See our explanations of Access Terms and Copyright and Privacy Statement.