PasifikaNET!
[November 2003]
Note: This site is no longer on line and so this link has been removed.
[September 2002] PasifikaNET's mission is to help improve networking and interaction within the Pasifika community both locally and abroad. Through the medium of the Internet, PasifikaNET provides an online database of community groups and organisations, religious and sports groups, businesses and individuals, thereby providing a snapshot of the diversity of Pacific Island pursuits and endeavours.
The About page fills in details of the purpose of the website while the Help page provides useful information for those not sure how to use the site or how to get listed. A Contact page offers a form to contact the web team and the Get Listed page lets you provide a lot of information to request a free listing.
Unfortunately the space on the contact form is small, making it hard to see what you're writing if you have more than a sentence or two and the site doesn't give you an email address so you can't use your email software if you prefer.
The Get Listed form has some fields which are required and these are marked by an asterisk. It would be useful to move the asterisk from after the field to before the name of the information required as that makes it easier for those listening to the page to identify what they need to fill in. It's great to see an asterisk being used though, as many sites use bold or red for this, which are both useless for a number of visitors who can't see the colour or the bolding.
Searching for information was quick and easy, though a bit erratic. There's a Search button where you can enter text, or you can use the Quick Links at the bottom of the Home Page to easily find a category such as Legal Services or Religious Organisations, or to search by Island, such as Vanuatu or Cook Island.
The Quick Link easily found several results for Vanuatu, but a Search for Vanuatu turned up nothing.
The left hand navigation puts the Home Button at the bottom - a rather curious spot for a button which is commonly at the top of such listings.
The graphics and colours are very appealing, but none of the images have alt text for those visiting with graphics off. This makes for a somewhat confusing experience.
This New Zealand-created site has a lot of potential to be very valuable for Pacific Island peoples around the world. With a bit of tidying it should be an excellent resource.
Note: This site is no longer on line and so this link has been removed.