Blog #2: Website Evaluation of www.betdania.com

The website I evaluated was betdania.com.  This website is for Dania Jai-Alai, “home of the world’s fastest game.”  When I first opened the website I thought, what is Dania Jai-Alai?? They have helmets like horse racers, wear uniforms like slowpitch softball players, use something that looks like a hollow boomerang, and play in a racquetball-type facility.  Instantly, I looked at how the game was played.  That was easily accessible on the homepage.  The game is similar to handball or racquetball.  However, unlike racquetball where it is a closed court, this court has three walls so the fans can watch the game.  The ball is hurled against the wall where the opponent has to catch the ball in the air or the first bounce. The first team that scores either 7 or 9 points wins.   

My first frustration of the website was viewing how the game is played.  There are three sections on the website about how the game is played: the court, how it’s played, and how it’s scored.  The three parts change every 30 seconds on the website.  Trying to understand this game was difficult.  I would read the “how it’s played” portion and then begin to re-read to understand more and before I could finish, the “how it’s scored” part would pop up.  There is no way to go back to the previous one without it cycling around again.  So, I would have to wait for it to come back around. 

When you first enter the site, there are tabs on top to help you navigate easily.  The tabs are Jai-Alai, Players, Poker, The Program, Instant Info, and Dania Buzz.  This first thing I noticed was that as soon as you click on a tab, or enter a new part of the site, there is no easy way to get back to the homepage.  Also, the website is for a casino.  However, there is no address on the homepage for the casino. 

Once you start clicking on the tabs the information is short and precise.  It does a great job of getting their information and major points across and to help you better understand what exactly they offer.  Since they are a casino, they also have a responsible gambling tab, which all casinos websites should have.  I do believe the website is easy to navigate and is easily accessible.  One thing I would change is to put their address right on their homepage.  To locate the address you have to scroll to the bottom of the page and select “General Info.”  To get back to the homepage to locate the address you have to find the home button on the bottom of the page.  However, some of the pages do not even have a home button option.  So, you will have to navigate to a different page to find the home button to return to the homepage.  This seems like a lot of work for something that could be easily fixed. 

One of their best assets is the pictures the website provides.  Obviously not many people know what Dania Jai-Alai is.  They do a great job providing pictures for people to better understand the game and what the casino provides.  Overall, this is a solid website but could improve on making it easier to navigate through the pages.