The index pages on the BBC Sport website have changed. We have gradually moved them to a modified layout.
There are a number of reasons for this but this is mainly a reaction to how much the website has changed and developed since the last major relaunch in early 2003.
These changes aim to make it easier for you to find and use the following:
- Audio and video material
- Original journalism and interactive features
- Have your say or read what others are saying
- Information on events, including BBC TV and radio schedules
- All the latest sports news in the first screen without scrolling
- Live coverage of events - scores, text coverage, audio or video
All our decisions behind these changes are based on recent user testing and we successfully trialled the new layout during the recent World Snooker Championship.
You can read what people have already been saying about the designs, along with our responses below:
One section that is always good to have is the gossip area. I read this every day and am sad to not find it in its usual place today.
Kevin Noll,
UK
Where has 'The Gossip Column' from the football section gone?
Lee Bailey, England
Where's the 'What the papers say' section. Right that's me off to another website on a permanent basis as it was one of the highlights to your page.
Gregg Kendall, UK
BBC Sport response:
Rest assured that we have no plans to get rid of our football gossip column - far from it. Indeed it is consistently one of the most popular services on the whole site.
But it is quite clear from the volume of emails we have received that some people have been unable to find the gossip column under the new layout.
So just to make it clear, the column can be found on the left-hand side of the Sport homepage under the "Extras" heading.
In addition to this, there is a prominent picture link on the right-hand side of the central block on the Football homepage.
In response to the feedback we have received, we have also added a permanent link to the left-hand navigation of the Football pages to make it easier to find this daily feature.
And if you enjoy the gossip column there is now a new way to check out our regular round-up of rumours and transfer tittle-tattle - via an RSS feed.
Our RSS service will deliver the latest updates to the gossip column directly to you, rather than you having to search for it yourself.
I really like the way the BBC gradually phases in website changes rather than go for complete redesigns on an annual basis. I wish more websites would go down this route. As for my opinions on the new design, I'm not sure. There seems to be a little too much white space and the black banner with white writing pointing to other stories section seems too prominent. Having said that though I'm sure soon I won't even notice the changes and the website will still remain to be one of the few I visit daily.
Tim Mustill, UK
Don't like the new sport layout too much space, the tight see-all-in-one version was better. G
Gareth, UK
BBC Sport response:
One of the main findings of our research was that people felt the index pages were too "busy", with too much going on.
We deliberately spaced out the content and introduced more white space to make it easier for people to read the links and find the content they are after.
But, as ever, we will weigh up people's responses before we decide whether we have introduced the correct amount of white space to the page or whether we need to think again.
Please move the ticker tape back to the top!!
It takes up too much room in the middle, everything else is fine.
Mike, UK
Move the little latest-news ticker back to where it was - well, to the top of the page above the two-column-wide lead story and picture - and make sure the ticker entries are either one full line or two full lines of text long - a line and a word, as at the moment, looks weak.
Other than that, I like it, and I tend not to be a fan of change.
Chris M. Dickson, United Kingdom
BBC Sport response:
We want to change the focus of our front page ticker and this was the main reason for moving it to the middle of the page.
In the past the ticker has always just promoted "latest" news - but at certain times of the day it often became dated.
So we wanted to liven up the ticker by introducing the ability to flag up different content - including fixtures, results and events that might be coming up.
Moving its position was an attempt to show that the ticker was a new product. But we are aware from some people's responses that there may be usability issues about the positioning, so we will look at this again.
Am using Firefox and the news ticker tends to run out of space before the whole title is displayed.
Tom, England
The Latest News scroller does not fit into the space provided.Surely it should fold round into the blank space below rather than miss of the end of the headline
Kevin, England
BBC Sport response:
Please try clearing your cache (press Ctrl and F5 together) which we think fixes this issue.
Please let us know via this page if you still have problems after that.
Not convinced about the new layout. Seems to be biased towards those who want video and audio clips and not those who just want the sporting news.
Tim, UK
I dont really like the new format, as it gives to much prominence to audio video features, which i dont generally use. It is now not as easy to view the headlines. However I enjoy the journalism features
Dan Lautman, England
BBC Sport response:
Sports news will always be the absolute priority for the website - which is why we were keen to get more stories into the top half of the screen than the three we previously had.
The biggest news stories of the day now occupy the top of the page - underneath that comes a mix of audio-video, in-depth features and other content.
Audio-video is increasingly important for our audience - usage of this sort of content has exploded in recent months, largely because broadband connections have become so common. And we now have some genuinely compelling audio-video content - particularly around live events, such as video of Royal Ascot and audio of Test Match Special cricket.
So we want to be able to offer people the chance to follow the best BBC Sport has to offer on TV and radio - without down-grading the text news service that we know remains crucial to so many of you.
I really don't like the new format. It is cumbersome and reading across is less easy on the eye. The old format with three headlined stories with the sports underneath that in a column format was a lot more accessible to the user.
Jez Durrant, UK
Sorry, but I dislike having just one main story with an additional paragraph and all other stories relegated to just headlines. The more detailed approach on the 3 main stories on all pages allowed some sifting of what you wanted. All your updates so far have been wonderful, but I can't agree with this one, sorry
Paul, N Ireland
Not keen at all on the new layout, previously everything was easy to see and there were lots of headlines for all the different sports whereas now you have to specifically look at 'Motorsport' or 'Football' to see more than 1 or 2 headlines, so will probably not catch the headlines of the more unusual/less popular sports.
Chris, UK
I have to admit that it was easier to spot the areas of interest on the old page layout. However, this could have been due to the fact that we had got used to it during previous years. Maybe, It is worth giving the new layout a try before judging, as it seems that you have still not yet completed the changes.
Shawki , Lebanon
Before, you had usually three new stories with "headlines" above the bar and it
was easy to figure out what was new; now not so much, except that stories already visited are lighter than not visited. I like emphasis on what's happening,
but editorial content is great and I would like to see more in-depth analysis - there are many many sites to keep up with F1 daily (I have five or six just in
my bookmarks bar myself) but a lot of the content is repetitive and/or PR releases, so more explanations, commentary, especially for those of us who cannot
tune in to BBC ITV, etc but have followed F1 for years can keep up with you Brits. Thanks.
Scott Mahaffey,
United States
BBC Sport response:
This is the most common type of negative comment we've received.
However, one of the things people have told us in user surveys and testing is that they like the extra background material we do and a rapidly growing number now use the audio/video and messageboard services.
Scott's comment above is a case in point about people wanting analysis as well as latest information, and many people have told us that they would like it to be easier to find - provided we still make the biggest stories and latest scores as obvious as ever.
As well as making the "extra" content more obvious, one of the other aims is to get more stories into the higher part of the page - the first screen.
We have actually expanded the number of latest stories/scores at the top of each page. In the old days there were just three and now we actually have at least seven on almost every page.
If these are not obvious enough then perhaps we should look again at highlighting them a little more. As Shawki suggests, we will keep reviewing the changes we've made and the impact they are having with our users.
We also hope that once people have used it for a few days or weeks it should be clear how older content "flows" down (and eventually off) the page.
I think the new layout is far less friendly on the eye. It makes each page seem 'dry' and 'technical'. It breaks up the main pane too much so there is far
less of a focus, and stops the page seeming 'newsy'. The page ends up looking more like a 'useful links' page.
Stuart Doole,
UK
BBC Sport response:
One of our other aims is to provide more useful linking to content everywhere around the web as well as on the BBC site.
Unfortunately the new style moves away from the very successful 3 column format. I find it easy to work with the old site - navigation left, main content
centre and extras on the right.
I think that all content should be structured in the same way, but by using icons to distinguish between audio, video, pictures, live etc.
Most important to me when looking at the collection pages is understanding the timing of articles - this is more confusing in the new style.
Finally if you are going away from the three column set up in the collection pages I think you will need to change the content pages too.
Simon,
UK
BBC Sport response:
We are indeed going to focus next on our "content" pages - stories, features and others - with all that in mind.
However the pages are still built around the three columns. Hopefully the use of the audio and video icons will help you find what you need.
Why on earth are you changing things. You have one of the best sites in the world and everyone knows how to use it, so it baffles me why you feel the need to
change things. I hope you make a better job of your redesign than the Weather folk. In my opinion and that of almost every usability expert you don't fix
what's not broken.
Will,
Scotland
BBC Sport response:
Much of what we're doing is based on research into its usability and suitability for a rapidly changing sports agenda. One of the challenges we have to face, as well as the growth of usage of audio/video, is the need for our content to change from weekends (when the sports agenda is dominated by live action) to weekdays (when sports news stories dominate), and this layout gives us the flexibility we think we (and you) need.
I think the revamp of the sports pages is confusing. It's no longer clear where the latest news is, and what the chronological order of the
articles is.
For instance, at the moment on the motorsport page there is formula 1 at the top-right of the page, and the bottom-middle of the page. Which is the more
recent?
Mike,
UK
On the Motorsport index page there are two banks of F1 news. This is a little confusing, I guess the one at the top is the latest news right? You could maybe
put a subhead in saying this.
Sean Boxer,
Canada
BBC Sport response:
This is a very good point which we should perhaps look at - as you might have guessed the latest and/or most important stories are at the top.
Too much of the page is given up to "special features" and the news is squashed into the top.
helena,
UK
The page does have a clearer layout but at what cost? There seems to be less news then before - especially on the formula one pages!
Brian,
UK
I would prefer the last layout of the web-site rather than the new one. I found the old one is more user friendly and much logical and eariler to search the
news in BBC website. Thank you
Tommy, New Zealand
I have some problems with them, actually. There appears to be less information on the page (which is a good thing if there is actually the same amount of
information), and I'm not sure where to look - where are the latest headlines, what section does information fall into?
I find it quite difficult to sort the information into stuff I've read (or made a previous decision not to read) from stuff that I haven't, because the
links now seem more spread out over the page, and not so much organised under specific headings.
Chris Collingridge,
UK
The pages don't seem to be as strong on content as they used to be.
Vicky,
UK
The overall page looks less full than before - this may be good or it may give the impression that there's less to read.
Generally, English speakers read from left to right. So we look to the left for the start of things and for the most important bits of information. So having the 'Motorsport Extras' and 'Get into F1' on the left with hard news items away to the right, would seem completely daft. Switch it round.
Nick Hing,
UK
F1 main page. I would move the highlights section from above the slightly older headlines to below them. It is too easy to miss the headlines, especially if they do not have a corresponding grooup in the main headline section.
Either that or split them (features & secondary headlines, leave the main ones as they are I like that) into three columns.
Ieuan Johns,
Port Talbot, UK
Being a regular reader of the Motor Sports page, it doesn't quite work as laid out.
I don't like the three links to Formula 1, the main highlight article, the main Formula 1 stories then the other Formula 1 stories. Three places to look :(
Also, I don't like the magazine elements dominating the page. Some of these are really stale (F1's changing face for example) and for a frequent visitor will
be very unlikely to be of interest.
I think I'd prefer the More Highlights at the bottom of the page, and a single grouping for each topic, perhaps with a break within the topic, highlighting
new articles.
Ian Spencer,
UK
BBC Sport response:
We'd like to reassure everyone that there is just as much content as before - and hopefully the central block will help unearth some real gems that you might have previously missed.
Our plan is to see how it settles down over a few weeks to see whether people can follow the latest content - or that which they have and have not read - so please let us know if it gets any easier or harder!
As for Nick's point about left to right, that is indeed the thinking behind having more of the latest stories to the left of the main story, but we're also keen that people do not miss the "extras" content since all the research shows how much those that find it really value it.
Nah, bring back the old layouts. I don't want
video or audio because it never actually works
when I click on it anyway. Anywhere. So take
it off my screen and give me some useful
content instead.
Simon,
UK
The new design, with quick access to multimedia
is great. However, I feel that it restricts the
archive links to some extent, but that's always
a compromise, unless the page is to be made
enormous.
I am disappointed to see that the multimedia is
only provided in 2 closed formats, wmv and
real. I'd like to see it in an open format like
mpeg4, which is playable without invasive
"media players".
Ian McDonald,
Scotland
I would like to see more audio content for
windows media player. Using a 'company' laptop,
it in not possible to use real player or have
it installed without good reason.
Mitch Paris,
Sudbury Suffolk
BBC Sport response:
Our audio/video usage has more than trebled since we really took a step forward with it for last year's Athens Olympics so we're convinced that more and more people are finding it easier to use.
That said, we are constantly monitoring the question of quality and formats to see where we can improve it.
Most of what we do is in the Windows Media format as well as Real and the BBC is actively investigating how to make audio and video as widely available as possible.
It's all very well giving the site a cosmetic
overhaul but the basics still need sorting!
Your forums are horrendous! Change the format
to a newsgroup so we can use our news readers,
get rid of the 'opening & closing' times, and
why is it so dog slow? You are the Beeb! You
should have fast news servers!!! People forget
what the internet is about, web pages are
turning into magazines! I want speed and easy
access.
Stuart, England
At long last the penny's dropped. I was very
happy and use to enjoy writing in to your
Grandstand web site with my comments. Sadly,
when I tried to register with your five live
web site and went to log on, I kept on being
told that I needed to register when I already
had. When I tried to complain or ask you to
get it sorted, I was given all types of reasons
and told to do all kinds of different things
which didn't work, so in the end I gave up
trying to log on. Which is a pitty because
I've had some interesting comments to make
about resent sporting events. Lets hope you
have now finally sorted it out and I can my
contribution again. Steve Bush, Jaywick,
Essex.
Stephen Bush,
ESSEX, ENGLAND.
BBC Sport response:
Hopefully Stephen and Stuart you will be pleased to hear that our messageboards are about to be relaunched on a new, more stable system with a much simpler registration method.
For some of the sports this is literally days away and for 606, our football messageboard, the change will happen before the start of the new season.
We'd also like to make this content available by RSS so watch this space.
I prefer the old format. I like to keep up with US sport and now when I click on the 'US sport' icon in 'other sport' all I get is the 'top' US story, not a choice of stories like on the old format. At the moment I can only access two US sport stories, but in the old format there was always a much bigger choice, with older stories available too.
Alison, England
You are making even more difficult to access US
sports results for MLB, NFL etc. US Sports used
to have its own section accessed from the main
sports section.
Mark Gillespie, UK
I don't much like the new layout as it mixes
the "features" in with "news". I preferred it
before when the main body of the page contained
links to news articles with features being
listed very much separately along the right
hand side of the page.
Amedeo Felix,
UK
I'm not a fan of the current US Sports layout.
I would rather pick which story I want to read
rather than be taken to the most recent article
when I click on the US Sport link.
It is then a bind to locate other recent
articles in the bottom right area of that page.
If a lot of stories come in quick succession
and I miss a day or 2 then I could not see a
whole story at all.
Matt Chambers,
Scotland
I follow American sports and I'm finding it a
nightmare keeping up with them through your
website. One siomple example is the lack of a
link to the MLB standings from the MLB results
page!
Andy,
England
Nevermind about new designs, where are the
baseball reports?
Denny Hendy,
England
This just seems to get worse and worse. And the
amount of space you give to US sports is a
joke. The NBA finals are just around the corner
and I have really struggled to keep up with
scores and stories this season through your
website. You used to have quite a good set up
but this seems to be cut more and more. US
sports are a big pull, please give them the
coverage they deserve.
Simon Holmes,
UK
I think in your changes to your site there has
to be changes to the sections.
While there is US sports section the same news
is covered in the US sports section in the
other sports section.
At the present time the fact that there is a US
sports section while there is no section for
sports in most of the rest of the world
itleaves one to wonder if BBC is biased.
Chris ,
Canada
i think that this current new design to the website is very confusing!! i realy like the old design but i think you could just add more links off the page eg. basketball results
will,
bedford uk
still no standigs or the latest scores for the
mlb what are you going to do.
chris lambert,
BBC Sport response:
One of the areas the BBC scaled back following the government's Graf report last year into its web activities was our US Sport coverage.
We decided that it was not distinctive or unique enough to sustain a full section, especially when many other sites mostly in the US, do the kind of comprehensive job we think we do with British and some world sport.
However we do still have the same results pages and do still cover basic updates as well as the big events, all of which can be found in the US Sport section inside Other Sport.
On the main radio and TV pages would it be possible to have a link to the home page of the current program that is on.
At the moment is is nexessary to search through the whats on listings.
Cheers,
Mark
Mark Leach,
UK
It's essential that all live coverage over all BBC channels (including BBC Interactive) are advertised in a specific place on the website; TV guides do NOT give info on interactive services, so how are we able to support the (fantastic) service otherwise?
Ivor Lobo,
United Kingdom
BBC Sport response:
One of the relaunched pages which is about to be published is a new schedule containing more information on BBC programmes as well as links to programme sites.
Interactive and broadband schedules are not there yet but we hope to have these soon.
A change that I would like just not for the sport pages is that the index column stays locked in position, so when you scroll down an atricle you do not have to scroll back up to then go somewhere else.
John Buchanan,
Scotland
BBC Sport response:
Presumably you mean the left-hand side list of sports/sections. It's an interesting idea which we will look into.
It is annoying that there are links showing up to out of date material. I went to a competition which ended some months ago and clicking on the link was a waste of my time! Yet this still shows up on the motorsport homepage - an oversight I hope.
Tim,
UK
BBC Sport response:
This was indeed an oversight - our apologies. There is now a new competition on the main motorsport page.
Please feature netball in your other sports area.
Hannah Jonmoon,
England
BBC Sport response:
We already write some netball stories and a dedicated page is on its way later in the year. In the meantime there is lots of netball on the Sport Academy site.
I fail to see the need for a change. The previous design was perfectly fine. As is often the case these days somebody persuaded you that you needed a new design that would cost money and time. It was a waste of the BBC's precious resources and could have been better spent in other more substantive ways.
Frank Rigg,
U.S.A.
New layout?
Who are you trying to kid?
It's so close to the old one that I had not noticed the change until you mentioned it!
If you are paying someone to implement it, then your money is not being well spent!
John,
United Kingdom
BBC Sport response:
We're hopefully spending your licence fee in a sensible way by going for a gradual change to the existing site rather than a radical overhaul. Rest assured John, this was not a particularly expensive job!
Once again you have elevated random opinion over real news. If you must have readers comments on the page, put them out of the way so that they don't obscure real information.
Dave Cross,
England
BBC Sport response:
We get a lot of positive response to the users' comments which often already appear in our story pages, but rest assured that what you call the "real news" will always be at the top of the page, above the interesting things that people have to say about their favourite sports!
I really don't like your new layout as i am visually impared and it is really hard to find what i am looking for. The way the old pages were organised is a lot better.
Chris Porter, UK
BBC Sport response:
We're working on improving this and would hope eventually to move to resizeable text on all our pages, directly as a result of these changes we're making now. In the meantime you could try using the Mozilla Firefox browser which does allow you to increase the text size.
It will take a lot of getting used to, but with time, I suppose it should work.
Dominic Johnson,
United Kingdom
BBC Sport response:
That's what we're hoping, despite some of the criticism we've published here. In the meantime allow us to publish some of the praise for the new layouts......
The new website design is diffrent, but I think its a fantastic design. Exciting features such as audio/video content is so much easier to find. Also the fact that more headlines can be seen on the main page is a bonus.
behnam sarani, UK
My, we DO fear change, don't we! I'm sure, when we're all used to the service's new look, it'll be much better than before. Anyway, i'm just happy to read so much in-depth sports news for free! Cheers, beeb!
Keith, Poland
It is good news to see that changes are taking place. It does not matter until the quality of information is the same as to how the outlook is. Changes are always welcome in the look and feel but then just take care not to hamper the interests of the sincere followers like me. All the very best!
Anish Nair, India
Great page to read about all the sports in the world. If you could add more articles about Motorsport, maybe from 50 years ago, would be even better.
Thank you.
JP,
Peru
I really like the new site features as i feel
they allow you to interact more and bring you
closer to the sport you follow, i really liked
the audio and video features - it was great
being able to watch the tennis at Queens.
Paul Cahoon,
United Kingdom
Good morning,
As the BBC/Golf is my opening page, I am
pleased to see a more user friendly layout.
Congratulation.
Marc
Blairon,
Belgium
big improvment on the cycling page, like the
changes keep it up
thomas yaxley,
United Kingdom
Excellent design! The web page is now segmented into composite features.
Sam,
Nigeria
Always changing and always my favourite site,
thanks guys
Brian Conway Smith, UK
I didn't think the old layout needed changing but I think the new design is great. Things are under clearer headings and it is more user friendly. It will take some time to get used to but BBC Sport is still my favourite site.
Georgina Hayward, UK
Your new designs are easy to navigate.
John Haggard,
United States
Works for me. Clean, clear and easy to navigate
Alastair,
Canada
At the moment I prefer the old style but that may be as I am used to it, once the new design has finished and i am used to it I may think more of it.
Ben Mawby,
UK
The new layout is fantastic.I would also like to say that this is the best site on the internet if it wasn't there i don't know where i would find all the latst football information thanks
Su-yang Klotz, UK
First site i go on in the morning and last at night and will be for many years to come. Keep up the good work!
tim, england
I love the fact that you provide us with lots of information about English football, the ONLY decent football in this world. So, regardless how the pages either look like or function, we are very thankful to BBC online.
I am liking the new layout, even though it is still a little confusing. I can easily get used to it and i think it will get better
Steven C, Newcastle
Like the changes, have enjoyed reading the sports pages (football). One of my favorite sites.
Chris Florentine, Australia
Your website is consistently excellent in all
respects--keep up the great work.
James Tolbert,
USA
Its good that the format's being updated as it gives the website a refreshed view. By the way really impressived with the BBCs 'top-ten boxers' interactive facility - especially as you turn the user comments into a BBC article/report. Good stuff
Mohammed, UK
Its good that the format's being updated as it gives the website a refreshed view. By the way really impressived with the BBCs 'top-ten boxers' interactive facility - especially as you turn the user comments into a BBC article/report. Good stuff
Mohammed, UK
I think that the website is great. The layout is very easy to use. However, I would like to see more articles in the golf section, updated more regularly. I read the stories at 7.30 am, and by the end of the day the stories haven't changed. I would like to see a few more diverse golf news. Perhaps a few random articles about amateur, or junior golf. Otherwise, the website remains a favourite with myself and others.
Jeff Carnage,
UK
BBC Sport response:
One final response - we are looking towards pulling in more headlines and links from people covering more sports in more depth, so we'll definitely talk to the golfing authorities to see if they can offer this.
MMIX
E-mail this to a friend
Printable version