A Website audit
by CHICHIGNOUD Corinne
Master
2 Action Publique Territorialisée
INTRODUCTION
This is the official website of Interpol, the world’s largest international police organization which is composed of 184 member states located all over the world. This organization exists to help create a safer world by supporting law enforcement agencies worldwide to combat crime. On its website, Interpol releases some information about the international fight against criminality and about the cooperation of states. The website is very useful for the organization because it is a real database for common action.
I chose to make an audit of this website because I am doing an internship within the context of the Master 2, based on the theme of financial and economic criminality. For my training period, I have to search for articles on this subject and above all I have to remain informed on the evolution of this criminality. This website is a real source of information for me and so through this work I intend to study it more precisely.
I) A complete inventory
A) Form
The organization of this website’s “Home page” at first sight gives the impression that the site is intended for specialists. Indeed, the front page is not a simple page of presentation as we can see it on other websites. Straight away, we “get directly to the heart of the matter”.
The “Home page” is composed of two articles which approach either a recent event or a meeting relative to international security. Thus, people can directly become aware of recent current events and can obtain more information by clicking on the link "more news" which contains more detailed articles.
Below this heading which relates to the topicality, in another coloured heading the Interpol’s five priority crime areas are detailed. This section is doubtless the most important of the website, because all the news items are focused on the following topics :
Fugitives
Then, at the the bottom of the home page there is the heading "shortcuts" which contains some current short topics which have been topical in previous months. The front page of this website is very well organized and it is updated very often. For exemple, in the right hand corner of the Home page the “Highlights” link is devoted to the report of the last conferences and the section “New Online” recalls the most important events of the past month.
More generally, the “about Interpol” page presents the organization, its history and its missions. The main section located on the left of the front page gives access to the main headings developed in the website. You can click on 13 different signets to obtain information concerning the topics. They refer to : Regional activities, International liasons, Recruitment, Financial and High-tech crime, News and so on.
The design of the pages is relatively simple, with sober colors - blue, black, red -and without any particular animations. The lay-out is clear and enables easy navigation on the website. The pages of the site are easy to charge, and a multitude of links (all working) make the search easier for the netsurfer. Although there are very few pictures, the site remains very functional and the presentation pleasant.
At the top of each page, we can see the logo of the organization. It represents the planet Earth with a pair of scales and a sword, the symbol of the law. This logo summarizes the goal of Interpol for its member states very well.
The emblem, in use since 1950, comprises the following elements:
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B) Contents
There is a large diversity of information displayed on this website. I will present it by explaining the contents of the different links of the main section located on the left of the “Home page”.
- The “about Interpol” link is where we can find global information on the organization. The page presents a text which outlines the main lines of Interpol’s history from its creation till today as well as its current organization : a detailed and clear organization chart presents the structure and the list of member countries. It is also in this section that we can get all the information on Interpol’s role and missions. The annual reports of activities since 1998 are available by clicking on a link on the right side and we can download them in several languages with PDF software. The contents of this section is extremely complete and provides the netsurfer a good knowledge of the structure.
- The “core function” page allows us to have access to the three principal functions of the organization, which are the following : Secure global police communication services, operational data services and databases for police and operational police support services. If we click on one of these three links we can obtain more detailed documents on Interpol’s different functions, its means of investigation and communication.
- In the “news” section the items posted on-line since the creation of the website are inventoried. Each month Interpol publishes some new articles and makes them available to the public on line. Furthermore, we have an on-line access to the archives from the year 2001. In this section, transcripts of the speeches pronounced at the time of the big international lectures on the theme of the international security are also available.
- The “drugs and organized crime” page highlights the issues of the fight against this type of criminality and its evolution for the last ten years. A text explains what the priority actions of the organisation concerning drug-control are : “Interpol’s primary drug-control role is to identify new drug trafficking trends and criminal organizations operating at the international level”. Interpol has to collect a maximum of information and to coordinate the actions of different international services. Some words in the text are highlighted because they provide links towards more information on the following items : Cocaine, Heroin and synthetic drugs. This section is extremely clear and deals with very technical things in a simple way.
- The “financial and high-tech crime” link presents a definition of this type of criminality according to Interpol. For the organization financial and high-tech crime concerns the following operations : counterfeit currency, financial fraud, money laundering, payment cards, intellectual property crime, and information technology crime. These items are the priority actions of the organization for this criminality. By clicking on one of these links the netsurfer can read some texts which deal with a description of the phenomenon, the history of this criminality, as well as recent events and additional links to complete his or her search. Just like the previous section, it is well constructed and extremely rich from the standpoint of the information.
- The section “ fugitives” highlights one of the main missions of Interpol: the search for fugitives : “One of the most important fields of activity of the global law enforcement community today is the apprehension of wanted persons”. On this page some lists of dangerous persons currently sought for in the whole world (these persons are registered in a red notice) can be consulted, but also some pictures of lost property ( paintings, jewels...) and a list of children reported missing. By clicking in particular on the link “national wanted web sites” we have directly access to the national files of the fugitives and this for all the member countries. This section is a precious help for all the police force who use this website very often during the investigations. For my part, this section surprised me because it contains some information which I believed to be confidential.
- With the “trafficking in human beings” page Interpol shows that the organization “aims to end the abuse and exploitation of human beings for financial gain”. This section is above all a description of what trafficking in human beings is. There are three links : trafficking in women for sexual exploitation, people smuggling and crimes against children which direct the visitor towards more explanations on the subject. Interpol explains in particular the main tools it has for helping police fight this type of crime : for exemple the Interpol Child Abuse Image Database (ICAID).
- The “other crime areas” link presents all the offences which are not considered as priority crime areas but in which Interpol remains active. That is the case of genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and environmental crime. The most detailed section on this page concerns environmental crime. Indeed, there is a complete documentation on the subject : Interpol also aims to improve the quality of the environment.
- The section “regional activities” is a sort of summary. By clicking on an area of the world – Africa, America, Asia, Europe, Middle East and North America - we obtain the main action of Interpol there. We can also access the detail for each country with a history of its membership, the main actions and events and above all the address of the regional office. Furthermore, on this page we can also access information about the police and judicial systems of individual countries.
- In the “international liaison” page we have a description of governmental authorities and non-governmental organizations which fight crime and cooperate with Interpol. We can also consult the list of co-operation agreements and international conventions on this page.
- Finally, there is the section of “recruitment”. The visitor can access some information on the recruitment procedure and current vacancies. The page contains very useful items of information and is well documented. For example, we can find the main values of the organization.
II) Evaluation of the website : positive and negative aspects.
A) Form
Ø Positive points :
The simplicity of the site’s presentation is an asset for visitors. It is very easy to find what one is looking for : indeed the titles are clear and explicit. Moreover, each important article which appears on the first page is summarized ; the netsurfer knows rapidly if the subject interests him or not. Furthermore all the pages are built on the same model and have an equivalent length and contents.
The links are highlighted in intensified brightness which makes them very easy to visualize. It is important to note that the totality of the links are in operating condition and the loading of the pages is extremely rapid, which is not the case on all websites. The frequent updating of the data is also an important positive point.
Ø Negative points :
To compare it with other websites of international organizations, on first access this site is not very attractive. There is for example no welcome message. The design is very simple, and this does not make it appear very modern. Moreover, the site contains many texts and articles but very few pictures and illustrations.
Maybe it might be better to include some graphics or some beautiful colors to make the presentation more dynamic. Another negative point is related to the impossibility of choosing the language: on some international web sites on the front page the language we require can be selected. However, it is true that the totality of police exchanges on the international scene are done in English, and that this site is one of their working tools.
Moreover, there are sometimes too many links on one page. Maybe, a small plan of each page could simplify the presentation : indeed, the visitor could access a general view of the topic and then he could go into the matter that interests him.
In the same way, some links are not very useful : for example, the “shortcuts” section contains the same data that we can find in the main link. Maybe, it is just a way to draw the visitor’s attention to this information, because it does not provide more details.
Finally, it might be better to gather all “the news” into one single section. On this website, there are at least three signets related to news topics. Maybe, one big one would be sufficient.
B) Contents
Ø Positive points :
This website is a real source of information. The texts and articles are written seriously and are well documented. On each page there are links which enable the visitor to complete his research if the information on the page is not sufficient. Moreover, the documents placed on line are easy to understand: the style is clear even when they deal with a small technical subject like drug trafficking. Each topic is detailed and described in order to facilitate its comprehension.
Another positive point concerning the contents is the access to all of the database. I was very surprised to discover on this website that there is no “Intranet” section, for which we need special keywords and a log-in. I believed that some information would be confidential, like for example the name and photos of fugitive persons.
Ø Negative points :
I have very few negative remarks to make. I was only disappointed by the fact that there are not more reports on investigations that Interpol has carried through to a successful conclusion.
Moreover, I think that sometimes a page which gives an overall picture of a subject might be better than a long detailed article. But, the site is so well documented that I really cannot say anything else negative about its contents.
CONCLUSION : relation between form and contents.
I found this website extremely interesting for its contents. The relationship between the form and the contents is very well balanced on the site The only thing that I would perhaps change is the design, by adding more colours to make it attractive. I think it is really a top quality website, and very few sites today are as serious and so well documented. It is an interesting site to explore, even if the international questions of security are not your cup of tea !