Promote the Olympic Games in London: the Official Site

The Official Site  www.london2012.com

The official site of the Olympic games shows an intro with an image that refers into a link where is possible (from 3/15/2011) buy the tickets.
Skipping that intro, we’re into the home page of the site, dynamic (like all the site) and created using different codes, like XML (for the write content) and Flash (for the interactive images).
The organization of the site sees a toolbar under, with the categories for the navigation: “Home”, “Get involved now”, “Making it happen”, “The games”, “Visiting in 2012”, “Tickets”, “Shop”. Under the toolbar there’s a search engine that allows to find a word or a period into the site, or into a particular category like “Shop”, “Tickets”, “Get set” and “Mascots”.
Near the search engine, on the left, there’s the login to the site, the possibility to ask a question, to choose the French language, read this page aloud and select different color and character to visualize the site.
Under the toolbar the site is organized like a grill divided in four vertical and five horizontal parts.
In the first horizontal column, there’s on the left the logo of the Olympic games, and next some images of the event with the possibility to choose one with a numeric index.
In the second column there’s the countdown for the beginning of the event and a banner with a link to the ticket store, next a space with news and blog, a map of the event and a window with video and webcam.
In the third column there’re four images with the links that recall the shop online, the photos, the games and the mascots.
In the fourth column there’re some links to the public funders, to the other Olympic sites and to the commercial partners.
In the last horizontal column there’re other quick links for the media center, the publications and for the contact, and the information to use good this site.
Little lines between the columns give the possibility to share the page through Facebook, Twitter and Youtube. Also sign-up to the newsletter and print the page.
The homepage is very complete and organized, with the use of few colors, in particular violet and blue, with a withe background. The images in the center change continuously and there’re a lot of section and link to choose. The search engine help to achieving the goals of the users and the option for the deaf people makes this site accessible, and the organization of the contents help the usability for the users.

In the toolbar there’re seven items:
- The first is the recall to Homepage.
- The second is “Get involved now”, who present the possibility to participate at the event by volunteering, business network, cultural project or other (linked with an image for each category).
- The third is “Making it happen”, that shows the preparations for the London Olympic Games with link about the progress of the construction, the sustainability, the transport, etc. With the possibility to follow the work with various webcam that frame the place in question.
- The fourth entries is “The game”, with an index-selection that allows to find the Olympic sports, the Paralympic sports and the Venue. After selecting ones, will open a page about that sports or venue, with key-facts, history and related news.
- The fifth is “Visiting in 2012”, an entries who explain how to find each event, ticket or accommodation.
- The sixth is “Tickets”, with four question, what when who and how, explain how to have the tickets. Remands an a external link of the site.
- The seventh and last section “Shop”, is another external link, dedicated at all the merchandise of the event, with clothes, collectable, gift, mascots and other stuff.

Every time we enter in a section, in the center there’s the content, and in the two lateral sides, on left an index with the entries of the sections, and under an index with the principal sections of the site (news, map, photos, videos, webcams and virtual tour), in the right side a link to the tickets and online shop.
The communication impact is assured by the number of sections showed, with various instruments of the Web 2.0 like the blog, the news and the video. The upload speed of the page is good, like the compatibility with the other browser, and there aren’t any programming errors.  
Maybe the mass of information are too big to be organized in every detail, and the users can be a little confused initially, seeing many contents, and the index of the toolbar, unclear in the singular entries.