Websites have become very important tools in the life of human beings nowadays. Most people from developed countries will not even skip a day without visiting any websites. A website can be described as one or set of related web pages found on the World Wide Web. They usually contain specific information typically produced by an entity or one person ( Dang, 2020) . Websites might be used for any purpose that a person may think about, such as entertainment, health, banking, news media, and many more ( Barba, 2016) . Although websites can be traced back to a common Uniform Resource Locator (URL), the design may differ. In most cases, entities come up with different user interface designs depending on their capabilities and the website's purpose. This paper will comprehensively compare and contrast websites in their use of alignment, proximity, contrast and repetition.
Proximity
When designing a website, proximity is used to mean the website's appearance, including how it has been organized mainly in terms of spacing either close together or far apart ( Jeon & Jeong, 2017) . In this manner, we can compare and contrast the website for higher learning institutions. We will compare and contrast the Macon College website ( https://www.rmc.edu/ ) and the University of Maryland. The first similarity observed when visiting these websites is that they talk of the same thing. All of them are about education, and the proximity used to write the institutions' name is the same. The name of the institutions is written in capital letters with good spacing on the left of the top of the homepage. In both cases, the institution's name is written in considerably larger font compared to other writings, and the spacing can be clearly seen.
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The University of Maryland Homepage makes good use of the principle of proximity compared to Randolph-Macon College. There is sufficient proximity in the University of Maryland website where related information is contained near each other. The primary feature that the UMC wants to do is to secure application form the students ( Everett, 2014) . When students visit this site, most of them want to apply. The button for the application is clearly marked and located in proximity to other tabs that give more information about school and selection. The options for prospective students looking for course offered, classes or calendar for a given semester can easily locate the buttons on the webpage through the ‘apply now’ option.
University of Maryland Global Campus
Randolph-Macon College
In the Randolph-Macon College, they use a different approach of proximity. The links that can be selected on the website are put into only three main titles ( Barba, 2016) . There are options for different links at the top of the web page that can direct users to any information they would like to know about the college. The options are in close proximity for the users. There are two tiles on the homepage and the right contains the mission statement for the college while the bottom one contains trending college news. When ranking, we can deduce that the alignment features in UMC homepage gives it an organized grid appearance with all items in place visually grabbing the attention of the readers.
Alignment
Alignment in the design of a website refers to how various elements are arranged, including their placement and how they share common borders instead of being placed randomly on the web page ( Henderson, & Henderson, 2016) . The Maryland University, Global Campus website, has texts aligned in boxes with straight lines and straight edges. The manner in which the texts and images are aligned on the homepage gives the website a very organized grid appearance. No text is out of place and they have been placed in an alignment that visually grabs the readers' attention, allowing them to be more focused. The elements are very neat and readers are not left to wonder about any disorganization.
In the website for Randolph-Macon College, there is also good use of alignment which can draw the focus of the readers at first glance. The information about the college, courses, tutors, classes and many more are contained in tiles which are clearly aligned. The type of alignment used for this website shows intentional placement and neatness. All the tiles were used for a purpose and were not randomly situated and the links available allow readers to have ease of access.
Repetition
Repetition in website design means reusing elements in the layout of the webpage ( Barba, 2016) . In University of Maryland Global Campus website, there are elements of repetition. The option for ‘apply now’ is captured many times on the webpage. ‘Apply now’ appears in various options throughout the webpage such as ‘request info’, ‘chat now’, and ‘get help.’ All these are a repetition of the same idea as they finally lead to the same destination, the application to UMGC. It appears like the main push on the site is to capture the readers' attention to apply.
In the RMC webpage, there is also the use of repetition. The tile that is at the top of the homepage contains resources to navigate the website. Repetition can be seen on the two supplementary tiles which repeat and also expand on things that are found at the top tile. For example, repetition of ‘alumni’, ‘prospective student’, and ‘academics’ can be seen at the right tile. Repetition of “news and calendar”, and “campus life” can also be seen on the left pane.
Contrast
Contrast simply means the difference in the website's design and maybe in terms of colors, text or formats used on the web page ( Everett, 2014) . In the UMGC website, a contrast is created by fading and text boxes in displaying information against the background. The images are progressively fading away from the right towards the left to a point where they disappear completely ( Snelders et al., 2016) . Besides, a bright banner and white background are used above the dark font texts to focus the attention of the readers on the vital options on the webpage.
The RMC website is contrasted to a Spartan appearance to show the scenery of the college ( Lohr, 2015) . The tiles of information are contrasted against a rotating slideshow of the college. There is a contrast created between the photographed beauty of the college and the information presented on the webpage which allows readers to read all the options available clearly.
In conclusion, websites can be designed in various ways, which greatly contributes to lure more readers. The four major concepts of designing a website are alignment, proximity, contrast and repetition. All these concepts have been used by both the Randolph-Macon College and UMGC in designing their websites. The design concepts play an important role in influencing readers, and therefore, a good design should incorporate all the four concepts.
Reference
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