New Met Éireann Website (beta)

sdanseo · 19-04-2018 11:18pm

I must say although my initial reaction was good, I've changed my tune completely in the last few days of properly exploring the site.

The maps are too large and very poor. Google Maps is far superior to OSM and should be used instead.
The overlay of the general forecast icons onto the maps for customised locations is very limited and looks awful. For example, in the Dublin Forecast, the map takes up half the screen but there is only one tiny icon over the airport indicating the weather.

The colour scheme is very blue. It needs a little variety. Maybe some background image or other contrast behind the sections as you scroll down (i.e. new section, change of bacground to separate it from the previous section).

I like the general wider layout. Most are now using widescreen monitors and having the site limited to 1024 px wide was silly.

I still don't like that the map is so big and in-your-face on the home page. It needs to be a little smaller and further down. Yes, the old site was in the dark ages but the general layout of the home page was fine.

The navbar at the top interferes blocks out an awful lot when you have it expanded. It's very large. Also, hover doesn't work. This is a total nitpick, sorry

The histograms look cluttered, indeed everything looks a little cramped.

But above all: clicking twice to get the forecast is extremely annoying. It should be the first thing you see or at the very least, add a dedicated navbar link for National Forecast.

On the plus side: it could be worse.

my3cents · 20-04-2018 12:12am

On the maps, whats the point of the line in the sea all around Ireland, I don't think we need to know where our territorial waters are if thats what the line refers to?

Oneiric 3 · 20-04-2018 9:06am

gabeeg wrote: »

Have a look now

My location is inputted as Galway, and this is what I still get on both the 'current conditions' page, and that of 'yesterday's weather'.

I downloaded the app yesterday evening, and in fairness it isn't all that bad, except that 1. it contained no 'Atlantic charts', despite being advertised. 2. no 'current conditions' page. At the time, it told me my local current conditions were 'sunny at 11c'. The temperature at the time both here and at Athenry was 14c. 3. Too much dark blue going on. What was wrong with the original lighter gradient greens associated with their logo? Much more aesthetically pleasing, as well as professional looking, than the drab, monotone darkness of the new colour scheme.

pauldry · 20-04-2018 9:26am

I'm just using the mobile link to the old site and have had a much less stressed couple of days

There's no need to change it "much"

Could have changed just one or two things

gabeeg · 20-04-2018 9:59am

pauldry wrote: »

I'm just using the mobile link to the old site and have had a much less stressed couple of days

There's no need to change it "much"

Could have changed just one or two things

The old site is absolutely horrendous on mobile.
If that was one of the things that had to change, then everything had to change.

pauldry · 20-04-2018 10:45am

Well it's WAY less stressful to use than the undeveloped unfinished new version

No map for your finger to get stuck over when your looking for the f ing national forecast

Kivaro · 20-04-2018 11:01am

I believe the reviews on the Google PlayStore says it all regarding the new app. It was badly designed and badly developed. It boggles the mind on how it was released into production. The code should have been externally reviewed and externally tested.
Since it was tax-payer funded, unfortunately I cannot imagine any consequences to the waste of money on this project.

The app and corresponding website should be regarded as highly important to Ireland and visitors to our country, with both potential life-saving and economic decisions being made as a result of the information being provided ............ if it can be accessed properly.

JiffyJ · 20-04-2018 11:41am

Cant get this working on my Dad's iphone 5c - I get the splash screen, then it drops back to the home screen.

Anyone else having this problem?

Storm 10 · 20-04-2018 12:19pm

The new app is taking a hammering on the play store, hopefully they can sort it out

pad199207 · 20-04-2018 1:04pm

App for iPhone is working even better today. Everything clearly laid out on the home page along with my location. Well done.

nomdeboardie · 20-04-2018 2:01pm

axe2grind wrote: »

They have a link to old site on the new site, the one mentioned a few posts ago.

I wonder if that was there when I was viewing previously (before I saw CrowdedHouse's link and then this post) - sometimes I'm blind to the obvious

Glad to have it back for the time being

pauldry · 20-04-2018 2:42pm

nomdeboardie wrote: »

I wonder if that was there when I was viewing previously (before I saw CrowdedHouse's link and then this post) - sometimes I'm blind to the obvious Glad to have it back for the time being

Yes but the link they have brings you to the substandard mobile version (if using phone)

When I go to http://mobile.met.ie/forecasts i get what I want which is the old site

Also just to experiment I tested new site v old

To get latest weather, yesterday's weather and monthly data on old site took me 33seconds to find

New site took a teeny bit longer to find latest due to map stopping my finger. Yesterday's weather couldn't find. Eventually found monthly data after 2 minutes.

Actually Met Eireann should have a bar with top 10 most searched for and then it could be easier navigate

nomdeboardie · 20-04-2018 2:56pm

pauldry wrote: »

Yes but the link they have brings you to the substandard mobile version (if using phone)

When I go to http://mobile.met.ie/forecasts i get what I want which is the old site

Also just to experiment I tested new site v old

To get latest weather, yesterday's weather and monthly data on old site took me 33seconds to find

New site took a teeny bit longer to find latest due to map stopping my finger. Yesterday's weather couldn't find. Eventually found monthly data after 2 minutes.

Actually Met Eireann should have a bar with top 10 most searched for and then it could be easier navigate

Ah, I've only been viewing on laptop
(Though I should have noticed the link)

Lissavane · 20-04-2018 8:22pm

For those interested in current weather observations, this site is pretty good http://www.xcweather.co.uk/.

It gives data for all stations on the island of Ireland and includes at least 3 stations not listed by ME: Donegal Airport, Sligo Airport and Kerry Airport. I think those 3 only provide data when manned, so mainly daylight hours. I particularly like the Kerry Airport obs because Valentia weather is hardly typical of inland Kerry.

There's lots more on the site but I only use it for current observations.

I think they've an app but I haven't tried it. Can't be any worse than the ME one.

Ultimate Seduction · 21-04-2018 10:08am

The old site did need updating but this new one is atrocious, at least on mobile anyway. Very hard to navigate

AndrewJRenko · 21-04-2018 10:21am

JCX BXC wrote: »

What do you have in mind to make the app workable for people with mental difficulties for example? To be honest, the app and website are no more difficult to use than any other app or website, so I think they're fairly covered there.

I'm not so sure that 'no more difficult than any other' is the right measure to be using, given that many other apps are difficult for people with intellectual disabilities, older people, people with sight loss and others to use. A lack of attention during the design phase results in apps that further increase inequality in society.

I'd imagine that the heavy use of symbols on the site would be a positive for many people with ID. I'm not so sure that the site layout would work. Why start out with the rainfall radar on the top of the page? Is this really what most people want? I'd have thought that most people want the forecast for the next period, not the story of what just happened.

I don't like the use of ALLCAPS text in many of the headings and texts either. These are more difficult to read for many people with dyslexia and others, compared to normal text.

It's dissapointing to see a large public body like Met Eireann paying such little attention to their legal obligations, and failing to reach significant parts of their audience.

r93kaey5p2izun · 21-04-2018 10:29am

Thanks for the link to the old site in this thread. The new site does not work on my phone. It loads with 80% of the page blank white with all the text tiny and squeezed in the top left. The forecast graphics don't load at all and half the text is on top of other text.

Gaoth Laidir · 21-04-2018 5:14pm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

I'm not so sure that 'no more difficult than any other' is the right measure to be using, given that many other apps are difficult for people with intellectual disabilities, older people, people with sight loss and others to use. A lack of attention during the design phase results in apps that further increase inequality in society.

I'd imagine that the heavy use of symbols on the site would be a positive for many people with ID. I'm not so sure that the site layout would work. Why start out with the rainfall radar on the top of the page? Is this really what most people want? I'd have thought that most people want the forecast for the next period, not the story of what just happened.

I don't like the use of ALLCAPS text in many of the headings and texts either. These are more difficult to read for many people with dyslexia and others, compared to normal text.

It's dissapointing to see a large public body like Met Eireann paying such little attention to their legal obligations, and failing to reach significant parts of their audience.

Did you ever complain about the old site with regard to people with disabilities, etc.?

The site is working fine for me, but I still think they should reduce the font size a notch and get rid of that Dublin Airport bit at the start. I like the introduction of the wecams, though, and also the ability to see previous hourly reports for the same day. A lot done, more to do.

AndrewJRenko · 21-04-2018 9:08pm

Gaoth Laidir wrote: »

Did you ever complain about the old site with regard to people with disabilities, etc.?

I don't quite recall, but should I have to make a complaint to get them to consider their statutory obligation to the 1 in 7 people that have a disability?

thebouldwhacker · 22-04-2018 12:07pm

I am a regular user of met.ie and I must say the forecasting in the new site is simply bamboozling me.
The information on the previous site was very clear and easy to interpret, the 5 day and short range forecasts for example displayed information about the flow of weather and one could understand how the weather would evolve over a given time period. The new site however uses simplistic icons for rain or cloud or whatever is relivent. This dramatically cuts the amount of information available to the user and is simply a snap shot of a given time without allowing the user to see how the weather is evolving. I understand there is now the ability to see local weather over a prolonged time period but to get a proper understanding of the forecast one would have to use a number of locations.
This reduction and over simplification of information is unnecessary and it would be great to see a return to a more meanful forecast please.

gabeeg · 22-04-2018 12:37pm

AndrewJRenko wrote: »

I don't quite recall, but should I have to make a complaint to get them to consider their statutory obligation to the 1 in 7 people that have a disability?

The new homepage has 10 accessibility issues. Most images are fine, but there are 9 in use that should have "alt text" so that people with screen readers can tell what they are.

The old homepage had at least 35 known accessibility issues. A myriad of different problems.

The new website uses a far better colour scheme for those suffering colour blindness. There may be some issues with the map (which isn't actually covered by the directive), but the colour scheme used is fully WCAG AA compliant.
In fact the starkness that some people have complained of is probably a direct result of a commitment to web accessibility.

So all in all I would have to say you're dead wrong

Discodog · 22-04-2018 3:31pm

thebouldwhacker wrote: »

I am a regular user of met.ie and I must say the forecasting in the new site is simply bamboozling me.
The information on the previous site was very clear and easy to interpret, the 5 day and short range forecasts for example displayed information about the flow of weather and one could understand how the weather would evolve over a given time period. The new site however uses simplistic icons for rain or cloud or whatever is relivent. This dramatically cuts the amount of information available to the user and is simply a snap shot of a given time without allowing the user to see how the weather is evolving. I understand there is now the ability to see local weather over a prolonged time period but to get a proper understanding of the forecast one would have to use a number of locations.
This reduction and over simplification of information is unnecessary and it would be great to see a return to a more meanful forecast please.

They have simply copied yrno but badly. The yrno app is so much simpler & better

my3cents · 22-04-2018 3:37pm

I can't get used to a map with a white Ireland, we are known for the greenness of our grass so why isn't our Emerald Isle depicted in GREEN?

pauldry · 22-04-2018 3:44pm

As a regular user of Met Eireann several times a day I have not seen the new site since Friday.

Is there any improvement or will I just continue with the bookmarked old one

As far as I could see there is NOTHING on the new site better than the old one so scrap it

JCX BXC · 22-04-2018 3:46pm

pauldry wrote: »

As a regular user of Met Eireann several times a day I have not seen the new site since Friday.

Is there any improvement or will I just continue with the bookmarked old one

As far as I could see there is NOTHING on the new site better than the old one so scrap it

You clearly didn't look so.

While buggy and will take some adaption, the weather maps are MUCH better, the radar is every 5 minutes, and a myraid of other new features.

pauldry · 22-04-2018 4:49pm

JCX BXC wrote: »

You clearly didn't look so.

While buggy and will take some adaption, the weather maps are MUCH better, the radar is every 5 minutes, and a myraid of other new features.

I've looked and the maps are MUCH more annoying

Who cares about 5 minute or 15 minute radars rain today is still better.

Met Eireanns oldest radar was better than any of the new ones.

Hope they leave old site open in tandem with new one for a while at least. I guess I'll have to adapt when given no choice.

I'll use new site once old one is taken down completely. For people not as computer literate as the rest of ye the old site suits my needs perfectly. I use rain today n netweathers rain and sat24s satellite n wetterzentrales long range so the only thing I need met eireann for is yesterday's weather, monthly data and current observations. As yet I havent found yesterdays weather on new site on mobile

SleetAndSnow · 22-04-2018 5:03pm

my3cents wrote: »

I can't get used to a map with a white Ireland, we are known for the greenness of our grass so why isn't our Emerald Isle depicted in GREEN?

So that it's possible to see how heavy the rain is in one area to another ? Usually goes from blue for lightest to green to orange to red etc.

my3cents · 22-04-2018 5:19pm

SleetAndSnow wrote: »

So that it's possible to see how heavy the rain is in one area to another ? Usually goes from blue for lightest to green to orange to red etc.

When it rains really hard and we get into the green colours its hard to mix them up with a green background map because it rarely rains "green" without having "blue" rain surrounding it. The blue that is used to denote the majority of the rain we get is too pale imo on the white background of the land surrounded by more pale blue sea. Its too wishy washy. Ireland's territorial waters stand out better than its land mass on those maps.

Comhrá · 22-04-2018 6:09pm

my3cents wrote: »

When it rains really hard and we get into the green colours its hard to mix them up with a green background map because it rarely rains "green" without having "blue" rain surrounding it. The blue that is used to denote the majority of the rain we get is too pale imo on the white background of the land surrounded by more pale blue sea. Its too wishy washy. Ireland's territorial waters stand out better than its land mass on those maps.

My thoughts exactly. I feel the lighter blues denoting light/moderate rainfall seem to have blurred edges against the white background, making it quite difficult to ascertain precise margins.

Those territorial water lines add totally unnecessary clutter to the overall picture and those 5 min. updates, are they really necessary? A typical rain-bearing cold front crossing the country hardly needs 5 min. progress updates.

The previous radar gave 15 min. updates and a 6-hour elapsed time display which was much more effective when viewing a day or night's rainfall over the entire country. Also had 'back & forward' arrows which have been omitted now. Far too many unnecessary features, badly implemented and hopelessly disproportionately displayed on the new site.

PixelTrawler · 22-04-2018 6:16pm

First time using the new site on chrome on an android phone. Its awful. Not a nice site to navigate or use on a mobile device. Menus are cumbersome.

The site is completely fine on a desktop, no issues apart from the radar wasn’t loading during the week at one stage.

New Met Éireann Website (beta)

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