Introduction

Citibank is a large international bank. It is a subsidiary under the financial services

company Citigroup LLC. The company is located in over 1,000 cities and more than 160
countries and territories across the world. Their mission, as stated by Citigroups website, is to
enable progress by working tirelessly to serve individuals, communities, institutions and nations.
Citibank primarily communicates with its customers, investors, employees and any other
stakeholders in the company through statements and reports released on the website, brochures,
emails and any materials available at any Citibank location. In this report, I will be analyzing
Citibanks online website; online.citibank.com.
Figure 1-1 gives a screenshot of what the page looks like:

(figure 1-1)

The website provides online banking tools for its customers, more than 7 tabs with internal pages
within the website, contact information along with a number of other tools and information that
stakeholders within the company may take an interest in. With the exception of graphics, the
website primarily uses the colors found in its logo, blue, red and white. The color black is also
used. From my analysis of the website I can conclude that the various elements that went into
creating and designing the pages were effective and usable to the companys audience. Despite

the effectiveness of the website, however, my report will still contain recommendations for
improvement.

Design
The text states that out of the four criterions stated as important to designing pages, only
the accessing tools component is important to designing web sites (pg 292). This component is
the most important because websites users have to know how and where to find information
easily. This is especially important in todays world because of the on the go lifestyle that most
people have. A lot of people are accessing web pages from their phones so pages must be
designed for optimal, easy and quick use. The Citibank website designs its pages following a
number of the guidelines set forth in technical communications thus making it easy for users of
all demographics and backgrounds to navigate through the site.
The chapter states that each page should help readers see where they are and get where
they want to go (pg 293). The Citibank website contains the same tabs on each page and by
hovering your mouse over each tab; more categories of page content are revealed. Because every
page models the home page and contains the same tabs, it will be difficult for users to get lost
within the categories of content or navigate to anything they are looking for.
One of the principles the text states as important to designing web pages is designing for
multicultural audiences (pg292) Citibank is a global company with audiences coming from
many different backgrounds so this principle is important to the company. The website offers a
link that translates the pages to Spanish, making it easier for their Spanish speaking stakeholders
to access and use the pages.
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The text offers features to include in a website that users might need and/or might be
helpful to users to help them navigate through the site (pg 293-295). Some of these features
include a frequently asked questions (FAQ) section, a search page or engine, resource links and a
site map. The Citibank website includes all of the aforementioned features to help their users
navigate through the site.
When web pages it is also important to include features that help users connect with the
company and others. A number of companies do this by including links to their social networks
(pg 295). The Citibank site includes links to its Twitter, Facebook and Youtube, giving users an
opportunity to connect with the company and other stakeholders within the company.
Another one of the principles stated in the text as important to designing web pages is
designing for readers with disabilities (pg 292). Unfortunately the Citibank site does not
include enough of the features important to enforcing this principle. The site does not include
textual navigation links or a text only version of the site

Reviewing Websites
Chapter 13 of the text states that reviewing includes revising, editing and proofreading
your document (pg 352). Pg 352 also gives guidelines for editing a draft of a website. I did not
have the different stages of this website, as I was not included in the production of it, but I
conducted a review of the final product I am analyzing.
The revising stage includes looking at your draft to see if your initial assumptions about
your audience, purpose and subject still pertain and then making any necessary changes (pg
352). In revising the website I think that the website creators initial assumptions were correct.
As a stakeholder in the company, any and all features I would need, I find in this website.
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I completed the editing stage by addressing the guidelines set forth in Chapter 13. I
believe that the website design is effective; the tabs with mouse over categories make the website
easy to navigate through. I think that the draft meets reader expectations as far as what a user
would expect from an online banking website. The website complies with laws set forth in
reference to banking and online banking and I think that the creators come off as reliable and
informed on the content within the website. The site uses graphic effectively to emphasize the
positive effects of banking with Citibank. Overall the website follows most of the guidelines set
forth for editing a draft.
When proofreading the document I did not find any grammatical errors or
inconsistencies. I conducted a usability evaluation as a user and found that the site was easy to
navigate through.

Explanative Tools
The website contains a number of tools that help users to understand the terms and tools
they encounter on the website. One of the tools the website includes is a glossary that defines key
terms used on the website. The text gives guidelines for writing effective sentence definitions
(pg. 567). I believe that Citibanks online website does a good job at following these guidelines.
The writers avoid circular definitions by not repeating key words. When they do repeat the key
word, it is still defined. The definitions also contain noun and/or noun phrases rather than stating
a conditional situation.
In the frequently asked questions section (FAQ) the website also contains a How Do I
section. I interpret this section as one that will give users specific instruction how to complete
various tasks. The text describes instructions as process descriptions written to help readers
perform a specific task (pg. 581). However, when users of the website make a selection in the

How Do I section, they are then met with a full page of extra questions rather than clear help
on how to complete their tasks. This is a negative aspect of the site. Considering usability, users
should never have to click through an unreasonable number of links before they can figure out
how to navigate through a specific task.

Grammar and Punctuation

The website is clear but could use some grammar and punctuation revisions in order to
make it clearer. Appendix C of the text states that despite the presence of a conjunction and
most style manuals require a comma after the second to last item (pg. 721). On the home page of
the site, there is a sentence that states Just have your ATM debit card, ATM pin and Account
number handy. Per the text, in order to make this sentence clearer, a comma should be inserted
between pin and and. Appendix C also states that commas should be used to separate
introductory words, phrases, and clauses from the main clause of the sentence (pg. 721).
Citibanks online website does a good job of this. For example, With Citibanks ATM e-receipts,
my receipts are emailed to me instantly.

Conclusion
Citibanks online website is a helpful and useful tool for customers and stakeholders
within the company. The website design allows for easy use and the website was thoroughly
reviewed before it was put out to customers. The website contains some explanative tools that
can be helpful to users but the designers should consider re-doing the FAQ section. The overall
grammar and punctuation on the site is well done but some sentences could be revised in order to
make phrases clearer. Overall, the Citibank website is a useful tool.