As a Web developer, part of my job is to understand what a Web site says to its visitors. Does the design attract the target audience; that kind of thing.

I've just been browsing through the Internet Governance Forum's Web site for the first time, and was presented with an impression that the site was there purely because there needed to be a site that made such information available, but didn't really want to attract attention.

Given the subject matter, I suspect this is not supposed to be the impression drawn from the site. If the IGF were serious about a setting up a framework where anyone can contribute, it needs to have a site - which is likely the first point of contact for a lot of people - that tells visitors they are serious about what they're doing, not just with words, and also create a design that attracts people to want to come back - and not just people who have to be there for whatever reason.

A bland white/grey/black site that looks like it was designed by someone with minimal HTML knowledge is not the way. For goodness sake, at least have a consistent menu on each page!

I think it's great that they have an accessibility note at the bottom of the home page that states:

"This Web site aims to promote the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). It tries to meet the highest standards set by the W3C. Web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web."

However, this accessibility does not mean the design needs to resort to the lowest common denominator.

If I thought my input would actually be listened to, I might first suggest that the site needs more colour. As Kieran points out on the IGF's discussion forum, "I can't go on enough about how much more people interact with websites if they are colourful."

Even what could be considered a very basic design such as the one on this IGF Watch site would attract more visitors than what currently exists.

As was also pointed out to me, the "NEW" news posts on the home page are not published in any particular order. One standard that is often adopted when posting news or updates on a Web site is that it is published in reverse chronological order. This is to enable visitors to scroll down the page only as far as the last entry they read, and to know what is most current.

I would also like to see in the menu a link to the discussion forum. One advantage to a consistent menu (such as having an external php file that spits out the same menu on each page) is that you only need to change one file, not multiple, when a new menu item is required.