Before the student has enrolled on a course, they must choose their university, and their course within that institution. At this stage the student is unknown to the institution unless the student makes contact.
Although Amy eventually found her course online, she may have preferred to choose using a traditional prospectus rather than the web; universities which don't have one available may have lost a student already. The paper prospectus must be prepared to put across encouraging ideas about the virtual environment and about the fact that traditional support is still available. It must also be clear how much of the course is virtual: for some of the university websites Amy visited, she was very annoyed that they just 'dropped in' the VLE part at the end.
She found it very difficult to cope with the array of common yet distinct pieces of information - the same course in different universities will contain only subtly different - yet crucially important - information. Different courses in the same institution may read nearly the same with minor differences - and it's possible that, due to the student becoming overtired with reading, the student may even end up signing up for the wrong course because the descriptions are too similar or vague.
The school and course websites that Francesca is drawn toward have clear and readable language. Whenever she discovers a crucial piece of information she doesn't understand, she needs to have someone explain it - therefore contact information/links must be very clear and visible, and there should be enough relevant information anyway on the site to be able to make a snap decision, given that she will be looking at several universities and will likely make a choice on face value and easy understanding rather than real course content.
This stage could be a disaster if the site(s) are inaccessible - sites here include all schools/courses, for all universities that the student is interested in. Disappointment can easily turn to feelings of impossibility and rejection from the institution. The student might even be lured into choosing only courses and universities that they can access descriptions for. Even this doesn't guarantee that the actual virtual environment will be accessible; accessible contact details are crucially important here should the student have questions. Did Justin choose the University he wanted to go to based on the course, or based on the fact he could actually access its description?
This student had no difficulties choosing a course and University other than in making the final decision as with all students. She was still in the UK and was able to attend open days and meet tutors to aid her decision.
Tim has no computer, so was browsing from a library or public space, or selecting from a paper prospectus. He was also looking for information on grants and for good PC deals. Would the institution be prepared in this case to provide IT equipment and support? If none of these possibilities is foreseen, the applicant's failure to apply will not even be noted by the institution and so the problem may never be corrected.