Both websites are completely different and stand out in their own way. The website vcdh.virginia.edu does an immaculate job at presenting information on runaway or captured slaves through the different material they strive provide. A heavy strength for this website includes its various ways of displaying the point of view of slaves and situations such as uprisings, revolutions, and slave acts from slaveholders and the general public. Sub-links that allow you to read the newspapers, advertisements, and journal entries are a major part of this source as it gives a more personal perspective of everything that took place in the 18th – 19th century. I would say this website only weakness is the lack of pictures and its rather smaller visual display of everything they present.
Where the Virginia website failed, the website freedomonthemove.org does a good job at. Its display and use of pictures as well as its videos is what separates these two when looking in favor of this website. This website also does something different as it allows 3rd party individuals to actually contribute to their website in light of helping other people to want to research runaway slave ads. This website includes very descriptive videos for students that do a great job at explaining the stories of runaway slaves through their own perspective. This website has its own special way of providing information and it works effectively, however I would say its weakness is having only a limited amount of features when exploring the lives of runaway slaves or looking through the lens of other people through that time frame. The Virginia website was able to provide so many different ways for looking at that 18th-19th century time period, and allowed for you to gain more information and also establish a personal connection at the same time.
In conclusion, I would prefer to use the Virginia website as a source for information, as it can do everything the other website can, but more. You’re able to research and discover slave ads through both websites, and even though freedomonthemove.org grants access to videos, allows contribution to the site, and has a considerably better interface, you can’t top functionality and the immense amount of information you’re able to gain otherwise.
I completely agree that the first website is very text-heavy while also presenting a lot of information in the database. I think that the wealth of content is an important strength of the website and really speaks for itself. Conversely, the second website has a stronger visual appeal that makes the user experience much more immersive. It doesn’t contain as much information, but it might be friendlier for younger students and broader audiences.