The Disability Discrimination Act says that web sites must be made accessible to disabled people. The DRC’s recent report has suddenly thrown this into the spotlight of the online community and a lot of misinformation has been thrown around. This article attempts to put a stop to this and tell you the truth behind web accessibility.
Web usability is about making your website in such a way that your site users can find what they’re looking for quickly and efficiently. A usable website can reap huge benefits on to your website and your business.
Several popular websites have let their homepages be customised by users. New web technologies have made it possible to add slicker customisation interfaces so more sites are allowing users to customise their pages. But, should you do the same? Will it make your website better for users or will it make it unnecessarily complicated? Will users even want this feature on your site?
Currently websites offer a variety of customisation methods, allowing users to:
Web developers attempting to build accessible websites often make the same mistakes time and time again. Although they’re trying their hardest sometimes their overzealousness gets in the way and actually hinders the accessibility of their websites.
The below 10 guidelines tell you what not to do, so you too don’t fall foul to these same common accessibility errors…
Molly at DemoGirl has created a video that takes a look at several sites and their usability. On her Twitter piece, I could add a million items but one I would absolutely add is a way to do a multiple delete on the direct messages. Deleting one at a time is time consuming and my bet is that by adding a mass/select delete option, they could reduce by millions of messages.
Check out our 30+ usability tutorials.
What is web accessibility & why is it important?
Web accessibility is about making your website accessible to all Internet users (both disabled and non-disabled), regardless of what browsing technology they’re using. In addition to complying with the law, an accessible website can reap huge benefits on to your website and your business.
Please read the articles, Benefits of an accessible website - part 1 and Benefits of an accessible website - part 2 for more about the importance of web accessibility.
Your website must be able to function with all different browsing technologies
The first and perhaps the most important rule of web accessibility. Not everyone is using the latest version of Internet Explorer, with all the plug-ins and programs that you may require them to have for your website. Different browsing technologies can include:
Imagine you’re driving along and due to a road closure you have to follow those conspicuous yellow detour signs. You’re now on an unfamiliar road, but because of the signs you confidently proceed, comfortable in trusting the arrows to tell you where you need to go.
Then there’s a roundabout and no sign. Do you turn left? Right? You’re lost and have two choices; turn back and find an alternate road you know well or blindly drive around and hope for the best.
Websites are very similar, no matter what their ultimate goal is, your site visitors need to intuitively find their way around. Too often, general website navigation and orientation disappears or changes on internal pages.
In fact, with websites this point is even more pertinent as users can just ‘evaporate’ and leave your site, instead of being forced to drive around aimlessly!
The Usability Expert Jakob Nielsen says: “On the Web, usability is a necessary condition for survival. If a web site is difficult to use, people leave. If the homepage fails to clearly state what a company offers and what users can do on the site, people leave. If users get lost on a web site, they leave. If a web site’s information is hard to read or doesn’t answer users’ key questions, they leave. Note a pattern here? There’s no such thing as a user reading a web site manual or otherwise spending much time trying to figure out an interface. There are plenty of other web sites available; leaving is the first line of defense when users encounter a difficulty.” -
Full Story: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20030825.html
Is your web site usable?
There are several definitions for usability, but basically products which have the following 6 characteristics, can be considered as usable.
Does your product have the above characteristics?
User and Provider benefits:
Usability increases benefits for both parties: the User and the web site Provider.
Users benefits:
In other words, satisfied users, become loyal, going on using the web site, and also recommend to others.
Providers benefits:
Usability Can Save Your Company!
John S. Rhodes, Editor and Webmaster at WebWorldPro says: “Data indicate that usability offers a better return on investment than almost any other business action. When times get rough, usability shines. The benefits are huge. Usability is a weapon that can save you money, improve your competitive position, and improve customer loyalty. Now is the time to invest in the research.” -
Full Story: http://webword.com/moving/savecompany.html
After all, making your web site usable, you will make your visitors and your wallet more comfortable and happier!
What is Accessibility?
Accessibility is a term that is more associated with architectural thought, rather than web site design. There is legislation which determines the minimum standards for new buildings. As a result, new buildings today have wheelchair ramps, accessible lifts and disability parking spaces, allowing anyone with disabilities to gain access to a building, use the provided services, buy the products, and chat with the people inside.
With web sites, the term traditionally refers to the development of sites that are accessible to “all” users who may want to access them — in other words, “Universal Web Sites.”
Even though the World Wide Web is continuously growing, many users:
Accessibility increases benefits for both parties: the User and the Web site Provider.
Users’ benefits:
Every user, regardless of physical, sensory and cognitive disabilities, constraints and/or technological barriers can:
In other words, satisfied users may become loyal users, continue using the web site, and even recommend to others.
Providers’ benefits:
Accessibility is critical for a web site’s success. This narrow focus is at the expense of a much larger segment of society with milder impairments, such as partial sight, poor hearing, and poor language skills. The needs of this larger group can be more easily accommodated with simple and inexpensive design tips such as resizable text, large tactile buttons, and clear, easy-to-follow instructions.
Further reading:
If you’ve been developing websites on Mars for the past few years then you’ll be forgiven for not knowing about web usability. You’ll still be creating splash intro pages, having pages with massive download times and using more images than you can shake a stick at. Well, back in Earth these days have long gone and today web usability rules the web development world. For those of you who have been on Mars please read some of the things that Jakob Nielson has to say and try to catch up.
As for the rest of us Earth-based developers, well we’ve learnt a whole bunch about usability and we’re all using it as best we can in our websites. Right, guys? After all, web usability does have huge benefits.
Now that usable websites have become so commonplace, especially among the major web players, it’s time to start looking to the future. Suddenly, a usable website isn’t going to be enough to separate us from our competitors (apart from those using the developers who’ve been based on Mars). There is a solution. It’s two words long. Enter our new best friend…
Web credibility.
According to BJ Fogg, the world’s leading researcher on web credibility, web credibility is about making your website in such a way that it comes across as trustworthy and knowledgeable. Don’t just take my word for it - read his book if you like. This book is so good that even Jakob Nielson himself (he’s the self-appointed web usability guru for all you Mars-based developers), dedicated a whole alertbox to it.
Fogg will tell you, as can I, and numerous other organisations, that a credible website can reap huge benefits on to your website and your business. So, here’s a few statistics to prove this point:
So, web credibility’s pretty important then. But how do you implement it on to your website? Fear not, all the answers lie within the realms of this article. Now, before I go further, I must stress that most of this stuff falls under the category of ‘it’s obvious once you know it’. You know, like if someone sets you a puzzle and you can’t do it but when they tell you the answer it’s really obvious. Web credibility is all common sense - you just don’t tend to think about this stuff. So without further ado, here are five guidelines for making a credible website.
Anyone can put up a website promising to deliver the ‘best service at the lowest prices’. Web users must be able to believe there’s a real organisation behind your website. A few things you can do are:
This basically says that you should have a really good contact us and about us section. Don’t bury your contact us link in some obscure place in the website or on the page. Make out like you really want your site visitors to get in contact with you. In fact, I won’t talk anymore about your contact us page because Miles Burke’s has already written an excellent article about it, The Lost Art of Conversation - Encouraging Contact Online.
As for the about us section, don’t underestimate its importance. Don’t be afraid to show who you are (stand tall and be proud!), what you stand for, what your goals are, and a bit about your history (of the organisation, not you). People will read this stuff - it certainly won’t be the first thing they’ll read on your website but it could be the last thing they read before deciding whether or not to do business with you.
Can you think of other ways you can prove your organisation’s real? Have a look at a website you visit quite often - what is it about this website that you trust?
A website is akin to a one-way conversation between you and your site visitors where you have 100% control over the dialogue. If site users perceive you to be lacking in credibility then you’ll be unable to defend yourself. As such, you must ensure that you answer any questions your site visitors may have, for example:
There are about 35 million websites on the Internet - by 2014 there’ll be an estimated 150 million, not including personal websites. With so many people online and so many websites competing with yours, if you can’t persuade Internet users to be loyal to your website then someone else will.
"We helped our clients achieve an average of 70% growth last year." Really? Well prove it! Every single point you make on your website must, without fail, be backed up with hard evidence - preferably from a third-party website. How else can a reader know for sure that you’re telling the truth?
Client testimonials, for example, are great - they’re even better if the testimonial links to the client’s website. You can improve them even more if the name of the person making the testimonial is linked to their bio on their website. You could notch up even more credibility points if the testimonial itself is on the client’s website and you link to it!
If you’ve won any awards or belong to any industry bodies, then proudly display these emblems too. Even better, have them link to the external website. Better still, would be a direct link to the section of the website showing your membership details or a list of the award winners.
An organisation that can prove it has clients and is experiencing growth instantly achieves credibility. By showing you’ve offered your services plenty of times before, and expect to do so in the future, your organisation comes across as being firmly established within your industry. You can prove this by providing:
Your website is your organisation’s online representation - it’s essential that it matches up in quality to the rest of your marketing materials. Even if you don’t think your website’s important to the success of your organization, (potential) clients will make judgments about your organisation based on your website.
So, what is the number one most important aspect of Web credibility? The about us section? No. Quality of outbound links? No-siree. Studies have consistently proven that the most important criteria of Web credibility is… the way the website looks. That’s it.
It’s been suggested that this is due to the short amount of time we spend on websites so we tend to rely on initial judgements. Make sure that you create a great first impression by having a crisp, professional layout with sharp graphics. Other good things to do are:
There are many more! Just visit any website you perceive to be professional and confident and see what they do.
Have a look at your website and check to see if it does all this stuff. A handy program to check that there are no broken links is Xenu’s link sleuth. You can also check out Stanford University’s 10 guidelines for credibility and the best online resource to keep up to date with web credibility, the Consumer WebWatch.
This article was written by Trenton Moss. He’s crazy about web accessibility and usability - so crazy that he went and started his own web accessibility and usability consultancy, Webcredible, to help make the Internet a better place for everyone.
  |
Subscribe