Creating a Universal Usability Agenda

How do you keep usability, accessibility, and user experience requirements on track while developing standards? It is part of the very nature of standards to focus on details--and in the process, to sometimes lose sight of the real goals. This is especially true when a standards-making process goes on for a long time, a situation is highly political, or most people are focused on technology issues.

Quesenbery, Whitney. UXmatters (2006). Articles>Usability>Accessibility>Universal Usability

Quantum Leaps  

The presenter describes a long series of technological assistive devices she has used to overcome a double disability--—blindness and deafness—--over the past 30 years in pursuing a highly successful career in technical communication. She also demonstrates the equipment and shows how it makes it possible for her to do her job.

Hogg, Maureen. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>TC>Accessibility>Universal Usability

Universal Design in Education: What Is It?

Universal design in education (UDE) means that physical, social, and learning environments are designed so that individuals with a wide range of abilities can have meaningful access and participation in general education. Universal design in education is built in and involves flexibility of materials, strategies, approaches, and technology. Universal design should guide developers, educators, users, and others in developing and implementing environments that support diverse users, regardless of their abilities.

ALLTech (2004). Articles>Accessibility>Education>Universal Usability

Universal Usability    

An early definition of universal usability.

Schneiderman, Ben. Communications of the ACM (2000). Articles>Usability>Accessibility>Universal Usability

Universal Usability: Introduction and Definition

The goal of universal access to information and communications services is compelling. Enthusiastic networking innovators, business leaders, and government policy makers see opportunities and benefits from widespread usage. But even if they succeed and the economies of scale bring low costs, computing researchers will still have much work to do. They will have to deal with the difficult question: How can information and communications services be made usable for every citizen? Designing for experienced frequent users is difficult enough, but designing for a broad audience of unskilled users is a far greater challenge. Scaling up from a listserv for 100 software engineers to 100,000 schoolteachers to 100,000,000 registered voters will take inspiration and perspiration.

Shneiderman, Ben. Universal Usability. Articles>Usability>Accessibility>Universal Usability

Visually Challenged Users and Need for a Universally Accessible Web Site

Visually impaired people suffer from no faults of their own. This is quite worthy of consideration that a little more efforts toward adoption of certain features in your web site can help them retrieve information in the desired manner. Their ease of accessibility to your web site will not go unrewarded; they can well augment your business interests by turning into your most valuable customers.

Azam, Rahbre. Amateur Writerz (2008). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Universal Usability