A Journey Through Accessibility

Identifies web accessibility problems throughout the web generations, and summarises where we are now, and what we can expect for the future.

Scano, Roberto. Juicy Studio (2006). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability

Just How 'Blind' Are We to Advertising Banners on the Web?

The most common medium for advertising on the Web is through the use of banners. This form of advertisement often combines animation, sophisticated graphics, and even audio to endorse product information. Currently, advertising companies test the effectiveness of banners  by calculating their 'click-through' ratio rate (Briggs & Hollis, 1997). This ratio is the number of times an ad appears on a page compared to the number of times an individual clicks on the banner. It has been argued by Nielsen (1997) that click-through ratio rates are typically about 1%, which suggests that 99% of the time Internet users don’t bother to click on advertisements.

Bayles, Michelle. Usability News (2000). Articles>Usability>Web Design

Just Say No to Dead Fragments

A dead fragment of text is what's left after a usability expert has had his or her way with some perfectly good copy. The process works a little like this... First, take some great text that engages the reader on a number of levels. Here are a few words from Martin Luther King, Jr.: 'I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.' Now cut that back to make it more 'usable': 'Have sons judged by character and not color.' What are you left with? A brief, but dead, fragment. The substance of the communication remains, but the soul has been ripped out of it.

Usborne, Nick. ClickZ (2001). Articles>Writing>Usability>Web Design

Keeping Users Stuck to Your Site

Discusses the effect of drop-off and how usability initiatives reduced drop-off at Staples.com by 73%. This discussion begins with a definition of drop-off and moves into an explanation of the value of drop-off data. Then we delve into the correlation between drop-off and return on investment. Finally, we highlight two examples of Staples.com initiatives that were focused on reducing drop-off by using a systematic process of customer research and redesign.

Hynes, Colin. Human Factors International (2006). Presentations>Web Design>Usability

Kids' Corner: Website Usability for Children

Our usability study of kids found that they are as easily stumped by confusing websites as adults. Unlike adults, however, kids tend to view ads as content, and click accordingly. They also like colorful designs, but demand simple text and navigation.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2002). Design>Web Design>Usability>Children

Label Placement in Forms

Placing a label above an input field works better in most cases, because users aren't forced to look separately at the label and the input field. Be careful to visually separate the label for the next input field from the previous input field.

Penzo, Matteo. UXmatters (2006). Design>Web Design>Forms>Usability

The Language Problem

Inappropriate use of language is one of the most common causes of usability issues in interface design. When using a product (either online or offline) the words used to label functions or buttons are of paramount importance to the user attempting to understand how the object works. After all, these labels are often the only differentiator within a row of identical buttons. If a user has difficulty understanding what these words or labels mean, there is a fundamental problem in mapping functions to their relevant buttons on the interface. If a term is vague, the user is unsure about the resulting action, and if it cannot be understood, it is likely to cause a 'critical' usability error - an inability to complete a simple task. And these difficulties arise surprisingly often - not because users have limited vocabularies, but because designers and developers insist on using terms unfamiliar to them. How does this happen? The one common factor behind every language difficulty is a failure to conduct a user test, or 'phrase audit', with real end-users.

Farrell, Tom. Frontend Infocentre (2000). Design>Language>Web Design>Usability

The Latest Hot Trend Tests Usability of Web Sites

E-tailers grapple with everything from out-of-sight marketing costs to troubles with shipping. But another problem is close to home: Sites are hard to use, and that's turning off customers. Thirty leading e-commerce Web sites are riddled with flaws, concludes a soon-to-be-released site usability report. The study by Forrester Research and User Interface Engineering, a Bradford, Mass., usability testing company, is based on the experiences of 18 customers who were given $50 to buy things online. Amazon.com, L.L. Bean's site and REI.com were among the 30 sites surveyed. Forrester will issue the full report card later this month, but all sites had flaws. Shoppers in the test ran into dozens of problems that ranged from locating products to finding enough information to make a purchase decision to checking out.

Riedman, Patricia. AdAge.com (2000). Design>Web Design>Usability>E Commerce

Learnability in Information Design    

Design of information used for technical communication of complex products should consider how learnable that information is, and strive to deliver materials that are inherently learnable.The speed of information interchange and the demands of the workplace and school curricula require increasingly minimalist approaches to the material that is made available. People are frustrated by long learning times, and new users of software tools demand rapid absorption of tool capabilities. In addition, many readers of technical information are people for whom English is not their native language.Methods and practices that worked in the period when people were willing to commit to hours of study to understand a topic, or days of practice to master a tool, no longer work in a world based on ?internet time.? To assist our understanding of these trends in learning, this paper addresses three key areas related to learnability: proposing a definition of learnability, showing where learnability and usability intersect, and providing a basis for learnability based on some attributes of human beings.

Haramundanis, Kathy. ACM SIGDOC (2001). Presentations>User Centered Design>Usability>Cognitive Psychology

Learning from Customers  

Illustrates how technical writers can track customer complaints and use the information to improve the usability of products and documentation.

Bist, Gary. Intercom (2002). Design>Usability>Assessment

Learning from Games: Seven Principles of Effective Design    

Why do players of computer games seem to approach those applications without fear, eagerly exploring and learning as they go, while users of business applications will go out of their way to keep from using the tools? Why do business applications require volumes of documentation when the most complex games come with a brief tutorial and a strategy guide for exploration? Why can games teach pilots to fly multi-million-dollar jets better than books and classroom training? These questions have led us to ask another question: Why can’t business applications be more like games? In this article, we attempt to lay the ground work for future research by defining seven design principles found in games that we believe contribute to the creation of more usable applications.

Houser, Rob and Scott Deloach. Technical Communication Online (1998). Articles>Usability>Information Design

Learning from the Success of Computer Games

I have long been struck by the power of the computer game to mesmerize, to hold the attention of otherwise restless children for hours and even days. I have watched otherwise unruly children focus, study, collaborate, and problem-solve. They read hint books, save checkpoints, the better to be able to try 'what-if' scenarios. They consult, the create. They solve. They do all the activities we wish them to do in pursuit of an education: What a shame that what is being learned is so trivial, so worthless. Now imagine a time when we transform education. When we can craft educational problems as cleverly as the game creators create theirs, allowing students to delve into the complexity of topics as deeply and as thoroughly as they delve into the games. Excite them to dive into the task, voluntarily working hard to learn the skills necessary to succeed. Only this time, the skills learned will be the ones necessary to be successful, well-educated citizens of society: mathematics, history, writing, science, art, and so on.

Norman, Donald A. JND.org (2000). Design>Usability>Interaction Design>Children

Legibility vs. Readability

Let's take a look at legibility vs. readability in typesetting and typography. Let's see if the if the rules can be broken. Never underestimate the powers of a good sans serif!

Design, Typography and Graphics (2004). Design>Typography>Usability

Lessons Learned: Developing and Testing a Web Site  

What is the purpose of my Web site? Who is my audience? How important is the overall appearance of my Web site? Can the user successfully navigate through my site? Can the user locate the desired information? How can I market my Web site? This session will highlight the key factors in developing an external Web site. In addition to all of the aspects of designing a web site, attention should also be paid to its usability features, such as navigation, accessibility of information, and overall appearance to the user.

Wilkinson, Theresa A. and Debota J. Malone. STC Proceedings (1997). Design>Web Design>Usability

Lessons Learned from Usability Testing Web Pages  

This session brings you actual case studies and specific advice based on 'lessons learned' from usability tests of Web sites.

Redish, Janice C. 'Ginny', Janet R. Borggren, Meghan R. Ede and Laurie A. Roshak. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Web Design>Usability

Let Them Eat Cake

A growing debate pits accessibility against usability. From our point of view, it’s like pitting peanut butter against jelly. This article helps you create a page that is both usable and accessible, saving readers the trouble of scrolling with a little help from JavaScript and the Document Object Model.

Gustafson, Aaron. List Apart, A (2004). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Usability

Let's Learn How Not To Mess Up With Your Web Site Content

Every web site is conceived and designed keeping in view a particular purpose to serve. The aim of web site may vary: some web site intends to showcase products or services of the company it belongs to, some provides information to its target audience, or some just exposes its company on the web in a brand building exercise. This is to note that whatever be the nature of web site, web copy plays it own crucial role in furthering the interest of the site. It is imperative that web content is easy-to-read, easy-to-find, and easy-to-understand.

Azam, Rahbre. Insider Reports, The (2008). Articles>Web Design>Content Management>Usability

Leveraging Universal Design in a Financial Services Company

The changing physical, cognitive and social requirements of customers demand the changes of user interfaces. Universal design is a solution. Let's look at what Fidelity has done to incorporate accessibility into their system and in return how Fidelity benefits from it. Though there are no formulas and figures to calculate ROI in this article, the ROI of the universal design adoption is obvious.

Bergel, Marguerite, Ann Chadwick-Dias and Tom Tullis. uiGarden (2007). Design>Usability>Case Studies>Universal Usability

Link Color Déjà Vu

It seems that Jakob Nielsen is back grinding on one of his old organs with the current AlertBox and the tune is 'standard link colors improve usability'. No one can blame Jakob for recycling old material. My goodness, he has been publishing a weekly column for almost 10 years, things are bound to come around again and again.

Anderson, David J. UIdesign (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability>Color

Linking Out Is Good

Linking out to external websites is a great thing - it can enhance your website's usability, credibility and search engine ranking.

Moss, Trenton. Webcredible (2004). Design>Web Design>Usability

Listening to the Learners: A Case Study in Health Information Website Design  

An important mantra of user-centered design is to 'know thy user.' Accomplishing this requires one to decide what should be known about the user and how to gather the information. In this paper, we focus on the specific instance where the user is a learner. Specifically, we describe our efforts to listen to the learners of an information website, the Arthritis Source, and to act on this information.

Turns, Jennifer and Tracey S. Wagner. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>User Centered Design>Scientific Communication>Usability

Little Machines: Understanding Users Understanding Interfaces    

This paper questions the ubiquitous practice of supplying minimalist information to users, of making that information functional only, of assuming that the Shannon-Weaver communication model should govern online systems, and of ignoring the social implications of such a stance. Help systems that provide fast, temporary solutions without providing any background information lead to the danger of users completing tasks that they do not understand at all. (Word will help us write a legal pleading, even if we have no idea what one is.) As a result, we have help systems that attempt to be invisible and to provide tool instruction but not conceptual instruction. Such a system presents itself as a neutral tool, but it is actually an incomplete environment, denying both the complexity and alternative (and possibly improved) modes of thinking about the subject at hand.

Johnson-Eilola, Johndan. Journal of Computer Documentation (2001). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Usability

Location of the Scrollbar

Are scrollbars located close enough to where users typically work with a Website or list box to encourage the fastest possible use?

Bailey, Robert. Human Factors International (2002). Design>Web Design>Usability

Location, Path and Attribute Breadcrumbs

Three type of breadcrumbs on the web are defined, examples are given of each, and a set of research questions involving breadcrumbs are presented. Location breadcrumbs, the most common, show the single location of a page within a site. Path breadcrumbs, which are becoming more common with database-driven sites, show the particular path the user has taken within the site to the page. Attribute breadcrumbs are meta-information within the site that are represented in a breadcrumb-like fashion.

Instone, Keith. Instone.org (2002). Design>Web Design>Usability

The Long List of Reasons Ease of Use Doesn't Happen on Engineering Projects

A list of the most common reasons engineering projects don't result in something that's easy to use. It covers diverse topics such as customer confusion, the impact of code architecture, the spinal tap commerative reason, and more.

Berkun, Scott. UIWeb (2002). Design>Usability>User Centered Design