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Ten Usability Heuristics
Web Usability: Usability Inspections Ten Usability Heuristics Ten general principles for user interface design – more rules of thumb than specific usability guidelines, hence “heuristic”. Visibility of system status – the system should always keep users informed about what is going on, through appropriate feedback within reasonable time. Match between system and the real world –…
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Heuristic evaluation
Web Usability: Usability Inspections Heuristic evaluation A heuristic technique (/hjᵿˈrɪstᵻk/; Ancient Greek: εὑρίσκω, “find” or “discover”), often called simply a heuristic, is any approach to problem solving, learning, or discovery that employs a practical method not guaranteed to be optimal or perfect, but sufficient for the immediate goals. (Wikipedia, 2017) In context of usability, heuristic…
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Nielsen’s views
Jakob Nielsen – five concepts: Learnability – system ease of use. Efficiency – how well system maps interface to user interaction. Memorability – how easy it is for users to remember how to do something. Errors – how well errors are handled and prevented. Satisfaction – user satisfaction with system. Top ten web design mistakes…
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Design for usability
User Centred Design – identify users needs & requirements. Define purpose of website. Perform User Requirements Analysis – define users assumptions & future behaviour on site. Implement these steps when designing & producing objects & functions. Become familiar with general rules & guidelines for website usability such as: Web Site Usability Handbook by Mark Pearrow…
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Usability
Generic term – design features enable=ing something to be user-friendly. Measure of quality of user experience with product or system such as: website mobile device software application Usability problem WRT WWW: Millions of users with different skills, knowledge, experience and expectations International & multicultural make-up of users & websites Billions of websites Tens of thousands of…
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Accessibility validation tools
508 accessibility suite for Dreamweaver (download free from macromedia) available at http://www.adobe.com/macromedia/accessibility/508standards.html Markup test available at http://validator.w3.org/ Wave free accessibility check at http://wave.webaim.org/
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Designing for accessibility
Compliant websites do not have to be dull. Do not rely on colour to convey information. Text colour should contrast background colour. Font size defined in CSS should be customisable by user. Important images should have a meaningful ‘alt’ attribute & description. Provide text-based alternative to audio or video content. Content requiring specific plug-in should…
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Guidelines
There are several resources regarding accessibility guidelines, including: W3C: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 14 guidelines with checkpoints available at http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/ Full checklist available at http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/full-checklist.html WCAG 2.0 (draft) available at http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/ More guidelines available at http://usableweb.com/topics/000262-0-0.html
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The Need to Design for Accessibility/Usability
Web accessibility – “people with disabilities can perceive, understand, navigate and interact with the Web, and that they can contribute to the Web”. W3C provide guidelines through Web Accessibility Initiative (WIA). Disability Discrimination Act 1995 (DDA) – UK law – accessibility issues. Organisation can be subject to serious legal liabilities for contravening law. DDA part III…
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Summarising the PARC Principles
Don’t be afraid to create your design with plenty of blank space. Also make sure you have plenty of white space between elements and visual units. Don’t be afraid to make words very large or very small. Don’t be afraid to speak loudly or to whisper. Contrast is an essential element of good design. Don’t be…
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