Who uses the web?
 Young people
 Old people
 Children
 Disabled people
 Technically advance users
 People new to computers

How people use the web
 At home
 On a laptop
 On a mobile device
 At work

What makes the web
hard to use
 Different browsers rendering differently
 Different devices being different sizes
 Vision maybe poor
 People may be color blind
 Deaf people may use screen reading software
 New technology uses might not know what to do

How can we make sure our
users get the best experience
 Complying to standards
 Thinking about the user experience before design
 Optimizing content
 Think about different devices
 Test our sites on real users
 Constantly evolving

Text
 Where ever possible use text rather then images
with text in it.

Keep things clear and
contrasted

Standards and test
 W3C can perform validation for HTML CSS
 Section 508 – this is a validation of accessibility for
you site. This will determine if your site meets the
standards. More and more public sector organization
must comply to this by law.
 Standards and test are not designed to restrictive or
make it harder, they are there to improve web
experience.

Evolve
 Observe how people use your site and change it
accordingly
 Don’t think you know what users will do!

BBC
 Comply with all standards
 Offers rich user experience
 Develops technology to achieve its goals

Summary
 Consider who the users of your site are
 Develop versions for devices (particularly mobile)
 Conforming to standards will make the site more
usable in general.
 Let the users determine the paths, make changes