An expert usability review of osha.gov, conducted by Wes Lewis from Booz Allen Hamilton in May 2016, assessed the site's usability against industry standards and identified significant usability issues. Key recommendations included ensuring global consistency in design, revisiting information architecture for better navigation, and enhancing the accessibility of content. The review aimed to improve user experience by addressing cosmetic to major usability problems that hinder task completion on both desktop and mobile platforms.

1. Expert Usability Review
OSHA.gov

2. ABOUT THIS
EXPERT USABILITY REVIEW
• Initiated May 2016
• Prepared for Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
• Assessed using current standards from industry leaders
• Human Factors International (HFI)
• Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g)
• Usability.gov
• Conducted by Wes Lewis of Booz Allen Hamilton
• User Experience (UX) Lead for OSHA.gov Drupal Migration
• 12 years of experience in UX design & usability analysis
• HFI Certified Usability Analyst (CUA)

3. GOALS OF
EXPERT USABILITY REVIEW
• Uncover and assess the severity of usability issues on the desktop and
mobile sites.
• Evaluate the usability of osha.gov against current industry standards.
• Find opportunities to improve and optimize usability for the intended
users.

4. AN EXPLANATION OF
SEVERITY RATINGS
Cosmetic. These issues are mostly cosmetic in nature.
Minor issue. These issues inconvenience the user, but do not
completely stop them from completing tasks.
Major issue. These issues signify major usability problems.
Top priority. These issues keep users from completing tasks
efficiently.
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5. RECOMMENDATIONS

6. RECOMMENDATION #1
Ensure global consistency
Recommendation 1.1: Inherit DOL.gov’s global stylesheet &
general flat aesthetic.
• Remove gradients from page elements, most notably the global
header and buttons.
• Gradients impact readability of text placed on elements
using them
• Generally considered a dated UI design trend.
• Implement mega menu style & functionality as demonstrated in
the DOL.gov global header.
• Easy to use, accessible, and already exists for easy
incorporation.
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7. RECOMMENDATION #1
Ensure global consistency
Recommendation 1.1: Inherit DOL.gov’s global stylesheet &
general flat aesthetic. (cont’d)
• Utilize whitespace, bolding of key phrases & words, alternating
row colors, bulleted lists, and clear H1-H6 header styles to make
page content easy for users to digest.
• Reserve underlines for hyperlinks.
• Remove low-resolution images or otherwise non-standard
graphical elements
• Lean more towards minimalist design, ensuring that every
element adds value
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8. RECOMMENDATION #1
Ensure global consistency
Recommendation 1.2: Ensure all landing pages within OSHA.gov have a
uniform appearance and function.
• There is very little consistency throughout OSHA.gov., especially on
landing pages.
• Aesthetically jarring at times
• Potentially impacts memory load in terms of having to
reacquaint to a new user interface.
• Inconsistent design also impacts the user’s trust in the site and
the site provider.
• Each landing page seems to utilize a different variation of a content
slider.
• Implement a simple and accessible content slider.
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9. RECOMMENDATION #2
Revisit information architecture
Recommendation 2.1: Merge blue “frequently-visited” navigation in
header with navigation menu.
• The existence of these buttons unnecessarily clutters the global
header of the site – the starting place for most visitors, especially
new ones. Navigation, search, page title information is in this vicinity.
• If reorganized in a manner which more closely matches the mental
models of visitors, they will be able to locate these areas of the site
with very little issue.
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10. RECOMMENDATION #2
Revisit information architecture
Recommendation 2.2: Ensure that the path shown in breadcrumbs is
accurate.
• Several instances exist in OSHA.gov where the path shown in the
breadcrumbs is either inaccurate or reflects an alternate path.
• Example: From the home page, select For Employers > Employer
Responsibilities. The breadcrumbs indicate that this page should
be under Worker Rights, which is underneath the For Workers
navigation category.
• This is disorienting to users as breadcrumbs are a textual
representation of a website’s structure. They help site visitors
understand and navigate a website’s hierarchy. A location-based
breadcrumb trail should begin with a link to the website’s home page
and end with the current page.
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11. RECOMMENDATION #2
Revisit information architecture
Recommendation 2.3: Extract links from the global navigation menu
which take the user outside the scope of OSHA.gov.
• There is no visual indicator that, upon clicking a link, a user will be
navigated outside of OSHA.gov
• This can be disorienting to users and may be a cause of frustration
and increased bounce/exit rates.
• These links, if too important to remove completely, can be placed in
another more intuitive location of the site.
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12. RECOMMENDATION #2
Revisit information architecture
Recommendation 2.4: Organize and label navigation elements so that
sections such as “How To” on home page and quick links are not
necessary.
• The links in the How To section are long and do not lend themselves
to be easily scanned by users
• Valuable real estate can be better utilized to highlight fresher, more
relevant content for users
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13. RECOMMENDATION #2
Revisit information architecture
Recommendation 2.5: Choose up to two navigation schemes: task and
topic (remove audience-based navigation).
• Users can navigate the by topic, task, and user in the same menus. As
it stands now, the navigation forces users to go through
miscellaneous categories to access content.
• Websites with audience-based navigation often have overlapping
content, which creates a greater workload for users (and content
maintainers).
• Average 6.1% of users go 1 page deep from the top ten landing pages
and then refer to some sort of FAQ or Help page.
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14. RECOMMENDATION #2
Revisit information architecture
Recommendation 2.5: Choose up to two navigation schemes: task and
topic (remove audience-based navigation) (cont’d).
• Users might feel anxious that the information they see might be
incomplete or incorrect.
• Forcing people to self-identify tends to create an additional step and
take people out of their task mindset.
• Users may question whether the category will have information
about that group or for that group.
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15. RECOMMENDATION #3
Clearly distinguish OSHA-
specific content
Recommendation 3.1: Separate OSHA-specific icons in header from DOL-
specific social media
• The grouping of icons in the header leads one to believe that they are
either all OSHA-related or all DOL-related. In all actuality, OSHA does
not market a Facebook page, a Twitter handle, or an Instagram
account of their own. These are all DOL’s social media accounts.
• Career & Internships = DOL, Contact Us= OSHA.
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16. RECOMMENDATION #4
Eliminate repetitive screen
elements
Recommendation 4.1: Language translation controls exist in a number of
places on each page, each exhibiting different behaviors.
• “Español” navigation item located in the global header returns the user
to the home page of a translated version of the site, taking the user away
from the page previously in view prior to toggle. (Note that the
navigation item used to arrive on this page disappears upon arrival.)
• A blue “Language” toggle is present on several pages at the content
level. When triggered, everything below the global navigation is
translated. The button persists after the translation has occurred and
exhibits the action in the translated language.
• An “Espanol” link exists in the global fat footer and, as a result, is present
on every page. This link is not a toggle (a DOL-wide directory of links
targeted to the Spanish-speaking audience) , but the fact that the link’s
name is the same as others which exist on the same page can be
problematic for those reliant on screen readers
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17. RECOMMENDATION #4
Eliminate repetitive screen
elements
Recommendation 4.2: Remove repetitive links.
• Contact Us (https://www.osha.gov/html/Feed_Back.html) appears in
no fewer than four places on each page.
• For Workers > Contact Us
• For Employers > Contact Us
• Contact Us (blue button in header)
• Contact Us (link in footer)
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18. RECOMMENDATION #4
Eliminate repetitive screen
elements
Recommendation 4.3: Allow for only one menu trigger per page.
• The button labeled Menu (used to expose the responsive menu) and
the hamburger icon are generally perceived as equivalent and,
although these should trigger different menus, should not exist on
the same page.
• Organize the information in a manner which does not require
the use of a submenu.
Note: Safety and Health Topics presents a responsive submenu which
should be triggered by a hamburger icon. However, when the
hamburger icon is triggered, it expands the global menu in addition to
the submenu. Triggering the hamburger icon once both menu icons are
open anchors the user to the bottom of the page.
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19. RECOMMENDATION #5
Revise OSHA.gov homepage
Recommendation 5.1: Prioritize fresh content.
# of workers who died in 2014 is at the top of the page. Much fresher
news and blog content is lowered in priority with the blog content
being located at the very bottom right of the page.
According to our Google analytics findings, the OSHA.gov landing page
is BY FAR the most heavily visited page within its domain. The
impression delivered when the statistics being shown are two years old
may not be the impression that OSHA wants to convey.
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20. RECOMMENDATION #5
Revise OSHA.gov homepage
Recommendation 5.2: Make notable calls to action more prominent.
Currently, calls to action such as “File a Complaint, ”Report Fatalities &
Severe Injuries,” “Find an OSHA Office,” and others are buried in the
“How To” section and in the navigation among other informational
sections of the site.
The call to action for visitors to subscribe to the newsletter is in two
primary places:
• The envelope icon in the global header of DOL (note: this icon is
generally used with the expectation that the user will be sending a
message instead of signing up for a newsletter), and
• Beneath the fold on the homepage as an image-link to “OSHA
QuickTakes.”
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21. RECOMMENDATION #5
Revise OSHA.gov homepage
Recommendation 5.3: Rethink the presentation of OSHA-focused Twitter
feed.
Currently, the Twitter feed commands a large portion of real estate on
the home page, but only shows two posts.
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22. RECOMMENDATION #6
Revise OSHA Newsroom
Recommendation 6.1: Adopt DOL.gov’s convention for filtering articles
and publications.
• Investigate the need for a separate newsroom since DOL.gov has
its own and allows users to filter by agency.
• OSHA currently exists as a filter option
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23. RECOMMENDATION #6
Revise OSHA Newsroom
Recommendation 6.2: Minimize the prominence of the filter/article type
selection area once DOL.gov convention is adopted
• Users may very likely filter eventually, but the filter does not have to
be the very first visible section on the newsroom home.
• Currently, users are unable to see the updated list of articles because
the filter and the newsletter subscription field take up more vertical
space than necessary.
• This impacts the user’s ability to determine system status. Has
their request to filter been satisfied? They must scroll down to
determine this after every submission as no additional feedback
is provided above the fold.
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24. RECOMMENDATION #7
Revise forms (global)
Recommendation 7.1: When filling out forms, it is very easy to
encounter errors and make mistakes.
• Implement masks and character limits to help users properly format
information with specific rules
• When preventing mistakes is not possible, allow users to view/correct
their mistakes before submitting their form.
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25. RECOMMENDATION #7
Revise forms (global)
Recommendation 7.2: Minimize the users’ cognitive load by placing
helpful error messages within the context of the form which persist until
action is taken to rectify the error.
• Inconsistent behavior across the site. Errors on the form used to file a
complaint are placed on another screen in a bulleted list, forcing the
user to remember what errors were made when returning to the
form to correct them.
• Errors in the form used to report Serious Events are displayed in the
context of the form, but disappear before a user had a chance to
process the information displayed and are not specifically worded.
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26. RECOMMENDATION #7
Revise forms (global)
Recommendation 7.3: For long forms, allow a user to review their
responses prior to submission.
• The Filing a Complaint form allows the user to review their
submission, but only after it has already been submitted to OSHA.
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27. RECOMMENDATION #8
Ensure global accessibility
Recommendation 8.1: Ensure global accessibility.
• Users cannot currently tab and select through the elements on the
home page content slider.
• Closed caption text does not accurately match verbiage in videos
posted from YouTube.
• For example, someone answering an OSHA Help Desk phone
says “Hello. This is OSHA. How may I help you?” but the closed
captioning says “This is Russia. How may I help you?”
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28. RECOMMENDATION #8
Ensure global accessibility
Recommendation 8.1: Ensure global accessibility.
• Many pages are missing titles to inform the user as to where they
currently are. This is required.
• Users are unable to skip repetitive navigation.
• In several instances, page content does not meet Section 508
contrast standards.
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29. RECOMMENDATION #9
Evaluate the quality of help
Recommendation 9.1: Assess the value of embedding certain videos to
OSHA.gov from YouTube.
• Example: Conveying the content shown in the “Know Your Rights”
video on the homepage could be easily achieved in a more concise
manner
• In this 1:25 minute video, the only messages aside from a non-
verbal call to action to visit osha.gov/workers are:
• You have the right to a safe workplace.
• You have the right to ask questions if something seems
unsafe.
• You have the right to report work-related injuries…without
being fired!
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30. RECOMMENDATION #9
Evaluate the quality of help
Recommendation 9.2: “How To” section label is misleading.
• This group is more of a “Quick Links” section than an instructional on
how to achieve certain functions on OSHA.gov.
• The links do not direct the user to specific instructions to accomplish
functions, but rather the actual functions themselves – the existence
of instructions varies per page in the section.
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31. RECOMMENDATION #10
Revise Contact Page
Recommendation 10.1: Address responsive menu bug.
• Responsive navigation menu does not stay open long enough to
review contents or to make a selection.
• This is an issue which might exist in other areas of the website, which
impede access to other areas of the website and trap a user.
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32. RECOMMENDATION #10
Revise Contact Page
Recommendation 10.2: Expose contact form on the contact page
instead of forcing users to navigate to yet another page from the contact
page in order to submit a message.
• Currently, user must select Email link to expose form.
• When navigating to a contact page, users expect immediate access to
a form.
• The first option on the Contact OSHA page is a phone number.
• The second available option is to click a link to access the Submit
a Workplace Safety & Health Question form.
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33. FOR QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
Regarding this review…
Wes Lewis
UX Lead, OSHA.gov Drupal Migration
Booz | Allen | Hamilton
Lewis_Wes@bah.com