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Usable & Accessible Websites: How to Keep Your Visitors Happy & Coming Back for More
- 1. Usable & Accessible Websites: How to Keep Your Visitors Happy & Coming Back for More #NTCusableweb Cindy Leonard Bayer Center for Nonprofit Management Michelle Hines UCP/CLASS
- 2. Session Evaluation Each entry via text or web is a chance to win great NTEN prizes throughout the day! Session Evaluations Powered By: TEXT Text #NTCusableweb to 69866. ONLINE Use #NTCusableweb at http://nten.org/ntc/eval
- 4. Objectives: • Basics of website usability • How usability ties to accessibility • Helpful resources
- 7. What is Web Usability, Anyway? • Present info in a clear and concise way • Give correct choices to users in an obvious way • Remove ambiguity regarding consequences of an action • Put the most important things in the right places
- 9. Simplicity
- 11. Explicitness
- 15. Accuracy
- 21. Directness
- 23. Grouping
- 30. Segregation
- 35. Use Descriptive Values, Not Internal Codes
- 38. Use Images as an Additional Option (Not an Alternative) to Words
- 41. Consistency?
- 42. The Process • Planning • Collecting data from users • Developing prototypes • Writing content • Conducting usability testing with users
- 43. Usability Testing • Identify target audience(s) • 5-10 tasks / 90 minute session • Most typical tasks a real user might want to do on the site • Can have them talk through their logic aloud • Establish clear success criteria per task
- 44. Measuring Usability • Factors –Effectiveness –Efficiency –Satisfaction –Error Frequency and Severity –Memorability • Data to collect –Performance –Preference
- 47. Perceivable • Provide text alternatives for non-text content. • Provide captions and other alternatives for multimedia. • Create content that can be presented in different ways, including by assistive technologies, without losing meaning. • Make it easier for users to see and hear content.
- 48. Operable • Make all functionality available from a keyboard. • Give users enough time to read and use content. • Do not use content that causes seizures. • Help users navigate and find content.
- 49. Understandable • Make text readable and understandable. • Make content appear and operate in predictable ways. • Help users avoid and correct mistakes.
- 50. Robust • Maximize compatibility with current and future user tools.
- 51. RESOURCES
- 61. Q & A
Editor's Notes
- Objectives: 1) Understand the basics of website usability 2) Learn how usability principles tie in with website accessibility principles 3) Receive additional information and resources for making your website more usable and accessible
- EXERCISE Close your eyes Think of a website you deal with on a regular basis that you do not like to use – one that you dread visiting – that drives you nuts Now, recall the emotion or emotions you experienced when you last used that site. Pull those emotions up from your gut and hold them in your head. Open your eyes What emotions did you experience when you visit that site in your head? These are not the kind of emotions we want to inspire in our constituents, funders, clients, donors, volunteers, etc. Yet, we continue to build websites that inspire exactly these kind of emotions.
- Usability is the ease of use and learnability of a human-made object. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usability Web usability is an approach to make web sites easy to use for an end-user, without requiring her (or him) to undergo any specialized training. The user should be able to intuitively relate the actions he needs to perform on the web page, with other interactions he sees in the general domain of life e.g. press of a button leads to some action. The broad goal of usability can be: Present the information to the user in a clear and concise way. To give the correct choices to the users, in a very obvious way. To remove any ambiguity regarding the consequences of an action e.g. clicking on delete/remove/purchase. Put the most important thing in the right place on a web page or a web application. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_usability
- Cell phone example w volunteers The benefits of planning usability into your project from the start are: Increased user satisfaction, which translates directly to trust and brand loyalty Increased user productivity, success, and completion (and sales) Reduced long-term development costs (costs incurred from fixing design mistakes) Reduced training and support costs Word of mouth, social media, and other free marketing Positive press coverage A higher rate of repeat customers, which improves your competitiveness
- KISS is an acronym for the design principle "Keep it simple, Stupid!".[1] Other variations include "keep it short and simple"[2], "keep it simple AND stupid" or "keep it simple and straightforward".[3] The KISS principle states that simplicity should be a key goal in design, and that unnecessary complexity should be avoided. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle
- Ipod entered market in 2001 There were already MP3 players User-friendliness made all the difference Power Users hated it – boring, not enough features, etc. Everyday user loved it – perfect, just what they wanted Lesson – design to the multitudes, not the expert users
- Explicitness Usability can't be boiled down to a single item, but if you are forced to choose one, the best you can do is explicitness. Users can put up with almost any software shortcomings as long as they can figure things out. And the only way they can figure them out is if they can see what's going on.
- Accuracy Be perfectly accurate. Users are dealing with extremely detailed situations. Information that doesn't exactly zero-in on the circumstances will eventually be a problem. UCP – links on site that weren’t really local UCP stuff – went to national site without user being able to tell he or she changed websites
- Wisconsin UCP affiliate
- Use Verbose Phrasing Don't try to name features or web links with a single word. Use a noun and verb. Use several words if that's what it takes.
- Directness Don't put intermediate words or links or buttons or images in between the user and the specific instruction.
- http://smithandgoldsmith.homestead.com/home.html
- Grouping Put related things together.
- http://www.gatesnfences.com/
- General-to-Specific Put important things at the top and left.
- http://iccmworldwide.org/welcome.htm
- Segregation Now that you've got groups of things, separate and distinguish them to signify them accordingly.
- http://www.fabricland.co.uk/
- http://www.fabric.com/
- Use Existing Solutions Creativity is great, but when it's unneccessary, it's a mistake.
- Use Descriptive Values, Not Internal Codes Use words that any competent Windows user will understand, not industry jargon, computerese, or even special business language. Translate things into what users are trying to do.
- http://www.usabilityinstitute.com/resources/userInYourFace/userInYourFace.htm Use Images as an Additional Option—Not an Alternative—to Words Graphics are good for coming back to a feature, not for figuring things out in the first place.
- http://www.neckandbackpainchiropractic.com/index.htm
- http://www.neckandbackpainchiropractic.com/index.htm
- Consistency? Everyone constantly says that you should be consistent, but this is overplayed. There are times when you need to differentiate things. The answer to many consistency questions is the same as the answer to all computer questions: "It depends." Consistency and predictibility are two different things. Consistency - constantly adhering to the same principles, course, form, Predictible – able to tell in advance what something is going to do
- The Process To create a user-centered Web site you must think about the needs of your users throughout each step in the development of your site, including: planning your site collecting data from users developing prototypes writing content conducting usability testing with users Creating a User-Centric Web site Who are the users of your Web site and what are their tasks and goals? What information and functions do your users need, and in what form do they need it? How do users think your Web site should work and what are their experience levels with the Web site? What hardware and software will the majority of your users use to access your site? http://www.usability.gov/basics/ucd/index.html
- Unlike interviews or focus groups that attempt to get users to accurately self-report their own behavior or preferences, a well-designed user test measures actual performance on mission-critical tasks. If the user cannot figure out how to complete a purchase, no amount of “but I really like the website!” comments are going to make up for it. Getting started To conduct a usability test, begin by identifying the target audience. The target audience will consist of one or more user groups. For example, a single website may have content for consumers and a separate login area for site administrators. It is likely that these two user groups perform different tasks as part of their normal website usage. Each user group should be given tasks to perform during testing that reflect their different usage patterns. Creating Usability Test Tasks Typically, participants will perform a set of 5 to 10 tasks within a 90-minute session. Tasks should represent the most common user goals (e.g. recovering a lost password) and/or the most important conversion goals from the website or application owner’s perspective (e.g. making a purchase). It is also crucial to establish very clear success criteria for each task and get stakeholder buy-in on those success criteria. An example of clear success criteria might be: “Participant must load the URL www.examplewebsite.com/purchase-success/ in their browser, and report that they believe they have successfully completed a purchase.” It is also important to clarify where the participant should begin the task (e.g. at the home page of the website), and how task completion and starting points may affect the researcher’s ability to counterbalance task order.
- Effectiveness: A user's ability to successfully use a Web site to find information and accomplish tasks. Efficiency: A user's ability to quickly accomplish tasks with ease and without frustration. Satisfaction: How much a user enjoys using the Web site. Error frequency and severity - How often do users make errors while using the system, how serious are these errors, and how do users recover from these errors? Memorability - If a user has used the system before, can he or she remember enough to use it effectively the next time or does the user have to start over again learning everything? Data There are two types of usability metrics that can be captured during a usability test. These metrics include: Performance data (what actually happened) Preference data (what participants thought) Using the Data Once you gather the metrics, you can use the data to evaluate the usability of your Web site and make recommendations for improvements. Conducting a baseline or benchmark usability test (usually conducted before design changes are made on your current Web site). Implementing recommendations based on the usability test and improving your current Web site to fix usability issues. Re-testing your Web site after the design improvements to measure the effectiveness of your improvements. http://www.usability.gov/basics/measured/index.html
- Explain 2 sources http://www.wc3.org/WAI http://www.section508.gov ----------- Curb cuts example
- Perceivable Provide text alternatives for non-text content. Provide captions and other alternatives for multimedia. Create content that can be presented in different ways, including by assistive technologies, without losing meaning. Make it easier for users to see and hear content.
- Operable Make all functionality available from a keyboard. Give users enough time to read and use content. Do not use content that causes seizures. Help users navigate and find content.
- Understandable Make text readable and understandable. Make content appear and operate in predictable ways. Help users avoid and correct mistakes.
- Robust Maximize compatibility with current and future user tools.
- http://www.useit.com/ Alertbox: Current Issues in Web Usability Bi-weekly column by Dr. Jakob Nielsen, principal, Nielsen Norman Group http://www.useit.com/alertbox/
- Jakob Nielson
- http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/
- http://www.usabilityfirst.com/
- http://www.usabilityfirst.com/usability-methods/card-sorting/ http://www.usabilityfirst.com/usability-methods/contextual-task-analysis/ http://www.usabilityfirst.com/usability-methods/cognitive-walkthroughs/ http://www.usabilityfirst.com/usability-methods/charrettes/ http://www.usabilityfirst.com/usability-methods/facilitated-brainstorming/ http://www.usabilityfirst.com/usability-methods/focus-groups/ http://www.usabilityfirst.com/usability-methods/heuristic-evaluation/ http://www.usabilityfirst.com/usability-methods/one-on-one-interviews/ http://www.usabilityfirst.com/usability-methods/participatory-design/ http://www.usabilityfirst.com/usability-methods/surveys/
- http://www.usabilityfirst.com/usability-methods/hci-design-approaches/
- Accessibility is extremely important to your website. Simply put, what good does your website’s content do if certain people can’t see it? Sure, your fancy new design with the tiny fonts and low-contrast colors might look slick to you and your friends, but those with poorer eyesight, color blindness, and any other visual hindrance won’t be able to navigate, much less read, your website. You want to—nay, must—make your website accessible if you want the maximum amount of visitors. But how do you go about making sure your website is accessible? Well, today is your lucky day, because your life is about to get a whole lot easier. Here are 20 tools to an accessible website: http://speckyboy.com/2011/01/21/20-essential-tools-and-tips-to-an-accessible-website/
- Evaluating Web Sites for Accessibility: Overview "Evaluating Web Sites for Accessibility" is a multi-page resource suite that outlines different approaches for evaluating Web sites for accessibility. While it does not provide checkpoint-by-checkpoint testing techniques, it does provide general procedures and tips for evaluation in different situations, from evaluation during Web site development to ongoing monitoring of existing sites. The approaches in these pages are intended to supplement other content management and quality assurance procedures. http://www.w3.org/WAI/eval/Overview.html
- Simple and Usable – Giles Colborne