Graduate School of Library and Information Science LIS 753 Universal Usability Issues By: Yijun Gao Jan 30, 2015

What is “Usability” I As a measure of effectiveness, it describes how effective tools and information sources are in helping us accomplish tasks. The more usable the tool, the better we are able to achieve our goals. Help us overcome physical limitations by making us stronger, faster, and more sharp- sighted. Can also be frustrating or disabling.

What is “Usability” II In designing web sites we must reduce functional limitations through design. Try to improve the quality of life for more people, with the help of universal usability Bad usability: either because it is poorly designed or because its design does not take into account our needs

Web Accessibility Initiative Universal Usability Includes *** Accessibility + Usability + Universal Design Web Accessibility Initiative promotes best practices and tools that make the web accessible to people with disabilities. Accessible designs can be accomplished using current and future web technologies. The more usable the website, the better we feel about using it, the more likely it is that we will return to the site. (Loyalty matters!)

Quantitative v.s. Qualitative Different ways to judge a design’s effectiveness Quantitative usability metrics: how quickly we complete tasks and how many errors we make in the process (use numbers to describe!) “Learnability”: how quickly we learn to use a tool & how well we remember how to use it the next time Qualitative measures: how much satisfaction we derive in using a website (to describe verbally)

User-Centered Design Methods Starting from: task analysis, then: focus groups, and user testing to understand user needs and refine designs based on user feedback. Determining: what functionality users want in a product and how they will use it. (Touch Screen) Design, testing, and refinement cycle: make sure users like and will be successful using our design. Our system must be: easy to learn and use by a diversity of users, platforms, and usage contexts.

Universal Design Incorporates access requirements into design, rather than providing separate designs for the handicapped Less costly: anticipating a diverse user population often have unanticipated benefits… For example, curb cuts in sidewalks are intended to help mobility- and vision-impaired users, but many others benefit, including people making deliveries, pushing a stroller, or riding a bike.

Universal Design Principles Principle One: Equitable Use Provide the same means of use for all users: identical whenever possible; equivalent when not. For example: An online book can be made larger, smaller, colored, copied, printed, read aloud. The flexibility of the web provides an excellent opportunity to design for “same means of use.”

Principle Two: Flexibility in Use The web users have choice regarding platform, software, and settings (Mac or PC) Users can view web pages without images or in a variety of layouts and typefaces. (I disabled Flash to avoid ads ) The same page can be accessed on a cell phone or printed on paper. Thus, the page must be: responsive

Principle III: Simple & Intuitive Use Design must be: easy to understand, regardless of the user’s experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level. Eliminate unnecessary complexity and arrange information consistent with its importance. Simplicity and direct access to salient features and information is an effective design strategy. Bad: Much of the page given over to organizational identity, advertising, and navigation…(example?)

Principle Four: Perceptible Info. Use different modes (pictorial, verbal, tactile) for redundant presentation of essential info. and provide compatibility with a variety of techniques or devices used by people with sensory limitations. Text on web pages is machine-readable and can be adapted to different contexts. For instance, text is accessible to people who can’t see because software can read text aloud. Alt-text for images, captions for spoken audio, and audio descriptions for video files.

Universal Usability Guidelines Designers need to “support a wide range of technologies, to accommodate diverse users, and to help users bridge the gap between what they know and what they need to know.” (Ben Shneiderman) It’s important to think about universal usability as a goal and not an outcome. Why? See notes below

Moving beyond “typical” user We are NOT working for a “typical” user Universal usability accounts for users of all ages, experience levels, and physical or sensory limitations. Users vary widely in their technical circumstances: in screen size, network speed, browser versions, and specialized software such as screen readers for the visually impaired. Each of us inhabits multiple points on the spectrum, points that are constantly shifting as our needs and contexts change…

User control Design from a fixed environment will exclude some users. In the web environment, users have control over their environment. --- Manipulate browser settings --- To display text at a size --- They find comfortable for reading

Keyboard functionality Interaction is crucial component Users navigate and interact with links, forms, and other elements of the web interface. For universal usability nowadays, these actionable elements must be workable from the keyboard or touch screen for the mobile users Not all users use mouse or touch screen: make actionable elements workable via the keyboard to ensure that the interactivity of the web is accessible

Usability In Design Process T he best method: a combination of design best practices and familiar web layout conventions + developed in consultation with users at each stage. Involving users in the development process helps us understand user requirements, which allows us to make informed design decisions more effectively.

Web Analytics---very important Collects metrics about users: --- Operating system & browser used --- Screen resolution / Size --- Page users visited before landing ours --- Defining the audience for our web site. --- Why users visit our site, --- What they hope to find --- What they actually checked/clicked --- expert or novice, young or old. Must work with interview, survey, field study

Identifying Target Audience A group of users critical to the success of our site. They may share common interests, but they are not likely to share access requirements. Some may be experts and others first-time users. Some may be have low or no vision, and others may have mobility or dexterity issues. The same person may access site on a laptop, PC, or smartphone. Although we target a certain audience, others will come. (see notes below)

Do NOT Exclude Users Even if our data show that only 2% of our users use a specific brand of browser, don’t using technology to exclude those users. It’s bad business to exclude anyone from access to your information and services, and there is no way to place a value on those users who you have excluded. Our next major donor might be one of the 2% we turned away…You never know