1. USABILITY TESTING

2. Usability Testing is:
a means for measuring how well people can use some human-made object (such as a web page, a computer interface, a document, or a device) for its intended purpose.
The testing that validates the ease of use, speed and aesthetics of the product from the user’s point of view is called usability testing.
Why usability can be validated- not tested?
perceptions of good usability varies from user to user. For example, Developer would consider use of command line flags as good user interface, an end user will want everything in terms of GUI elements such as menus, dialog boxes and so on.
Characteristics of Usability testing
UT tests the product from the user’s point of view.
UT is for checking the product to see if it is easy to use for the various categories of users.
UT is the process to identify discrepancies between the user interface of the product and the human requirements in terms of the pleasantness and aesthetics aspects.

3. APPROACH TO USABILITY
In UT, certain human factors can b represented in a quantifiable way and can be tested objectively. Ex: the no. of mouse clicks, no. of keystroke, no. of commands used to perform a task.
UT is not only for product binaries or executables. It also applies to documentation and other deliverables that are shipped along with a product.
AUTORUN script that automatically brings up product setup when the release media is inserted in the machine. Sometimes this script is written for a particular operating system version and may not get auto executed on a different OS version.
PEOPLE SUITED TO PERFORM UT
Typical representatives of the actual user segments who would be using the product, so that the typical user patterns can be captured.
People who are new to the product, so that they can start without any bias and be able to identify usability problem.

4. Generally it is difficult to develop test cases for usability
Generally it is difficult to develop test cases for usability. Checklists and guidelines are prepared for UT.
Usability depends on message – system gives to its user.
Information – informational message is verified to find out whether an end user can understand that message and associate it with the operation done.
Warning message – message is checked for why it happened and what to do to avoid the warning.
Error message – what is the error, why that error happened, and what to do to avoid or work around that error.
A system should intelligently detect and avoid wrong usage and if wrong usage cannot be avoided it should provide appropriate and meaningful messages .
UT should go PT and NT- to know the correct and incorrect usage of the product

5. VERIFICATION OF USABILITY DESIGN
Style sheets
SS are grouping of user interface design elements.
Use of SS ensures consistency of design elements across several screens and testing – Ensures that the basic usability design is tested. SS checks the font size, color scheme, and so on.
Screen prototypes
screen are designed as they will be shipped to the customer, but are not integrated with other modules of the product.
user interface is tested independently without integrating with the functionality modules.
This prototype gives an idea of how exactly the screen will look and function when the product is released.
Test team and real life users test this prototype .

6. Paper design
The design of the screen, layout and menus are drawn up on paper and sent to users for feedback.
Usage of style sheets requires further coding, prototypes need binaries and resources to verify, but paper design do not require any other resources.
Layout design
Layout helps in arranging different elements on the screen dynamically.
It ensures arrangement of elements, spacing, size of fonts, pictures and so on the screen.
USABILITY
Usability is a habit and a behavior. Just like humans, the products are expected to behave differently and correctly with different users and to their expectations.

7. 1.comprehensibility Checklist for usability testing
Do users complete the assigned tasks/operations successfully?
if so, how much time do they take to complete the tasks/operations?
is the response from he product fast enough to satisfy them?
where did the users get struck? What problems do they have?
Where do they get confused? Were they able to continue on their own? What helped them to continue?
QUALITY FACTORS FOR USABILITY
1.comprehensibility
product should have simple and logical structure of features and documentation.
They should be grouped on the basis of user scenarios and usage.
Most frequently operations should be presented first using the user interfaces

8. 2. consistency
A product should be consistent with any applicable standards, platform look and feel, base infrastructure.
Multiple products from the same company – consistency in the look and feel.
User interfaces are different for different OS- services irritates the user.
2. Navigation
It helps in determining how easy it is to select the different operations of the product.
The number of mouse clicks should be minimized to perform any operation to improve the usability.
4. Responsiveness
How fast the product responds to the user request.
Whenever the product is processing some information, the visual display should indicate the progress and also the amount of time left so that the users can wait patiently till the operations is completed.

9. AESTHETICS TESTING
Important aspect in usability is making the product “ Beautiful”.
Aesthetics related problems in the product are generally mapped to a defect classification called “ Cosmetic” which is low priority.
It’s not possible for all products to measure up with the Taj mahal for its beauty. Testing for aesthetics can at least ensure the product is pleasing to the eye.
Aesthetics is not in the external look alone. It is in all the aspects such as colors, nice icons, messages, screens, colors and images.

10. ACCESSIBILITY TESTING
Testing the product usability for physically challenged users is called accessibility testing.
For such users an alternative methods of using the product have to be provided.
Accessibility of the product can be provided by two means
Making use of accessibility features provided by the underlying infrastructure ( ex : OS ) called basic accessibility and
Providing accessibility in the product through standards called product accessibility.

11. BASIC ACCESSIBILITY
It is provided by the hardware and operating system.
Keyboard accessibility :Input and output devices of the computer and their accessibility options are categorized under basic accessibility.
Ex: keyboard – top of the keys are F keys
StickyKeys
is an accessibility feature to help Windows users who have physical disabilities, but it is also used by others as a means to reduce repetitive strain injury (or a syndrome called the Emacs Pinky). It essentially serializes keystrokes instead of pressing multiple keys at a time: StickyKeys allows the user to press and release a modifier key, such as Shift, Ctrl, Alt, or the Windows key, and have it remain active until any other key is pressed.
Filter keys
useful for stopping the repetitions completely or slowing down the repetition.

12. ToggleKeys is a feature of Microsoft Windows
ToggleKeys is a feature of Microsoft Windows. It is an accessibility function which is designed for people who have vision impairment or cognitive disabilities. When ToggleKeys turned on, computer will provide sound cues when the locking keys ( Caps lock , Num lock )are pressed. A high-pitched sound plays when the keys are switched on and a low-pitched sound plays when they are switched off.
Sound Keys – Pronounce the key when they hit on the keyboard.
Arrow keys to control mouse
Problems moving the mouse . Users use keyboard arrow for mouse movements.

13. Narrator
It is a utility which provides auditory feedback. For ex : it may pronounce the events when they are executed by the users, read out the characters typed.
Screen accessibility
keyboard accessibility – for vision impaired and mobility impaired users
For hearing impaired users – require visual feedback on the screen .
Enabling caption for multimedia: all multimedia speech and sound can be enabled with text equivalents and they are displayed on the screen when speech and sound are played.
Soft keyboards : mobility and vision impaired users – feel easier to use pointing devices instead of the keyboard. Soft keyboard helps users by displaying the keyboard on the screen. Characters can be typed by clicking on the keyboard layout on the screen using pointing devices such as the mouse.
Easy reading with high contrast : vision impaired users have problems in recognizing some colors and size of font in menu items. Toggle option is available to switch to a high contrast mode.it uses pleasing colors.

14. PRODUCT ACCESSIBILITY
1. Text equivalents have to be provided for audio, video and picture images- improves the accessibility for the hearing impaired.
2. Documents and fields should be organized so tat they can be read without requiring a particular resolution of the screen, and templates ( style sheet )
3. User interfaces should be designed so that all information conveyed with color is also available without color.
Example :
USE GREEN BUTTON TO START THE PROGRAM. USE RED BUTTON TO STOP THE RUNNING PROGRAM
Color blind users may not be able to select the right button for opeations.

15. Correct approach – retain the color and name of he buttons appropriately.
continue
STOP

16. 4. Reduce flicker rate, speed of moving text, avoid flashed and blinking rate.
Below average people – reading speed low – may get irritating to see text that is blinking and flashing . People with good vision find the flashed and flickers beyond a particular frequency uncomfortable. ( usability standards – 2 hz to 55 hz)
5. Reduce physical movement requirements for the users when designing the interface and allow adequate time for user response.
Spreading user interfaces elements to the corner of the screens should be avoided.

17. Usability and Accessibility tools
Name of the tool
Purpose
Jaws
For testing accessibility of the product with some assistive technologies
HTML Validator
To validate the HTML source file
Style sheet validator
To validate the style sheets for usability standards set by W3C
Magnifier
Accessibility tool for vision challenged
Narrator
Reads the information displayed on the screen and creates audio description for vision challenged users.
Soft keyboard
Enables the use of pointing devices to use the keyboard by displaying it on the screen

18. USABILITY LAB SETUP
It has two sections – recording section and observation section.
Recording section – The user is requested to come to the lab with a prefixed set of operations that are to performed in the recording section.
The user is explained the product usage and given the documentation in advance.
The user comes prepared to perform the tasks.
Observation Section : Usability experts sit and observe the user body language and associated the defects with the screens.
Observation made through one way glass – the expert can see the user but the user cannot see the experts.
camera also monitor the different angles.
After watching the different users use the product, the usability experts suggest usability improvement in the product.