Usability and Accessibility

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