Usability and Accessibility
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What is Usability?
The key to any successful site is a clear and logical navigation system and structure so that a site visitor can quickly find the information they are looking for. Also, people will interact with site structure and navigation in different ways so the site needs to offer different routes to finding the the same information.
The website copy has an effect on usability.
- Are you using terms that your target audience will understand and engage with?
- Do the links name make sense and drive the user to the relevant parts of the site you want them to visit?
- Are there clear calls to action?
Images can play an important part in usability to convey the services and products you supply.
To understand how visitors actually interact with your site is important and this is where Google Analytics can play and important part. Seeing which pages are popular and how long visitors are staying on the pages can give a valuable insight into the usability of your site.
For example, if the home page is seeing high traffic levels, but site visitors are not exploring the other pages your site, then this indicates there are some usability problems with your home page.
How we can help with Usability
If you have an existing site we can review the usability of the site and provide an objective report with recommendations on how to improve the usability and improve your return on investment.
For a new site we spend time in the initial stages of the development to build in the usability by considering different navigation models and creating a wire frame site so the navigation and ways visitor will interact with the site can be understood.
What is accessibility?
The accessibility of website's covers much more than just disabled access. It's about giving people unhindered access to a website from various devices, such as web-enabled televisions and mobile phones. It's also about giving access to users who have different screen sizes, browser types and settings, or those who do not have plug-ins such as Flash.
What does the law say?
If your business has a website, it should be accessible to disabled users. There are ethical and commercial justifications for this, but there is also a legal reason: if your site does not meet certain design standards, it is feasible that you could be sued for discrimination.
The UK Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 states:
"It is unlawful for a provider of services to discriminate against a disabled person [...] in refusing to provide, or deliberately not providing, to the disabled person any service which he provides, or is prepared to provide, to members of the public."
It includes "access to and use of information services" among its examples of services to which the rules apply.
To date, few companies have faced such legal action. In two cases, actions were initiated by the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB), and both settled without being heard by a court. The RNIB decided against naming the two companies.
How we can help with Accessibility
We can test your site to the latest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) as this an valuable indicator of accessibility.
According to WAI, a website must satisfy Priority 1 (Level A), otherwise some users will find it impossible to access the site. The WAI team considers that a website should satisfy the Priority 2 (Level AA), otherwise some users will find it difficult to access the site. Finally, a site may satisfy Priority 3 (Level AAA), otherwise some users will find it somewhat difficult to access the site.
If your site falls below Level A it is almost certain that disabled users will struggle to use the site. Different pages are likely to exhibit different levels of accessibility but all main pages (e.g. homepage, site registration page, shopping pages and 'standard' content pages) should, as a minimum, conform to Level A.
If you would like to discuss our usability and accessibility services, please contact us to discuss your requirements in more detail
