Article 3: Adapting Website Productions to Usability

by Denny Lancaster
Copyright � 2005 by Denny Lancaster.  All rights reserved.

Usability focuses on making software, web sites and online applications or services easy for people to use.  Accessibility focuses on making them equally easy for everyone to use, including people who may use assistive technologies such as screen readers, etc.

The teaching process is defined by Laurillard (1993) as forming a link between the world and the learner.  Multimedia and static presentations are available on the Internet with interactive and dynamic approaches, which are potentially a means of improving the quality of learning.  They address a surfer�s learning needs in a variety of ways and offer involvement in and control over the learning process.  A combination of presentations offers flexibility in use and can meet a variety of different learning needs.

Universal usability focuses on the goal of encouraging all citizens to benefit from the technology of the Internet.  However, it embraces the consideration of factors that can prevent access to and successful utilization of the Net.  As an accessibility concept, universal usability considers user differences in ability, cultural background and age, but considers other factors as well: skill level and knowledge; income (which can prevent access to technology or influence the amount or quality of technology use); literacy (which can involve multiple languages or illiteracy); a variety of technological solutions and interoperability issues, and so forth.

Developers consider children as a target group characterized by specific cognitive and physical abilities associated with their age.  Most often, developmental psychology is employed to determine the capability of a child to understand and use certain material.  Action, visual information, and visual interest will improve your production.  Verbal information will be the words read aloud by an adult; later, the child will read the words to himself/herself.  In these productions, pictures are included in the same way as in printed books: still pictures, whose function depends on the book and the age of the child.  The format is very predictable.  The attractiveness is in the story, not in fancy animations or other visuals.

Productions for older children and adults are best thought of as being for a group that may lack required background information, or may not be familiar with vocabulary or concepts in the production.  Ease-of-reading requirements are usually less demanding with respect to language and background knowledge, and the production is usually short.  Producers can write according to readability formulas (involving word length and sentence length considerations), but such productions may prove difficult to translate.

Given the diversity that is present, it is clear that intuitive analysis is not sufficient to clearly define the audience�s expectations and needs.  Because of the emphasis on usability and audience for Internet productions as discussed in this article, usability testing should play a key role in each stage of production development.  A document must stand on its own and anticipate user questions if it is to guide users from start to finish effectively.

Other factors deal with dependencies on culture.  Graphics and visuals, colors, functionality, sound, metaphors, and mental models are covert factors.  These factors must be considered by producers to avoid misinterpretation or offense by the target audience or culture.

By raising the issue of technology as a universal mediator in the field of human activity in the information age, Shneiderman suggests a concept of universal usability that would guarantee successful utilization of technology by any citizen.  In this context, he offers not a description of usability components but a broad research agenda.  It is important to note that universal usability should not be confused with universal access, which does not assure usable technologies.  Shneiderman goes beyond universal access and builds his model of universal usability on three main issues or challenges: technology diversity whose main tenet is rapid change; user diversity which, if not considered, may be a barrier to information and may divide society into information-rich and information-poor; gaps in user knowledge which may be overcome with common environments and standard terminology, but in other cases may take a lot of time and produce stress and even user resistance to the technology or standards.  Producers should provide users with interfaces structured according to user knowledge levels, add training and support, and so on.

Online material can be used to enrich the learning experience.  Surfers are becoming more familiar with using information and communication technology to support their wants and desires.  Teachers and tutors are finding a valuable tool.  Industry is fully aware of the essential nature of online information.  It is therefore important that the producers of web content build for the future and for the longevity of their online efforts.

About The Author

Denny Lancaster was chairperson of the Heartland Golden Heart Award (now inactive); evaluator for three years with the Award of Excellence; mentor and evaluator for The Site Fights for six years.

He is the father of four children, a tax attorney, a certified webmaster through online courses and a MCI (master certified instructor) in ten disciplines.  He established the Talking Hands Award because of his love of "special children."  The Talking Hands Award has been in continuous operation since 1986.

Additional Internet activities include Validation Advisor for Award Sites!, of which he has been a member since 1999, and Director of Memberships for APEX.