Usability & Accessibility
In order for your website to BOTH rank well in search engines and be easy to use for all users it must be designed and coded with usability and accessibility in mind.
Proper consideration of accessibility and usability will increase your profits.
"The power of the Web is in its universality. Access by everyone regardless of disability is an essential aspect."
Tim Berners-Lee, W3C Director and inventor of the World Wide Web
The end user is YOUR customer, therefore it is essential that they find it
both quick and straightforward to use your website. A poorly designed website
will create a bad impression of you business. Remember it is often the first
place that a new customer may find your company and will make decisions based
upon the information contained on the website.
For a new customer to find your website the content must be accessible to search engines. Once the customer has found your site, a good customer experience of your website depends upon it being easy to use. This in turn depends on it being designed to also be accessible to all users regardless of the browser or computer they are using.
The needs of people who might find it difficult to use the web must also be fully considered, for example:
- The physically impaired or learning disabled.
- Inexperienced users or those with older technology.
- Non-English speakers.
- Users behind strict firewall's.
Furthermore, the Disability
Discrimination Act requires us to make "reasonable adjustments"
to give the widest scope for access to our sites. Therefore the website should
conform to the “Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0” published
by the World Wide Web
Consortium. This will ensure the site is:
- Compatible with the majority of web browsers:
- Internet Explorer (versions 4, 5 and 6)
- Netscape (4.5, 6 and the recent version 7)
- AOL (currently uses internet explorer technology)
- Mozilla Compatible Browsers (such as Opera)
- Functional on both PC and Apple computers, running at monitor resolutions of 800x600 and above. As the site would be composed of simple graphic and text elements (no large animations etc.) the speed of the users’ machine is not an issue.
- Fast: All information on the site will be fast to access (no more that 2-levels deep in the structure) and the pages will be as light in size as possible to allow fast downloads.
Accessibility design for Search Engines
Accessible pages are essential in enabling your website content to be crawled by search engines. It is not enough to write good copy for your website, the site must be coded in such a way that the search engines can get access to the copy. It is this copy that will enable your site to be found. Read more about search engine optimisation.
User-centred design
The quality of the user experience is a primary consideration in the design of any product. The purpose of a website is to enable people to find information or perform a task. It is in everybody's interest to make this experience as easy and pleasant as possible.
It is the key to the success or failure of your website. Its simple, if people don't understand something they wont use it. If your website is difficult to use they won't use it, therefore they will not be buying from you.
How good usability will benefit your users and therefore you:
Quicker learning time:
The faster a customer can learn to use your website, the more likely they are to use it to your commercial advantage. You are also going to reduce the need for customer support.
Less mistakes
Your users will make less errors when using your website. Errors can cause frustration and a frustrated customer is likely to give up and try elsewhere.
Improved efficiency
If a customer can complete the task quickly, they will be left with a positive view of your service. This helps to build your brands reputation and trust.
We will not deny that providing good usability will cost money. However, it will be money well spent. In many cases the value is based on the effect on the intangibles such as reputation, trust and brand image.
