In the world of web development usability is a major issue.  By usability I am talking about testing websites to make sure that the visitor can quickly, easily and simply navigate a website.  This makes the user experience better.

The idea of Accessibility goes even further than usability in that its goal is to allow access for all people.

A little history

Nearly 1 out 5 individuals in America have some level of disability.  This translate to about 30 million people.  As the population grows older this number is expected to increase as there will be more and more senior citizens.  Do you know that in the past 10 years there was an increase of 25%.  Unfortunately, with age come physical changes.  Some of these can limit a persons ability to do things.  But keep in mind this is not the only segment of the population that suffers disabilities.  And there needs need to be met.

Making the Internet Accessible

The Internet has become an integral part our everyday lifestyle.  It allows us to do things unheard of a decade ago.  The web offers us ways to communicate.  We can obtain information on nearly every subject under the sun and beyond.  We now have social online gatherings.  The opportunities abound will limitless ways to engage cultural activities.  The list could go on.  But the sad reality is that the disabled are sometimes excluded from totally experiencing these benefits.  However there is hope in providing for standard of accessibility that will help these individuals.

Ways to Improve Accessibility

Here is a list of ideas from the Web Content Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 that was created by the Web Accessibility Initiative of W3C.  These are way to increase the accessibility of web content.

1. Provide alternatives to audio-visual content

Not all people will be able to use different kinds of content. These people may be disabled or may have a lower version of Internet browsers. Movies, sound clips, animations and other contents should be translated into text alternatives so as to provide information to the broadest range of viewers.

2. Developers shouldn’t rely on color alone

Many people are impaired in color differentiation. Developers shouldn’t rely too much on the use of colors to relay information in the websites. Charts that are color-coded should be modified and the background and foreground colors of the websites should have enough contrast to enable people with color differentiation impairment to easily navigate the site.

3. Clarification of the use of natural language

Content developers usually mark up the changes in natural language in their websites. They should be able to identify the dominant language that is used in the site so as to avoid confusion.

4. Control of content changes that are time-sensitive

This issue particularly involves people who have visual or cognitive impairments and those who are not able to read texts that are moving quickly. Movement is seen as an over-all enhancer to the look of the site, but it may pose some problems to people with cognitive impairments.

5. Accessibility of user interfaces that are embedded

Objects that posses their own interfaces should be made accessible, and alternative solutions must be provided if this is not possible.

6. Provision of orientation and context information

The provision of information on how the objects are organized is important to provide people with guidance on how to access information.

This is by no means a comprehensive list but they are some practical tips to make a website more usable.  Careful consideration needs to be taken to make sure that Accessibility is included in the design process and that viable alternatives be provided.

Benefits

There are many benefits to improving accessibility of websites.  These benefit not only help those with disabilities but also improve the entire web community.  Businesses, Service Companies, Organizations and you as well will benefit.

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One of the best ways to look a problem is to look at it from another person’s point of view.  To do this I will present two different situation to help you understand this concept.

Site 1:

Bob is shown a website.  This website has good design features, amazing images, good choice of color.  All the images are relevant to the content.  The choice of font are easy to read.

Site 2 :

Next, Bob is shown another website.  This website features gross and ugly images.  The resolution is out of whack.  The images have nothing to do with the content.  The color scheme looks like it came out of a blender.  There are no less than 10 font styles used on the page.  Each page has a different layout.

Observation:

Looking these two sites from Bob perspective might go something like this:

Bob really likes Site 1 a lot.   He is impressed with the artwork and design.  He found it easy to navigation.  It was as though the design enhances the content.  Bob, enjoyed the site so much he stayed a while, learned many new things and even came back.

As for Site B Bob could hardly wait to leave the site. Visually it gave him a migraine.  There was now way he would ever want to return.  It was so bad that he even removed from his browser history. Now that’s bad.  The worst thing Bob did not fell comfortable, was distracted and was disappointed.  Not very welcoming was it?

Analysis:

Like it or not most people DO judge on first impression.  In these two cases the impression ranged from good to bad.

Often our ego gets in the way of good design.  The primary thing to take away is to plan your websites carefully.  Get feedback for others and get their perspective.  Remember, everyone is different.  Keep in mind design is subject to interpretation.  The goal is to create a favorable impression the first time.

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This simple example is useful in helping your understand the importance of positioning content into your website.  The goal is help eliminate a mess caused by confusion.

Group similar information together

In a home you will put beds and dressers in the bedroom.  In the living room you will put a couch, easy chair, coffee table.  You do this because these item help in the function of the room.

In a similar way you need to categorize your website’s content.  You need a constant logical flow of information.  You site’s visitor probably doesn’t want to bounce around from page to page and back again to the information they want.  For the most part you want to put similar content in the same area.

Let’s say you sell items on your website,  the idea here is to group these onto one page.  If you have several items then you will want to create a category and organized them into similar kinds of products.

Perhaps you maintain a website for an organization.  Again you want to group similar content into certain pages dedicated to that topic.  Also, you want to categorize your content to avoid cluttering the site.  I always like the simple and clean approach.

When creating categories for a website you will find that these are typically what you will find.

• Home
• About Us
• Resources
• Contact

Let’s go through each of these pages and figure out what type of content goes into them.  First let’s look at the Home page.

The Home page is usually the first page someone will arrive at on your website.  This page should have content that tells the visitor “What is this website about?”  In addition, it needs to show links to the other areas within the site.

Next let’s look at the About Us page.  This page contains content regarding the organization or person who owns the website.  By including this page you add reliability by allowing your visitor a chance to know who you are and some of your qualification and credentials.  This builds trust.

You will also want to include some sort of Resources page.  The primary aim of your website should be to provide something useful to the visitor.  This is done through your resources page.  If you have several resources you can have multiple pages under the Resources page to accommodate these items.  What can be included in your resources page.  You can include products, services your provide, audio, video, inactive games.  What goes here really depends on the goal of your site.  Remember the resource pages are there to provide something to the visitor.

Next you want a Contact page.  You want to provide a way for a visitor to contact you if they have a concern, question or need help. Although this information could be put in the About Us page a better practice is to create a separate page to handle the communication.  On this page you will want to provide email, phone and address information.  You can also include a form to make communication easier.

Create a Layout That Help the Visitor

With an understanding of the various page and you have your information ready, it is time to place this information on each page in an organized fashion.  To do this a page layout needs to be created.

As we continue with the furniture in the house example, you need to place your your content in such a manner that it is useful to the visitor.  In a room you will place certain furniture in specific spots in other to increase the function of the room.  For example in the living room you most likely place the couch in front of the television. You will also make sure that there is an unobstucted path though the room.  Similarly, the information on your site should have a layout that help to visitor find what they want.

It is recommended that a uniform layout be created for all the pages on your site.  This assists the visitor to move though the site quickly and easily.

There are four basic elements on a web page.  You will have a header that contains the name of the website or an organization’s name.  It may also include a company logo.    The header is usually found at the top of the page.  Next you will find an area dedicated to navigation.  The navigation will be located in the same on every page of the web site.  There are several popular locations for the navigation.  These are Horizontal above or below the header, Vertical on the left or right of the content area.  Next you need a content area which will contain the information specific to the page.  And finally a footer page that be located at the bottom of the page.

When laying out the content on your website you want to consider the convenience and practicality of the site in the same way you would arrange furniture in a room.

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• Custom PHP Applications and Programming
• WordPress Installation & Customization

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Technorati Tags: information technology, page layout, site architecture, site navigation, usability, Web Design, web devlopment