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Web Usability: The Basics
What is web usability & why is it important? Web usability is about making your website in such a way that your site users can find what they're looking for quickly and efficiently. A usable website can reap huge benefits on to your website and your business. * Every 1 invested in improving your website's usability returns 10 to 100 (source: IBM) * A web usability redesign can increase the sales/conversion rate by 100% (source: Jakob Nielson) Your website has to be easy to navigate Users have gradually become accustomed to particular layouts and phrases on the Internet, for example: * Organisation logo is in the top-left corner and links back to the homepage * The term 'About us' is used for organisation information * Navigation is in the same place on each page and adjacent to the content * Anything flashing or placed above the top logo is often an advertisement * The term 'Shopping cart' is used for items you might wish to purchase There are numerous other conventions like these that enhance your website's usability - can you think of some more? Don't underestimate the importance of these conventions - as the Internet matures we're getting more and more used to things being a certain way. Break these conventions and you may be left with nothing but a website with poor usability and a handful of dissatisfied site visitors. Pages must download quickly Usability studies have shown that 8.6 seconds is the maximum time web users will wait for a page to download (source: Andrew B. King - Speed Up Your Site). As of March 2004 just 25% of UK web users had broadband (source: UK National Statistics) so it's essential for optimal usability that your website downloads quickly. To speed up the download time of your website we recommend you do three things: * Use CSS and not tables to lay out your web page * Use CSS and not images to create fancy navigation items * Read this article about how to speed up the download time of your web pages at http://www.webcredible.co.uk/speed Information should be easy to retrieve We read web pages in a different manner to the way we read printed matter. We generally don't read pages word-for-word - instead we scan. When we scan web pages certain items stand out: * Headings * Link text * Bold text * Bulleted lists Did you notice that images were left out of that list? Contrary to the way in which we read printed matter, we see text before we see images on the Internet. For optimal website usability don't place important information in images as it might go unnoticed. Restrictions must not be placed on users Don't prevent your users from navigating through the Internet in the way that they want to. For example: 1. Every time a link is opened in a new window the back button is disabled. Approximately 60% of Web users employ the back button as their primary means of navigation (source: Usability Interface). If you do this then you're preventing 60% of your users from using their primary navigation - now that can't be good for usability. 2. Don't use frames to lay out your website. Frames can cause a number of usability problems, namely: * Disabling the back button (see above) * Bookmarking not possible * Impossible to e-mail the link to someone else * Problems with printing * Users feel trapped if external links open in the same window * Search engine optimisation issues There are lots of other ways that websites can place restrictions on its users, ultimately damaging their usability - can you think of any more? Just think back to the last time a website really infuriated you - what annoying thing did it do to make you feel that way? This article was written by Trenton Moss. He's crazy about web usability and accessibility - so crazy that he went and started his own web usability and accessibility consultancy ( Webcredible - http://www.webcredible.co.uk ) to help make the Internet a better place for everyone. They offer fantastic accessibility & CSS support packages, which you can read all about at http://www.webcredible.co.uk/support .
MORE RESOURCES: Website Design: What's the Best HTML Editor? | Florida Realtors Lecturer, Digital Media (Web Design) (Level A) job with ... Times Higher Education 8 Web Design Trends We Noticed in 2023 MUO - MakeUseOf Top 10 web design companies: 2023 reviews and comparisons The Jerusalem Post AI tools are killing web design jobs in South Africa Rest of World U.S. announces official web design system Boing Boing 19 Free Web Design Tools from Summer 2023 Practical Ecommerce Wix vs. Squarespace | Website Builders | U.S. News U.S. News & World Report Best Website Builders for Small Businesses (2023) | U.S. News U.S. News & World Report Director, Digital Strategy - Emory Communications and Marketing ... The Chronicle of Higher Education The Pros and Cons of Creating a Website With Canva's Website ... MUO - MakeUseOf Problem with swiper slider - JavaScript SitePoint Motor Carrier Operations: Improvements Needed to Federal System ... Government Accountability Office Mission Lane: AI Revolutionising Financial Operations FinTech Magazine Doozy Marketing: Pioneering the Future of Digital Dominance ... Digital Journal Tucson's Molly Holzschlag, known as 'the fairy godmother of the web ... TucsonSentinel.com Regulator: “Harmful” Web Design Could Break Data Protection Laws Infosecurity Magazine Joint journey: The Ferraz Rodrigues brothers' path to collaborating ... Illinois State University News Mizzou alumna uses web design expertise to give back to ... University of Missouri College of Engineering When and Where to Use REM and EM Units in Web Design? hackernoon.com Wix's new web design platform looks seriously cool Creative Bloq Área de web design tem alta demanda por profissionais Portal Comunique-se 16 Best AI Tools for Web Designers Designmodo The Mysterious Case of the Fake Gay Marriage Website, the Real ... The New Republic Website Development: In-Depth Guide For Beginners Search Engine Journal Top 10 Web Design Mistakes: What Businesses are Doing Wrong Times of India Capturing codes: New England 7th graders learn web design Dickinson Press Game Design and Interactive Media BA Major West Virginia University Web design, development firm named among Inc. Best Workplaces SiouxFalls.Business WAcademy's Web Design Interns Have Successfully Developed Over 30,000 Free Websites for Global SMEs Yahoo Finance 22 Free Web Design Tools from Spring 2023 Practical Ecommerce Jeremy McGilvrey, A Web Design Agency Announces Web Design Services In The Woodlands, Texas Yahoo Finance Opinion | Reasons for ambivalence about the 303 Creative Supreme ... The Washington Post This Colorado web designer doesn't want to make wedding sites for ... Colorado Public Radio The ultimate guide to web design: Learn the fundamentals Interesting Engineering How does web design influence how we read online? Reader's Digest Top Web Design Trends 2023 Designmodo Singapore's Leading eCommerce Web Design Agency Verz Design raises US$2M in Series A Round Yahoo Finance |
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