Website Usability

The issue of usability is a topic unto itself. Usability reaches beyond web sites to everything we interface with or use on a daily basis. What is it? Usability really is just a way of describing the ease of use of a web site - put another way, is a web site user-friendly?

Can people quickly and efficiently locate information on the web site? A user interface or web site design that makes people guess where items are or guess at what the information they are looking at is relevant to is poor usability. Instead make sure items are properly labeled and well organized.

Is the navigation of the web site easy to use - and for that matter is it easy to find? While sometimes it may be fun to have a web site that features a new-age navigation scheme, is it so new age that users can't figure it out? Are elements of the navigation hidden? Does the navigation remain in one place throughout the web site? These are all things that can make or break a navigation scheme.

A user should be able to quickly and easily determine where in the site they are. Once a user drills into the site are they lost? It is important to provide web site users with a simple to understand map or site location indicator. There are many different ways of indicating location to web site users. Two common ways are with a "breadcrumb trail" or directly in the navigation. Another straightforward approach is to build indicators into a web page using titles and subtitles to indicate sections of the web site. A lot will depend on the depth of the web site. Keep in mind, web sites grow, and they should. So make sure what is built today, is flexible enough to accommodate changes far into the future.

Can persons with disabilities use the web site? Many times this important topic is overlooked. The reason is because it is easier to build a site that is visually pleasing than build a site that is structurally sound. And this is obviously a bad practice.

Make sure the web site can be "read" by a visually impaired users' computers. Computers (just like search engines) can not read text contained in graphics on a site. Download a free text based web browsers and take a look at the site using one of these applications. This will provide a clear understanding of what the computer or a visually impaired user may take away from the site.

Do not rely on audio cues alone to provide feedback to a user regarding their actions. What if the user is hearing impaired? What if the user doesn't have speakers hooked up to their computer or on for that matter?

Interactive elements like Flash have their place on the web, but do not rely on these elements alone to provide the navigation for a site. If this is the case, do make sure a duplicate web site for users who do not have the proper plugins installed is constructed. Once again, Search engine spiders can not index all a Flash element has to offer. So many times people will be too in love with the eye pleasing Flash interface that has been developed for their site, to worry about the actual usability or spiderabilty of their site. Then they wonder why no one is visiting!

Can people easily reference information found on the web site? Once a web site is up the goal should be to have people to reference it - can this be done easily? Consider this, is the information going to be easily referenced? Ever tried sending someone information contained in a web site that uses a frames structure - not easy. What about a web site that is completely produced using Macromedia Flash? - tough to do. Again, if users can't reference the information, then there is a good chance that the search engine spiders will have a tough time as well.