what is usability?
Usability is a way of testing how enjoyable it is to be on a website. By asking a series of questions you can quickly establish what level of usability there is in a site:-
- Do you understand where you are at all times?
- Can you find all the things you need to?
- Are you able to return to the home page quickly?
I always focus on the user when designing my clients websites and I aim to keep the layout and structure as clear and simple as possible to avoid the visitors feeling lost or confused.
Some designers however are still very much stuck in the mid 1990s, building sites that are held together by lots of tables with the navigation text made up of graphics. These practises are not in compliance with the web standards and even more worrying still break legislation laid out in the Disability Discrimination Act and the 508 guidelines in the USA.
I am always happy to check existing sites, old or new, for such issues and can advice on how to remedy them when possible.
Whenever I am asked to redesign a site I always ensure that the site complies with the latest legislation and web standards as part of the process.
