USEworthy Autumn Edition 2004
The monthly Newsletter from The Usability Company

Welcome to the autumn edition of USEworthy.

Accessibility issues have come to the forefront of the news agenda again due to the new Statutory Code of Practice regarding access to services, including the Internet that came into force last month. From 1 October 2004, under the revised Disability Discrimination Act 1995, small businesses will be required to make "reasonable adjustments" to their web sites and Intranets to ensure equal access for disabled people. The revision in the law marks the first time that small businesses, with less than 15 employees, will fall under the scope of the Act. 

The article Website Accessibility; Something in the Air, taken from Advice For Growth magazine, which includes comments and an accessibility tips section from Catriona Campbell, Chairman of The Usability Company, provides an excellent summary of the issues surrounding the accessibility laws in the UK and US. Representatives from key organisations that contribute to the development of accessibility laws and guidelines such as the Disability Rights Commission and RNIB also share their opinions on the state and future of the laws and their application to businesses in the UK and abroad.

Patrick Chamberlain, senior Information Architect gives us a quick and dirty assessment of the World Tennis Association Tour website. As the WTA Tour was coming to an end in September, we were asked to conduct a brief usability audit of the website for the September issue of Sport Business Magazine. 

For some news of a much lighter nature we present an article which appeared in a variety of online journals including Zdnet, VNUnet, What PC, Computeractive and Computing on a recent survey alleging that Men Claim the Online Search Crown. Catriona Campbell offers some scientific research to support the claim.

We also update you on company news, which include news of a new recruit to The Usability Company, our achievements in the last quarter, a round up of the events that we have organised and been involved with and future events.

The Usability Company News

New Accessibility Specialist joins The Usability Company from RNIB

The Usability Company would like to extend a warm welcome to Lis Angle, who joins us this month as our new Accessibility Specialist. Lis comes to us from RNIB where she was an accessibility consultant for RNIB’s See It Right accessibility accreditation.

The Usability Company collaborates with the IAB to produce the first Internet advertising accessibility guidelines.

This month, November 2004, The Usability Company produced the first online advertising accessibility tips for the IAB. These guidelines, a set of top ten tips for producing accessible ads, fit in with W3C and RNIB standards that state that web content must be accessible and are designed to help IAB members adhere to the accessibility laws passed through the DDA Act. 

Catriona Campbell, Chairman of The Usability Company, is named one of top 100 UK Internet individuals.

Catriona Campbell is one of 100 individuals to be recognised for her contribution to the development of the Internet over the last 10 years, by online marketing group E-Consultancy. The award, which took place in October, celebrated the first decade of the Internet, and recognised individuals for their input and influence on the growth of e-commerce and the Internet. It coincided with the 10th anniversary of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), which was created in 1994 to promote the evolution and interoperability of the Internet, and the NOP World Internet User Profile Survey.

Knexus Community invites Marty Carroll, Director of Usability Practice, to address its members on Usability. 

Knexus Community invited Marty Carroll to provide insights using real-life corporate case studies to demonstrate how companies have obtained a significant improvement in business and web traffic as the result of usability. This usability collaborative session is part of Knexus Community’s session calendar. The community addresses approximately 18 different strategic business issues each year. Subjects are chosen according to member demand and cover major customer, enterprise and partner related e-issues. As stated in Usability News, the online journal for usability professionals, “it is heartening that such a group has chosen usability as one of its key issues this year”. 



And Finally...

IDM, Institute of Direct Marketing appoints Catriona Campbell as guest lecturer for usability class

IDM invited Catriona Campbell to give a lecture on usability at the Getting and Keeping Customers Online course, 10-11 November 2004.

Maximising Customer Profitability in a Fully Integrated Multi-Channel Financial Services Platform by Net. Finance, December 6-7

The Usability Company will tend a stand at this event for senior managers from the Online Retail Financial Services sector. There will be speakers from key financial institutions including some of The Usability Company's client companies sharing their experiences and issues encountered while pursuing the goal of optimising digital platforms in this sector. CRM, Customer Centred Product Development, ROI measurement and, of course, usability are all key themes. The event includes speakers from Barclays, Capital One, Credit Suisse, Sainsbury's Bank, Cahoot, BNP Paribas, Wachovia, More Than, Mastercard and Nordea.

Please go to http://www.theusabilitycompany.co.uk/news/conferences/index.html for a comprehensive list of events that we have organised and been involved with.

Website Accessibility: Something in the Air

Aware that a muddled website costs money, Jeff Benzos looks to history for an answer

When Jeff Bezos was looking for Inspiration for his online bookstore Amazon. In 1994, he never dreamt the allied air war of WWII could give him the answer.

But while reading accounts of dogfights over Nazi Germany, it dawned on him that by delving into history he might be able to solve a conundrum that was holding up his business plans - how to navigate a Website. 

Bezos read about the difficulties facing pilots when using their equipment and learned how science and technology experts solved the problem; all aeronautical equipment was colour coded. He applied the technique to Amazon. 

Moreover, the time spent making a user friendly Website paid off and Bezos now runs one of the most successful sites on the Internet - earning $79 million in the last quarter of 2003. Unfortunately, most owner-managers have failed to follow suit and many people are still unable to access the majority of company Websites, according to Colin Shanley, founder of Website accessibility firm fnx. 

"I know many people that can't use a mouse, but around 99% of Websites require a mouse and will not support other devices such as a keyboard, " he said. "If the target area i s particularly small, such as a results list on google, then someone who either has Parkinson's (Disease) or blood pressure will find it difficult to click on those areas because their hands are shaking. "

In 1995, the government introduced the Disability Discrimination Act to eradicate all forms of prejudice, including Website accessibility and usability. The Discrimination Rights Commission (DRC) was subsequently set up to target companies with sites that fail to comply with regulations such as having keyboard short cuts, links that do not alienate colour blind people and legible fonts.

ZERO TOLERANCE

The DRC has rarely adopted strong arm tactics when dealing with companies that have inaccessible and unusable sites, but the UK government's determination to enforce the rule will see more company owners entering court battles, according to Colin Mason, company secretary at the Engineering Industries Association.

He believes human rights lawyers are ready to pounce on the perpetrators. "If you look at the Houses of Parliament, what do you have on both sides of the front benches: barristers and lawyers, " he said. "They are all chomping at the bit and every human rights lawyer you can imagine is on the hunt as they are all checking these Websites. "

Companies in the US have already been hit with legal action and UK businesses could be next, according to Catriona Campbell, founder of The Usability Company, a consultancy firm. "The DRC could start suing organisations that refuse to make their sites accessible, " she said. Indeed, a company's Website is expected to meet criteria set out by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) such as ease of entry to the site, ease of interaction and user experience.

But according to the law, owner-managers must either ensure that all W3C criteria is met or face t h e consequences. For Shanley, this grey area will prove to be the downfall for many companies. "If you are a business owner defending yourself against a disabled user who can prove that he is required to use a mouse to access your site even though h e is unable to, you will lose," he said.

SEE YOU IN COURT

Last year the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB) was involved in two civil cases against UK firms after members complained about Website accessibility.
The companies - which cannot be named for legal reasons - eventually settled out of court, but the RNIB digital policy development officer, Julie Howell, believes legal action can be avoided.

"If the Website is inaccessible, visually impaired people have no way of contacting the company to issue their complaint, so they usually come to us," she said. "By that time the situation has escalated to the point where the complainant wants to sue the company, but this can be avoided if businesses have contact details on their homepage and respond to their customers "

The government's concerns about this issue seem to be justified If analysts' claims that more than 90% of UK Websites fall short of W3C guidelines are correct. Yet company owners under pressure to address the problem are dragging their feet because the government has failed to lead by example, according to Mason. 

He believes many UK bosses are unaware of t h e accessibility Issue because the government has not promoted it enough. " It's the government's fault because I t has not told anyone, " he said. "Every MP has a site. So If you're Ann Widdecombe It's the first thing that you look a t In the morning, but even these sites are under attack. "

Howell believes owner -managers will ignore the problem unless the government takes the initiative and stops being hypocritical. "The effort from the government has so far been disappointing. For reasons known to Itself, the government made an announcement a few months ago saying that around 80% of Its own Websites are not reaching the standard they have set," she sad. "This is clearly disappointing and there's a lot more the government could do to lead by example "

DID WE FORGET ANYONE?

Apart from the legal implications, company bosses are also alienating a huge proportion of the UK population by failing to improve their Websites Around 20% of adults - 8 5 million - In the UK are disabled and one in three people aged between 15-65 will have a disability before they retire.

The annual spend of the disabled adult population is around €50 billion a year, and companies with inaccessible and unusable sites could be missing out on a financial windfall, according to Campbell. "The Internet was invented to allow people to communicate with others around the world, but disabled people cannot use many SME sites, " she said. "Companies are cutting out a potential audience, so it makes sense for them to redo their sites to achieve customer satisfaction. "

But the disabled Web user will not be the only person to take his custom elsewhere if he finds it difficult to access and navigate a Website, according to Shanley. "Not only will you lose that person's custom forever but also 70% of his friends, family and acquaintances that he tells about your Website, " he said. "Every time you disenfranchise somebody you lose a high proportion of potential custom because they will not use you on moral grounds."

Nevertheless, while the threat of legal action and lost sales looms over company owners that ignore the government's warnings, Howell believes that bosses actively seen to be addressing the problem will not be a t risk. "If you receive an accessibility report and find there are 100 things wrong with your Website you shouldn't feel you have to change them over night," she said. "It is unlikely for a judge to say you have to make your Website accessible immediately. He is more likely to be looking for a plan of action and incremental changes.

CATRIONA CAMPBELL’S ACCESSIBILITY TIPS

Alternative (alt) text appears when you position your mouse pointer over an image on a web page. Visitors to your site with sight disabilities may be using screen reading equipment, which sends text displayed on the screen to be spoken by a speech synthesizer or reproduced In Braille. They will rely on the alt text to convey the same amount of information as the image itself. The use of alt text on all images is one of the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) Priority 1 checkpoints and is required for Bobby Approved status.

THE ALT TEXT SHOULD BE:

• A description of photographs, figures and pictures. This should be brief and not exceed more than about 20 Words. If this is not sufficient to get the message across, then a link should be provided to a fuller description elsewhere
  
• An exact wording or summary of text images. As above the number of words should be limited, where possible any more than a few words should be displayed as text rather than an image.
  
• An asterisk or empty quotation marks on images that have no content value such as dots and dashed lines. This tells the screen-reader that the image adds no information value to the page.
  
• Use of Colour: Using different colours for links already visited will prevent users following the same links repeatedly and benefit users with memory problems. Similarly, a variety of colours to distinguish between sections and types of content may improve accessibility, although part of your audience is colour blind and you should not rely solely on colour association to differentiate in this way. When combining colours, you also need to think about the contrast between text and background and whether this has
  
• Fonts: It is common practice today to use small font sizes, 8pt and smaller, on web sites. This is perfectly acceptable providing they arc available. Browsers have font size controls and using relative font sizes permits the user to adjust it. Non-standard fonts can be attractive but can also be difficult to read.

This article appeared in the May 2004 issue of Advice for Growth.

Men claim online search crown

Women too easily distracted by their artistic brains, claims survey

Robert Jaques, vnunet.com 15 Sep 2004

When it comes to searching for information on the internet men are much less easily distracted, a survey has claimed.

According to the UK poll conducted by Yahoo! over half of men can find what they are looking for online in less than a minute, while 18 per cent of women spend more than 10 minutes searching.

The survey also claimed that less than a quarter of men are diverted from their original search target, while 84 per cent of women get distracted while searching.

The claims have been backed up by the Usability Company, a UK-based business usability consultancy. It said it supports Yahoo!'s findings and added that, although the research does not specify context of use, women are far more likely to stray in an online search.

Catriona Campbell, chairman of the Usability Company, said in a statement: "The left-hand side of the brain is for 'analytical' functions and the right-hand side of the brain is for 'artistic' functions.

"Females favour the right-hand side and males the left, thus females are more likely to read more content and stray off topic, whereas males may stick to the task at hand without reading around the topic."

Just how well does The WTATour website measure up after its major revamp earlier this year?

Home Page Impact:

First impressions are a little mixed. Although this is clearly a tennis website, the design aesthetics are more akin to a video gaming website. The gun metal effect navigation panel and masthead combined with a black background does not automatically suggest international tennis.

Clarity / Navigation:

Navigation is positioned comfortably on the left of the page. However, the navigation options are hard to read because the condensed capitalised magenta text on the black background does not provide sufficient contrast to make it clear and visible to all users.

Moving the mouse over the navigation causes pop-out secondary sub navigation to appear suddenly. Some precise mousing is required here in order to keep the sub menu open and hit the right link. When using this type of animated navigation a visual clue should be used to communicate that the menu item has further underlying sub navigation.

By contrast, elsewhere hypertext links use the standard underline and can be easily identified despite the use of a very small font size (what does this mean?).

News:

The News Archive page displays a very long scrolling list of approximately one hundred news headlines covering the last two months. Users often abandon pages like this because they don't allow them to refine their search. A more usable approach would be if the News Headlines were grouped and navigated by date parameters i.e. July 12-18 | July 19-25.

No 'Print Friendly' or 'Email a Friend' features were available. Using the browser 'Print Preview' option printed off a news article satisfactorily without the black background but with web page remnants i.e. navigation and other graphical elements.

Search feature:

The site features a limited player search function titled 'Find Player'. The input field is far too small and only allows nine characters to be typed in before scrolling begins. This field should be much wider given the character length of some eastern European players' names.

The search action button 'Go' is so small it is no longer legible. The following search result page can be long if searching by Christian name instead of family name. Although a useful A-Z Player listing page can be accessed this option only appears if no result is found.

Shopping:

The shopping feature 'Player Gear' appears in the sub menu of 'Players'. This is not an immediately obvious place to find a link to the shop and should appear in the primary navigation if it is to be found easily by many users. The 'Player Gear' page features a list of players with associated products. Each product has a hyperlink (Order Now) placed opposite, it would be more helpful to make the product name the hyperlink. Selecting an 'Order Now' link launches a second browser window. This new browser window features the selected product within a new e-commerce partner's web site 'tennis-warehouse.com'. The current functionality tends to happen unexpectedly and without warning, this can be disconcerting for users. More could be done to introduce the commerce partner earlier and to communicate where the product links will take the user so helping to maintain a more seamless user experience.

Video/Audio:

The site features a multimedia section but this is disappointingly limited to just two items of video titled WTA Tour Theatre. It is not clear how often new video is produced and made available. The video players available are Real Media and Windows Media. Both functioned seamlessly within the web page with a clear picture and audio, and without any problems on a broadband connection. However, when reviewed only the Real Media download video option worked. The Windows Media Player option referenced a web page that was unavailable.

Overall:

In conclusion, the website has a rather unusual design that sometimes impacts the clarity of both content and navigation. To an extent the choice of colours and the resulting reduced contrast creates a further lack of visual clarity. Page titles are not clear due to the drop shadow treatment.

The WTA Tour site is fairly easy to navigate despite the sometimes tricky pop-out navigation and the lack of clarity due to the graphical effects used. Some menu options have been repeated i.e. Press Releases. This suggests that some rationalisation is required in order to simplify the navigation structure.

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