Usability the Internet Is Now

¶ … Usability

The Internet is now the preferred method of collaboration, commerce and communication and the pervasiveness of its use is well-known and relied on globally. In the rush however to create entirely new platforms for these purposes, accessibility for those with visual and cognitive disabilities have lagged the more rapid growth of e-commerce platforms (Russell, 238, 239). The intent of this paper is to present the results of research completed of a graphical user interface that seeks to increase usability and accessibility of websites for users with visual and cognitive disabilities, in addition to being agile enough to be usable by both inexperienced and experienced Web users as well. Implicit in the analysis presented are the lessons learned from designing websites for accessibility for the visually and cognitively disabled are lessons for how to design websites for the entire spectrum of website users (Bowen). Designing websites for accessibility and usability that makes them accessible for the visually and cognitively disabled also has significant positive effects on the use of these sites for inexperienced to highly experienced Web users as well (Westin, 2005). Increasing the levels of accessibility and usability also increases the total available market for new products and services sold over the Internet as well (King, Thatcher, Bronstad, Easton, pp. 521, 523-527). Taken together all these factors are serving as a strong catalyst that is fostering a high level of innovation in the areas of accessibility and usability which are the basis of the primary research presented and analyzed in this paper.

Current State of Web Accessibility and Usability

The disabled and handicapped are often at a disadvantage in many aspects of their daily lives, from getting from one location to another, or the simplest of tasks including using a telephone or even cooking their meals. There has fortunately been significant effort on the part of global standards organizations including the Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C), IBM (King, Thatcher, Bronstad, Easton) and government entities (Pieper, Hermsdorf, 1997, p. 1482) in addition to EUD (2003) and studies by foreign governments including Taiwan (Donoghue, et.al.). Increasing accessibility and usability has been proven to not only increase the productivity of visually or cognitively disabled people, it's also been shown to increase overall website performance as well at a personal productivity level (Pieper, Hermsdorf, 1997, p. 1479).

The implications and strategies for any organization creating and maintaining websites underscore how critical it is to design in accessibility, usability, and icon-driven interfaces to increase adoption first (Byerley, Chambers, 2002, p. 169). Second, learning from designs completed for accessibility how to better increase the "stickiness" and loyalty to a site also are a benefit from the analysis of these factors as well (Williams, Jamali, Nicholas, 2006, p. 331, 332). Across all sectors of e-commerce including both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C), there is the continual challenge of increasing adoption of websites and specifically, their online marketing tools including catalogs and online ordering as well. The lessons learned from making more iconically-driven websites that meet and exceed accessib8ility requirements also are those that promote higher levels of adoption, loyalty and over the long-term, greater purchases. Accessibility and usability for the disabled actually form the foundation of increasing the effectiveness of all forms of websites, specifically those involved in e-commerce strategies.

Companies whose selling and marketing strategies rely heavily on their websites conduct a significant amount of usability testing, specifically looking for ways to increase adoption and loyalty to their sites, and as part of this effort, an set of key performance indicators (KPIs) have been introduced and are now beginning to get used with increasing frequency. The use of metrics that together comprise dashboards and scorecards that indicate the relative level of site accessibility and usability give theorists and practitioners the ability to quantify the relative levels of accessibility over time, showing improvements through more effective strategies (Bambang, Zeng, 2005, 1396, and 1397). Quantifying and validating progress of websites in terms of attaining higher levels of accessibility and usability, including the ability to address the unmet needs of the spectrum of users that comprise the visually and cognitively disabled in addition to those who span the levels of inexperienced to highly experienced, is the goal of these measures of performance. While outside the scope of this research, a longitudinal study of accessibility and usability ratings showing how over time strategies aimed at providing a higher degree of iconic content have met the unmet needs of the disabled and handicapped while providing inexperienced and seasoned Web users alike greater efficiency and clarity in using websites on a daily basis.

Research Results

The research completed for this paper specifically focuses on the levels of accessibility and usability as measured from 20 questionnaire responses, six of which were asked to complete additional testing. The testing methodology concentrated on interviewing respondents regarding their perceptions of ease of use regarding an icon-based website relative to navigating www.amazon.com.uklookingfor a specific product. Respondents were asked for their demographic data in addition to classifying themselves relative to their learning disabilities, level of experience using the Internet, and if their judgment of whether an icon-based website was easy-to-use, and if they would consider using it again. The methodology also tested the completion of search tasks on www.amazon.com.uk.

Analysis and Interpretation

The results from the research completed show a polarity in the experiences of respondents using the Internet, with 30% saying "very good" and 20% saying their experience level was low, or "poor.." The icon-driven website designed for this study was preferred by 80% of respondents that mentioned this specific site was somewhat better than the Amazon.com.uk website. All respondents said they would use the icon-driven website again. When asked if they had visual impairment, 95% said they did not, and 70% did not consider themselves to have a learning disability. Of these respondents, only 1, or 5% had difficulty using the Internet as a result of their disability. The icon-driven website was preferred and easily navigable based on the results obtained from the analysis. Data from the searches completed by a subset of respondents relative to searching for a Nikon d60 on Amazon.com show a wide variation in ease or navigation relative to shopping cart use and checkout. The accessibility and usability aspects of Amazon.com.uk are evident in the individualized test cases completed in the analysis. More iconically-based approaches to product selection and online ordering are needed on the Amazon.com.uk site based on the analysis completed. This point specifically brings up the point of aligning process workflows with the iconic-based websites to streamline and simplify complex processes for the disabled and handicapped. The strong positive response to iconically-based website design warrants further research specifically in the areas of defining order capture, order management and catalog use online.