Accessible, Usable and Portable Web Design - Essay Example

Accessibility, Usability and Portability Web Design Presented Table of Contents 3 Website Portability 5 Accessibility 6 Improving the Web 7 W3C Web Content Accessibility Guideline 8 Checkpoints 9 Structure vs. Presentation 10 Text equivalents 10 Multimedia equivalents 11 Content negotiation 12 Writing style 12 Conclusion 13 References 14 Accessible, Usable and Portable Web Design Abstract This research paper presents a detailed analysis of the different terms of good web design. For this purpose this paper will present the detailed overview of the accessibility, usability and portability for the better web design. In the last, it will also discuss the W3C web content accessibility guideline 1.0. It will elaborate the main and most significant priority level 1.0 checkpoints. Introduction In last few years a large number of World Wide Web accessibility and usability guidelines have been produced. Frequently we can see these rules. For instance, when identifying a picture in HTML, we also identify substitute text for that picture. This makes the website extra working for all viewers for the reason that a number of users cannot see the graphical descriptions in their website browser (Gibson, 2008). The design of websites creates a profusion of usability confronts. Web sites are frequently extremely multifaceted, holding hyperlinked credentials, complex direction-finding format, and community information areas. In accumulation, web browsers take action as a structure for a massive quantity of uses varying from E-banking to online-mail to common groupware as well as offering a plan for interactive electronic credentials of a variety of kinds (e.g., assist schemes, information periodicals, and albums). Various design disputes consequently come about in annoying to design websites that will get in concert the requirements of an enormous viewers by means of conflicting reasons and aptitudes, particular untrustworthy web-browsers, monitor resolutions, pattern locations, and link pace. 1 A number of web strategies have been popularized in an effort to codify main beliefs that continuously hold up functional web practices; however a lot of strategies are supported on most excellent carry out or on laboratory learns by means of fixed background and reproduction locations. Though similar strategies have been practical in the starting phases of the web, we challenge that as the significance of web supported information augments, there will be grow in web plan strategy to be mainly resulting from exact experimental research that reviews users in their usual situations (Nielsen, 2000). Usability “Usability is a quality feature used for user interfaces which describes how easy user interface is to use” (Nielsen, 2000). In the same way for the usability of a website we have need of techniques, and measures that necessitate vigilant deliberation when budding and designing websites. The majority significant techniques or ways are ’up-front’ subjects such as setting apparent and brief objectives for a website, determining an accurate and comprehensive position of client requirements, making sure that the website convenes user’s hope, putting usability objectives, and offering practical content. To make sure the most excellent probable outcome, designers should believe a complete variety of user-interface matters, and effort to generate a website that allows the most excellent probable human performance. The present researches recommends that the most excellent way for making a website is to form a plan, and then go after by means of an iterative plan technique. This necessitates carrying out the apposite usability tests and via the result to create transforms to the website (Nielsen, 2000). Website Portability If we see general definition of portability then it is a feature attribute to a web site or software if it can be used in operating systems other than the one in which it was created devoid of requiring major revision. 2 Whereas we are in industry to make consumers for life, things are changing all the time: Every web-design we generate for somebody, whether it comprises a traditional database for storing the information, an online stock up or a number of particular coding is constructed for scalability and portability (Maeda et al. 2004). One of our web based search engine promotion customers express the other day that he seemed to have us host his internet commerce store.  Unluckily, our web hosting is Linux based consequently we are going to have a close up associate Microsoft supported web hosting association in Orlando.  Lengthy tale short, they could not help out him moreover.  His website was making use of a particular software (that barely someone utilizes) and essentially needs a costly permission in order to essentially run his website.  What a frightening.  At the present, it appears as although this gentleman is ensnared.  He has 2 options: determine a host that uses this solid to discover stage, or change all in excess of to incredible portable (Baguma et al, 2003). The clear option would be to change all; though, its expenditure is extra changes and time.  A number of rapid advice, previous to we employ a website design association to design our latest website, discover out what podium they employ, what encoding language they utilize and what web-based commerce store interface they are employing.  We can as well desire to inquire what software plan they are employing to make our website. A small bit of owing assiduousness in the start would put aside our large quantity of time, infuriation and capital down the road (Chisholm et al, 2005). Accessibility In general the accessibility is expressed as, the people with disabilities can recognize, realize, navigate, and communicate with the web, and that they can interact to the web. Web accessibility offers benefits to the older people with varying abilities due to aging. 3 The web has speedily turned out to be the leading internet tool, uniting multimedia to hypertext to offer a network of learning, administration and profitable resources. A great deal of its authority approaches from the information that it contains in an assortment of arrangements also information in the course of hypertext associations. For the reason that of the multimedia temperament of the website united by the deprived design of a number of sites, a lot of internet users are able enter the complete variety of property this radical tool offers (Baguma et al, 2003). Web site visitors make use of a range of tools to use the internet. For instance, someone who is sightless can make use of a language output system that interprets audibly text obtainable on the panel. An individual by means of mobility harm can be incapable to utilize a mouse and can depend on the computer keyboard for using internet. To generate resources that can be employed through the widest range of possible website visitors to some extent than idealized “standard,” web site designs should be relevant "worldwide design" ideology. This needs that they believe the requirements of persons with disabilities, aged people, public for which English is not a native language, and the people that are using out-of-date software and hardware. Integration of all such attributes and capabilities while designing a website is called the Accessibility quality of the web design. So we have to design a web site in such a way that each user of web site can use it easily (Chisholm et al, 2005). Improving the Web All the www carries on to grow the stipulation of suitable user edge is significant to its potential achievement. One major confront is that the www that has a number of well-established, apparently irresolvable anxieties. On one hand we have an arrangement that requires being straightforward to contact and add to, and on the additional it has to as well hold a huge quantity of varied and well-off information for which it has been contacted in an assortment of methods. The stress is realized as innovative technological progress offers chances for prosperous interfaces that permit users to work together by means of information and all other in conducts not envisioned through the originators of the worldwide web (Baguma et al, 2003). An essential standard of human computer interaction is that client interfaces should be simple to utilize and conventional. This is mainly significant for money-making websites because we are familiar with them in common, web clients are annoyed, need instantaneous contentment and will escape a website if they would not be capable to utilize it. As an effect, it is significant that users would be able to rapidly realize the environment of a site’s pleased, its association and the techniques through which to discover meticulous information as rapidly as they come out at a website (Chisholm et al, 2005). Disagreement among the user’s psychological mock-up of an arrangement and the authenticity of how a system performs would affect stupefaction or cognitive visual projection (Gibson, 2008). HCI on the web helpful to construct a research structure that effort to contain the behavioral change which are happening in that means currently and what knowledge can authority those tendency in excess of the after that a small number of years. Operational inside such a structure can assist to illuminate a variety of subjects that are significant to website designers and the HCI society (Gibson, 2008). Consequently, a structure will be accomplished as a method of offering an apparition for what the Human Computer Interaction Website design society should suppose because the PC and web carries on to quickly progress. This structure believes human performance from practical, cognitive and genetic viewpoint, while planning out how scientific inclinations can control community models of website practice (Baguma et al, 2003). W3C Web Content Accessibility Guideline WCAG 1.0 was first time presented as a W3C suggestion in year 1999. WCAG 1.0 gives details how to form website information content available to public who have disabilities. Even though WCAG 1.0 is surrounded primarily for web based content manufacturers, it is as well employed through others: authoring web based tool developers make use of it to generate web tools that make available web content, clients manager developers employ it to generate web tools that make use of available content, and assessment tool developers make use of it to generate tools that find out ease of access subjects by means of content (Gibson, 2008). The web is turning out to be more important information reserve for public by vision disabilities. At the present they do not for all time require inquiring for visionary people to search the data and information they require. They can get several kinds of data and information themselves from all over the globe each time they require it by using internet. Screen readers and Self-talking internet browsers have been urbanized and enhanced alongside by means of the development of the web to help out sightless people gain data and information from the internet (Chisholm et al, 2005). From the time late 1990s, though, the internet accessibility has turned out to be a grave subject for people having disabilities. The internet is turning out a great deal extra illustration and visually compound documents and edge like that the Flash and JavaScript are included to internet pages. A number of these illustration parts are not available by means of screen readers and self-talking browsers. To resolve similar accessibility subjects, a variety of works are happening internationally (WCAG v.1, 1999). The understanding of web convenience has been generally increased all over the globe. There is no hesitation that system and strategy connected to convenience have been helping create the web easy to get to. Developers and web designers have need of offering easy to get to substance when they are inquired to create it acquiescent by means of these strategy and system. For instance, Section 508 offers sixteen check items. They require ensuring if their pages are acquiescent by these sixteen check substances to facilitate segment 508 (WCAG v.1, 1999). Checkpoints This section will present the overview of the five checkpoints from the WCAG 1.0 Structure vs. Presentation Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 has suggested that we have to make sure that all the colorful data and information which we are going to present on the web must be available into without color (WCAG v.1, 1999). This check point is really significant for the color blind people. Now they will also have the opportunity to take information in a better way. For this we have to establish a version of our information that incorporate such type of excellence also. Recognizing what is arrangement and what is appearance can be difficult for some disable people. For example, a lot of data content developers suppose that a horizontal line communes a structural separation. This can be factual for visionary users, although to sightless users with no graphical web browsers, a straight line can have subsequently to no sense. So there is need for the other cues to make easy for the disable people. Text equivalents The basic theme of this point is the availability of the text, data, and information presented on the web site should be equivalent to non-text element. It means all non-text data and information content that would be articulated in words has a text equal of the function or information that the non-text data or information content was proposed to convey (WCAG v.1, 1999). So we have to provide such information in both ways. This is to facilitate the blind people in a way that they can achieve facility to perceive the information in a way that is feasible for them. This can be the audio information that we have represented in the image. For example a lecture of university is available in presentation, there is need to convert it into some non-text format so the blind people can also be able to receive that information. This substitute format can be the audio format. Multimedia equivalents In this scenario we are asked to provide the multimedia (non-text) equivalents to the original data and information contents. We have to provide these alternatives for the people who do not read well or not at all (WCAG v.1, 1999). But it is always not easier to understand a multimedia presentations equivalents text. So we need to concentrate on the type of information that we are going to convert in non text format. Examples of information and data that can be converted into equivalent multimedia format can be (Gibson, 2008): Chart of complex data Sales figures Business data Such type of information is important for the people who can not read the information in the textual format. So it will be really significant for these people. In a large organizational business web site we have to provide a version of such information into the equivalent multimedia format. Content negotiation In this factor for the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines we have to offer the information in such a way in which users can obtain documents according to their preferences, for instance: according to their language, content type, etc (WCAG v.1, 1999). This point is developed for the effective delivery of the information to the target user. This is aimed to reduce the language disability. If a person does not have the capability to read your offered information then that information has no meaning. The biggest example for facilitating the Multilanguage is the Wikipedia.com that offer information in several other languages. So in this way their information has more scope and effectiveness. Writing style The clear and easy writing style helps to make the information contents of our website clearer and easier to understand and read for everyone, particularly for the people who have the cognitive disabilities (WCAG v.1, 1999). We have use the accurate headings style and link descriptions in this way the viewers would have more effective way to obtain the information from the website. We also need to bind every paragraph to one major idea so that the person that has some low logical level would be able to perceive the basic theme in an efficient way. The clear writing and presentation style is one the best way to handle our website contents and delivery style. This will also helpful to present the basic ideas separately and distinctively. Conclusion In this paper I have presented the overall idea and research based critical analysis of the different terms of a good web design. I have discussed the detailed overview of good web design and its main feature and requirements. Then I have discussed about the different websites usability features like accessibility, usability and portability for the better web design. I have talked about the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guideline 1.0 and its main five most significant priorities regarding the disable peoples. In this scenario I have tried to streamline the overall five most significant priorities on the web viewers those did not have the capability to access (blind, color blind) or perceive (not able to interpret the foreign language) the required information. I have tried to present the information in a very compact way; References 1. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, source: http://www.w3.org/, retrieve on 02-03-2009. 2. About accessible design, source: http://www.accessibility.nl/internet/ebrochure/brochure/chapter12.htm, retrieve on 02-03-2009. 3. Gibson, Andy. (2008), W3C WAI Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), source: http://www.andy-gibson.co.uk/, retrieve on 02-03-2009. 4. Web accessibility, source: http://www.ibm.com/us/en/, retrieve on 02-03-2009. 5. Henry, S.L., ed. "Introduction to Web Accessibility.” http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/accessibility, retrieves on 02-03-2009. 6. Maeda, J., Fukuda, K., Takagi, H., Asakawa, C., (2004). Web accessibility technology at TRL, In IBM Research and Development Journal, Vol. 48, No. 5/6. 7. Nielsen, J. 2000, ‘Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity’, New Riders Publishing, Indianapolis, IN. 8. Rehema Baguma, Jude T. Lubega, (2003), A Web Design Framework for Improved Accessibility for People with Disabilities (WDFAD), Faculty of Computing & Information Technology, Makerere University, Kampala, P-134-136 9. Wendy A. Chisholm, Shawn Lawton Henry,(2005), Interdependent Components of Web Accessibility, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), MA 02319-4307, USA, P-31-36 Read More