Newsletter issue #34 - 2nd January 2007
This issue
Hello and welcome to the January edition of the Webcredible newsletter!
In this issue:
- Feature article: Accessibility audit vs. accessibility testing
- Top tip: Increase newsletter sign-ups
- Useful program: Lorem Ipsum
- Top link: Adobe Accessibility Center
- New articles in December
- Webcredible news in December
- Vote in our poll
Enjoy!
Feature article: Accessibility audit vs. accessibility testing
In last month's feature article we compared expert usability reviews with usability testing. This month, we do the same with accessibility, comparing accessibility audits with accessibility testing. What's the difference between the two and which one's different? There's only one way to find out - read this month's feature article!
Read this article in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-accessibility/audit-testing.shtml.
Top tip: Increase newsletter sign-ups
Newsletters represent one of the best online marketing tools available to you. Subscribers actually choose to have you contact them on a regular basis - what better way could there be of reminding potential customers of your existence! It's all well and good to have a useful newsletter with great content, but if you can't get people to sign up to it then it's a waste! Here are four ways to aid you in achieving this and increasing subscription rates:
- Provide a compelling reason People are unlikely to sign up to your newsletter unless you provide a benefit for doing so. Work out what the main benefit of your newsletter is and clearly and succinctly convey this in the newsletter sign-up box.
- Request the bare minimum A newsletter sign-up form is not the same as a data collection form. The greater the level of information you ask for, the less likely people are to sign up to the newsletter. At the very minimum, all you need to get is the e-mail address. Once you've got this and users have signed up, you can then ask your new subscribers to (optionally) enter further information, perhaps offering an incentive to do so.
- Link to archives Signing up to a newsletter is in some ways like venturing into the unknown - what information will the newsletter contain? A prominent link to newsletter archives shows potential subscribers what they're letting themselves in for and hopefully previews the fantastic content they'll soon be receiving direct into their Inbox.
- Place sign-up in the same position on every page To really persuade users to sign up to your newsletter have the newsletter subscription on constant display in the same position on every page on your website. This way, users are always reminded about it and given the opportunity to sign up.
Useful program: Lorem Ipsum
The Lorem Ipsum program will generate as much dummy text as you like. Simply enter the number of words or paragraphs you'd like and it'll create the text for you. The program is particularly useful when creating designs or wireframes that require dummy text.
You can use this handy program at www.lipsum.com.
Top link: Adobe Accessibility Center
For quite some time now it's been possible to create PDFs and Flash in an accessible format. Check out the Adobe Accessibility Center for detailed information on how you can do this.
Check out this site at access.adobe.com.
New articles in December
Read this and many other articles at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources.
Webcredible news in December
- Hidden checkout charges top reasons for order abandonment
- DOM scripting & JavaScript articles now online
- BBC interview with Webcredible available
Read these news stories in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/about-us/latest-news.shtml.
Vote in our poll
We're running a poll to find out what's most likely to make you trust a website when buying online. We'd really appreciate it if you took a moment to vote in our poll - it'll only take about 10 seconds of your time!
Put your opinion across and vote in our poll at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/polls.
Training courses
Courses continue to sell out well in advance! Our next training courses will take place in our training centre in Aldgate, London in January and January:
- Usability testing training - Monday 19th February. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our usability testing training page.
- Writing for the web training - Tuesday 16th January & Tuesday 20th February. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our writing for the web training page.
- Web usability training - Wednesday 17th January & Wednesday 21st February. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our web usability training page.
- Web accessibility training - Thursday 18th January & Thursday 22nd February. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our web accessibility training page.
- Advanced CSS training - Friday 19th January & Friday 23rd February. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our advanced CSS training page.
About Webcredible
Based in London, UK, Webcredible is a user experience consultancy. Tailor-made usability, accessibility & design solutions include:
- User-centered design
- Accessible web design
- CMS services
- Usability
- Accessibility
- Training
- Website review lite
Please contact us on 0870 242 6095 or info at webcredible.co.uk, or consult www.webcredible.co.uk for further information.