Newsletter issue #27 - 1st June 2006
This issue
Hello and welcome to the June edition of the Webcredible newsletter!
In this issue:
- Feature article: Mobile usability
- Top tip: Ensure important page items stand out
- Useful program: XStandard
- Top link: Dive Into Accessibility
- New articles in May
- Webcredible news in May
Enjoy!
Feature article: Mobile & handheld usability testing - why it matters
The number of people accessing the web through mobile and handheld devices is growing at a dramatic rate. As such, mobile phone and PDA usability testing may be crucial to your business as the way in which users interact with these devices is as yet relatively unknown.
Read this article in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources/web-usability/mobile-usability.shtml.
Top tip: Ensure important page items stand out
We don't generally read web pages - instead we scan through them, looking for the information that we're after. As such, it's crucial that important page items stand out, to help us easily find what we're looking for both quickly and efficiently. The most important page items include:
- Headings & sub-headings Headings concisely explain the content contained beneath them (provided that they're descriptive). So, to find out what the information underneath the heading is about, users just have to look at the heading text. To make headings stand out to users, make sure that they employ a large font size, have plenty of white space above and below them, and perhaps make use of additional colour.
- The main point of the paragraph It's a pretty well known usability guideline that paragraphs should be short and limited to just 1 to 2 ideas. Even so, paragraphs still contain too much text to scan through and get the main point straightaway. If you were to bolden two or three words in the paragraph that convey the main point of the paragraph, users can instantly see what the paragraph's about and decide whether to read it or not.
- Links Much of the time you spend on the Internet you're not actually on the page you want to be on. Every time you run a search on Google, for example, you don't actually want to be on Google - you're just using the search engine as a means to an end, to find the information you're actually looking for. In order to ensure that links stand out, make sure that they're in a high contrast colour and that link text is descriptive, succinct and front-loaded.
Useful program: XStandard
XStandard is a WYSIWYG editor that can be plugged-in to content management systems (CMSs). The best thing about XStandard is that it's standards compliant. This means that if you use it with a CMS then the integrity of the HTML code and the web page's accessibility can't be adversely affected.
You can get this program at www.xstandard.com.
Top link: Dive Into Accessibility
Dive Into Accessibility is a fantastic introduction to web accessibility, broken down into 30 short chapters. Whether you're new to accessibility or you think you know your stuff, you're bound to learn something new from this excellent resource.
Check out this useful site at www.diveintoaccessibility.org.
New articles in May
- Beyond guidelines: Advanced accessibility techniques
- Being a trusted expert
- The page title and meta description
Read these and many other articles at www.webcredible.co.uk/user-friendly-resources.
Webcredible news in May
- Good to meet you all at Internet World exhibition
- Training courses selling like hotcakes
Read these news stories in full at www.webcredible.co.uk/about-us/latest-news.shtml.
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 June and July:
- Usability testing training - Monday 17th July. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our usability testing training page.
- Web writing training - Monday 19th June & Tuesday 18th July. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our intermediate web writing training page.
- Web usability training - Wednesday 21st June & Wednesday 19th July. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our web usability training page.
- Web accessibility training - Thursday 22nd June & Thursday 20th July. For more information and to reserve your place before it fills up please consult our web accessibility training page.
- Advanced CSS training - Friday 23rd June & Friday 21st July. 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 research
- User-centered design
- Accessible CSS web design
- Training courses & support
- Website reviews
- Usability lab hire
Please contact us on 020 7423 6320 or info at webcredible.co.uk, or consult www.webcredible.co.uk for further information.
