User
experience consultancy User Vision surveyed a cross section of 208
internet users throughout the UK with impairments which affect the
way they use the internet, comprising the visually impaired/blind,
hearing impaired/deaf, physically disabled, and those with
dyslexia/learning difficulties.
The users were asked to rank, in terms of importance, the
factors which aid their ease of use when online. Clarity of content
– using straightforward language and a clear, simple layout – was
regarded by 88% as ‘very important’. Good navigation – the ability
to know where you are within a site – was regarded as very
important by 65%, followed by the use of meaningful and clear
hyperlinks (63%).
Two of the three factors traditionally perceived as the
fundamental accessibility issues have become comparatively less
significant. Good use of ALT tags – which provide text alternatives
for images – was only regarded as ‘very important’ by a third of
respondents Surprisingly, among the visually impaired
users, 25% found ALT tags not important at all.
Respondents were also asked to rank the most annoying features
on websites and most useful features. Elements that aid users
in finding content easily and navigating round sites came up high
on the lists, whilst avoiding pop-ups was only fourth in the list
of top five annoyances thanks mainly to the increased use of
blockers which eliminate them before they appear. Inevitably
scalable text remains an important issue, particularly for visually
impaired users.
Top 5 annoyances
- Not having in-site search
- No sitemap
- No internal page navigation/skip to content/back to top
links
- Pop-ups
- Inability to change font zie/colour contrast
Top 5 most useful features
- Having in-site search
- Having a sitemap
- Clear, well labelled links
- Having internal page navigation
- Ability to personalise page view/font size
Chris Rourke, Director of User Vision, said: "The broadband
revolution has led to web sites becoming more sophisticated and
content-rich, which inevitably increases the risk of creating
barriers for impaired users. As a result factors such as an
effective in-site search and navigation are becoming increasingly
significant considerations which need to be moved up the
development agenda."
He added that web designers must consider how changes in
functionality affect accessibility, and ensure that sites are
regularly tested using the wide array of devices which those with
impairments are using to access the internet.
Other barriers to good usability for impaired users, according
to the research, include: Flash movies; the necessity to ‘sign-in’;
too many hyperlinks; and online forms where fields/labels have not
been marked up properly.
The research also asked respondents to name the web sites which
they found most and least usable. Google was unanimously voted as
easiest to use – thanks mainly to its clear layout and uncluttered
design – followed by Yahoo! and BBC News Online. Educational sites,
webmail and travel sites all featured heavily in the ‘least usable’
category.
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