Skip to main content

Website Usability and Web Accessibility

Why are Usability and Accessibility Important?

The web design and development industry has undergone a number of radical shifts over the last few years - in fact, many industry experts claim that it is the most rapidly changing industry in the world. What these changes have led to though, is increased potential - "anything is possible". The inevitable side effect of this is that software and web sites have become so feature-rich and complex that they are practically impossible to use.   This matters to individual website owners because, if they are not careful, their website project or website content management solution can easily suffer functional overkill. When launching a web design project, be sure to ask yourself and your web site vendor the following questions:
  • How does your software meet accessibility standards?
  • How do you implement usability best practices?
  • Can users with disabilities use my website?
  • How readable will my website be by visitors and search engines?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Who Needs a CMS?

What makes a web design prospect a good candidate for a Content Management System? Imagine that you are in front of your prospect. They love your portfolio and the previous work you've done and they recognize the value that a web site can provide their business. How do you determine whether a CMS is a good option for their organization? Showing a prospect an online demo of how easily they can take control of their web site content can be a powerful "oh, wow" factor. For some prospects, they can connect the dots and immediately see the value that a CMS can bring to their business. For most though, you'll need to build a business case and demonstrate the "What's in it for me?". Here are a few quick questions you can ask your client to see if a CMS is an applicable tool for your prospect: What makes you different from your competition? If the answer to this question is the quality of work they do, then wouldn't their web site visitors w
Post a Comment
Read more

What is PCI-DSS?

Critical Reading about E-Commerce & Credit Cards Security Standards Background PCI is an abbreviation for the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council, an organization made up of payment card providers that sets the security standards and requirements for merchants and merchant account providers. PCI-DSS refers to the PCI Data Security Standards which was created by the Council to reduce payment card fraud. These standards form part of the merchant agreement signed by every merchant who accepts any type of payment card (credit, debit, etc.) directly, by telephone, or online. Both the level of security required by the standards and the consistency of enforcement of those standards have increased in recent years. There are clear indications that the standards will continue to be tightened in the coming years. As of December 31/07, all merchants must adhere to PCI Data Security Standards - or face substantial fees, fines, and penalties. These fees, fines, a
Post a Comment
Read more

Content Management Systems

What is a Website CMS? In short, a CMS is a Content Management System. In more detail, a CMS is a system that separates the publicly viewable content of a web site (the text, images, etc.) from the administrative tasks of linking pages together and controlling how the pages appear. In most cases, this is done to make a site easier to maintain than it would be if it was built exclusively out of hard-coded html pages.   The value to the owner of a website is that, because a content managed website can be updated more easily and more frequently, the website owner is better able to communicate with the target audience. More frequent and timely communication improves the level of service and helps generate customer loyalty.   Furthermore, because the owner of the website has control over the content, there is no longer a need to contact the website developer or designer for every update. In short, the website owner can stop sinking money into the site on an on-going ba
Post a Comment
Read more