Web usability consulting
“I want a website that will…”
- retain my visitors;
- entice them to come back;
- get recommended to others;
- bring me more customers;
- improve the perception of my brand;
- give me a competitive edge;
- be easy for search engines to index;
- make accessibility compliance easier to achieve;
- be easy to maintain and cheaper to support;
- load quickly.
Background
The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) defines usability as the
extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals effectively, efficiently and with satisfaction in a specified context of use
Or to put it another way, usability is about making the visitor’s experience effective, efficient and satisfying. It’s vitally important that when visitors land on your site they are presented with clear signposts and answers, not a maze and clues (or even worse, no clues at all).
If the message and options are not clear, your visitors may leave. If they don’t leave, the chances are that they will click on the first link that seems to be most relevant – it may not be the right one. Repeat the process a few times and soon a visitor can be lost, confused and frustrated. Either way the result is the same – missed opportunity and little likelihood of a return visit.
Web usability consulting is just part of Egn’s website design and development service.
Egn Webcraft can help you with…
Site message: Is it obvious?
Navigation: Is it clear, consistent and logical?
Links: Are they clear and consistent? Are visited links obvious? Do any links open new browser tabs or windows?
Site map: Necessary on larger sites to give visitors an overview and fast navigation. Also beneficial to search engine spiders when crawling the site.
Site search: Some visitors use navigation to find what they are looking for on a site. Others prefer to search directly for a particular term. Your site should accommodate both options.
Breadcrumbs: Breadcrumbs answer the question “Where am I?” They provide a trail from the current page back to the home page. Necessary on larger sites to help visitors with orientation.
Headlines: Are they meaningful, helpful, logical and hierarchical?
Forms: Are there sufficient instructions? Is it possible to submit erroneous or missing information?
Contact information: Is it clearly displayed throughout the site?
Copy: Is the copy clearly readable? Does it make sense? Is it relevant? Has it been overloaded with keywords?
Careless errors: Spelling, grammar, omissions, etc.
Consistency: Are elements such as colours, fonts and styles used consistently throughout the site?
Ambiguity: Is everything self-evident? Might the visitor be unsure about any instructions, images, etc.?
Browser compatibility: Does the site function properly and consistently in all the major browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera and Safari)?
Printing: Can the pages be properly printed? From all the major browsers? Is there a specific stylesheet for printing?
Page loading: Are pages slow to load? If so, why?
Flash content: Is it necessary?
Privacy: Is there a privacy policy so that visitors can know what personal and browsing information is being recorded?
