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Usability testing tools

✇ Misc ind sites
9 December 2009 at 10:03
By: Yewtree
W Craig Tomlin at Useful Usability has compiled a list of 24 web site usability testing tools, starting with a pencil and paper, through to web statistics software, heat-maps, desktop software and online card-sorts. He gives a detailed explanation and evaluation of each tool, together with its pros and cons.

Many of these tools are free or reasonably cheap.

Accessible graphics

✇ Misc ind sites
4 December 2009 at 04:00
By: Yewtree
Most people know that you must add alt text to images, for example:

<img src="http://www.blogger.com/myphoto.jpg" alt="The Nightingale Centre" />

But there are other things you need to add for full accessibility and usability.

You should set a height and width for your image (and this should be no greater than the actual height and width of the image).

<img src="http://www.blogger.com/myphoto.jpg" height="240" width="360" alt="The Nightingale Centre" />

If an image is very high resolution, it will take a while to download, so you should resize it to a smaller size in your graphics program before uploading it (don't just set a smaller height and width in your HTML).

Internet Explorer uses the alt text as a tooltip, which is actually incorrect. Firefox uses the title attribute as the tooltip text, which is correct. So, if you want the title of your image to be displayed when a Firefox user rolls his/her mouse over the image, you need to add a title attribute.

<img src="http://www.blogger.com/myphoto.jpg" height="240" width="360" alt="The Nightingale Centre" title="The Nightingale Centre" />

You should also ensure that you use the correct format for your images. JPG format should always be used for photos. PNG or GIF formats should always be used for other graphics, such as logos.

Writing for the web

✇ Misc ind sites
30 November 2009 at 04:05
By: Yewtree
The first thing to realise about writing for the web is that people tend to skim-read pages, looking for the salient facts. Therefore it is best to write in an inverted pyramid style, with the most important information and a summary of the article first. Another important guideline is to avoid information pollution (the inclusion of redundant information, like "don't use your hairdryer underwater").

Since people only skim-read on the web, it's a good idea to break your page up with headings, bullet points, and the use of bold to emphasise key points.

Stick to the main topic of the page (don't digress) and include only one idea per paragraph.

About.com has ten guidelines for web writing.

Using Plain English

✇ Misc ind sites
29 November 2009 at 04:00
By: Yewtree
The importance of clear communication is obvious. But plain English is a specific style which can be learnt. The Plain English Campaign have a series of guides to writing plain English.

Some of the key guidelines are:
  • avoid passive voice
  • avoid long sentences with dependent clauses
  • avoid jargon and non-literal phrases
  • avoid excessive formality
  • Try to expand acronyms (e.g. GA) and explain unfamiliar jargon the first time you use them
  • If you are explaining a procedure, try to set it out in small steps in the same order as the person will need to carry out the procedure.
  • Use numbers not words - it's better to use "23" than "twenty-three" as it stands out more

Information architecture

✇ Misc ind sites
27 November 2009 at 04:00
By: Yewtree
What is information architecture?
  1. The structural design of shared information environments.
  2. The art and science of organising and labelling web sites, intranets, online communities and software to support findability and usability. » More
The information architecture of your website makes it easier for visitors to find information. A typical church website will have times of services, contact details, how to find the church/chapel, sample sermons, profiles of the members and the minister, newsletter articles, and so on.

There are several different models of information architecture.
The information architecture is mainly represented by the navigation (menus).

Here are some examples.
  • New Unity (Newington Green and Islington Unitarians) has a strict hierarchy model.
  • The Bristol Unitarians website has a multi-dimensional hierarchy (you can browse by category or by date). This is mainly due to using a blog with labels to build the site.
  • The York Unitarians website has an index structure.
Which of these models you choose for your website depends on how much content you have or plan to add to your website.

Evaluation of Google Sites

✇ Misc ind sites
26 November 2009 at 12:22
By: Yewtree
The JISC Access Management blog has a useful evaluation of Google Sites, which they used to manage a website for a conference.

Key points to note: Ease of use and Look and feel.

Heal your church website

✇ Misc ind sites
26 November 2009 at 04:00
By: Yewtree
Whilst Heal your church website is written mainly for evangelicals, it still has lots of great articles and information.
You can also feel really really smug that Unitarian websites don't have animated spinning gold crosses, or Jesus Junk. Though we probably do have some inaccessible features like using tables for layout.

Internationalisation

✇ Misc ind sites
25 November 2009 at 04:12
By: Yewtree
In computing, internationalisation and localisation are means of adapting computer software to different languages and regional differences. Internationalisation is the process of designing a software application so that it can be adapted to various languages and regions without engineering changes. Localization is the process of adapting software for a specific region or language by adding locale-specific components and translating text.
~ Wikipedia, Internationalisation and localisation

What to avoid
  • Colloquialisms (slang)
  • Non-literal phrases and expressions, e.g. "keeping us on our toes"
  • Phrases from other languages such as Latin, French or German, e.g. lingua franca, Schadenfreude, viva voce, double entendre
  • Excessive formality and convoluted sentences
  • Passive voice
  • Dependent clauses in sentences
What to consider
  • If you're writing about "local" events or information, it's OK to use British English
  • If you're writing about "international" events or information, it's better to use more generic English

When to use PDFs

✇ Misc ind sites
24 November 2009 at 04:07
By: Yewtree
When not to use PDFs
  • If the information is intended to be read online
  • If another content type could be used instead, i.e. a normal HTML web-page
When to use PDFs
  • When a document needs to be downloaded, read offline or printed
  • If a document is more than 5 pages long. But consider whether it could be broken down into smaller sections and presented as HTML
  • When attaching a document to an email
  • As an additional alternative to online content - e.g. this set of tutorials could also be provided as a single PDF document
  • When formatting needs to be preserved - e.g. a PowerPoint presentation
  • Instead of Microsoft Office documents. But HTML is better most of the time
  • See the definitive list of when to use PDFs by Joe Clark
What else to include with your PDF document
  • An online HTML version or summary of the document
  • A link to download Adobe Acrobat Reader
  • A PDF icon to indicate that it is a PDF document (see an example on the BBC website)
See also

Why "click here" is bad

✇ Misc ind sites
23 November 2009 at 04:15
By: Yewtree
Why "Click here" is bad linking practice (by Jukka Korpela)
  • "Click here" just looks stupid.
  • "Click here" looks especially stupid when printed on paper.
  • "Click here" is useless in a list of links or when in "links reading" mode, or whenever a link text is considered as isolated from its textual and visual context.
  • "Click here" is bad food for search engines. If you say "For information on Unitarianism, click here", search engines won't know that your document contains a link to a document about Unitarianism. Some important search engines use the link text in estimating the relevance of a link. Using descriptive link texts thus helps users in finding documents they're interested in, potentially including your document due to a link text with some key word.
  • There's usually a fairly simple way to do things better. Instead of the text "For information on Unitarianism, click here", you could simply type "About Unitarianism".
  • "Click here" is device-dependent. There are several ways to follow a link, with or without a mouse. Users probably recognize what you mean, but you are still conveying the message that you think in a device-dependent way.

Describing links correctly

Bad Good
  • Click here for information about Unitarianism
  • You can access information on Unitarianism by clicking here
  • More information on Unitarianism is here
  • More information on Unitarianism is available by following this link
  • More information on Unitarianism is available by following this link
  • Follow this link for more information on Unitarianism
  • www.unitarian.org.uk/
  • To book a place on this course click here
  • About Unitarianism
  • More information about Unitarianism
  • Find out more about Unitarianism
  • There have been a lot of news items about Unitarianism recently
  • Book a place on this course
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