The key to a usable website is ensuring users do not leave your site prematurely and return to your site. This will help a company to sell more products.
If sites are not easy to use, people will inevitably get frustrated and leave the site. If users know their location within your website and do not feel lost, they have a greater chance of staying.
Usable websites should come as standard although there are different approaches that can be taken. These usually occur at the outset of the project and nearing completing of coding templates often by testing with people who are likely to use the site to make sure the site actually works as intended.
Websites should work on all platforms and all current browsers (within reason) otherwise many users will be excluded from your site. Users with disabilities shouldn't be excluded from any site.
Usability should work alongside the graphic design, which is often why many websites do not work. Consistency within pages help users know how to navigate through your pages and this has to be designed in.
Many other usability failings are due to poor coding. These are some of the more obvious aspects to help with usability, many of which should be standard practice to most competent designers/coders. These are:
- Avoid using depreciated tags such as the < font > tag
- Avoid using framesets unless absolutely necessary as users cannot bookmark a page or send people web addresses to other people easily
- Do not break the back button
- Try and avoid popup windows
- Do not use too many graphics on a page
- Use alternative descriptions or londesc for all images and image maps
- Test the site with users when preparing the design and again before putting it live to see how they use the site
- Test the site on all platforms and browsers
There are many others and many of them are common sense but are often forgotten.
Usability should work alongside the graphic design, which is often why many websites do not work. Consistency within pages help users know how to navigate through your pages and this has to be designed in.
Many other usability failings are due to poor coding. These are some of the more obvious aspects to help with usability, many of which should be standard practice to most competent designers/coders. These are:
- Avoid using depreciated tags such as the < font > tag
- Avoid using framesets unless absolutely necessary as users cannot bookmark a page or send people web addresses to other people easily
- Do not break the back button
- Try and avoid popup windows
- Do not use too many graphics on a page
- Use alternative descriptions or londesc for all images and image maps
- Test the site with users when preparing the design and again before putting it live to see how they use the site
- Test the site on all platforms and browsers
