UNIVERSAL USABILITY

SUBMITTED BY
F.MICHELIN SYLVIN TAGORE
PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY
CONTENTS

• WHAT IS UNIVERSAL USABILITY

• WHY IT IS NEEDED
• GOAL OF UNIVERSAL USABILITY
• PRINCIPLES
• CHALLENGES IN UNIVERSAL USABILITY
• CURRENT TRENDS
• UNIVERSAL USABILITY GUIDELINES
• REFERENCES
 WHAT IS UNIVERSAL USABILITY??..

• Universal usability refers to the design of information and communications

products and services that are usable for every citizen.
• It has been advocated by Professor Ben Shneiderman, a computer scientist at
the Human-Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Maryland, College park.
• universal usability ("usable by all") is closely related to the concepts of universal
design and design for all.
• Use, access, and design are the three concepts altogether cover, from the user's end
to the developer's end
WHY USABILITY DESIGN IS NEEDED??..

FROM USER’S POINT:

• It can make the users complete the task accurately.
• Users can operate it with a pleasant mood rather than feeling stupid.
FROM DEVELOPER’S POINT:
• To determine the success of a system.
FROM MANAGER’S POINT:
• Poor usability of products will greatly reduce productivity, people will not buy your products.
• Any product that lacks usability will waste more time and energy.
 GOAL OF UNIVERSAL USABILITY…

• The goal of universal usability is to enable the widest possible range of users
to benefit from information and communications services.
• It has to save time for both the company and users.
• It has to give a satisfied experience with the product.
• All contents in the application should be understandable by the user.
 PRINCIPLES OF UNIVERSAL USABILITY…

5 key principles of good website usability are:

• Availability and Accessibility
Some of the main availability and accessibility are,
Server uptime –   Invest in good hosting.
Broken links – Double check that there are no dead links on your site.
Mobile responsiveness –  Make sure your site can handle different screen sizes and slow
connections.
• Clarity
• Learnability
• It should be your goal to design intuitive interfaces — interfaces that don’t require instructions, or
even a long process of trial and error to figure them out. Key to intuitive design is to make use of
what people already know, or create something new that is easy to learn.
• Credibility
• Relevancy
It is essential that you know your users and why they visit your site.Start with defining who your
users are. Second, talk to them to find out what their goals are when visiting your site. Third, define
user scenarios that demonstrate in which situation people visit your site to find what kind of content.
Any design decision that you make should result in a more user-friendly website for your users.
QUALITY COMPONENTS…

Quality attribute that assesses how easy user interfaces are to use.

Usability is defined by 5 quality components,
• Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the
design?
• Efficiency: Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks?
• Memorability: When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily can they
reestablish proficiency?
• Errors: How many error do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover
from the errors?
• Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design?
CHALLENGES IN UNIVERSAL USABILITY…

The challenge of universal usability will press designers to listen carefully to the most angry
and resistant users, and to cleverly anticipate what these users need.
Mainly designers can focus on following three challenges,
• Technology variety:
Support broad range of hardware, software, and network access.
• User diversity:
Accommodating users with different skills, knowledge, age, gender, disabilities, disabling
conditions (mobility, sunlight, noise), literacy, culture, income, etc.
• Gaps in user knowledge:
Bridge the gap between what users know and what they need to know.
 CURRENT TRENDS…

Current trends in universal usability may include,

• Multimodal or adaptive user interface.
• Universal usability of commercial and e-government websites.
• Interface solutions for older adult users and users with disabilities.
• Contextualization of universal usability.
 UNIVERSAL USABILITY GUIDELINES…
Fundamental guidelines for universal usability are:
BASIC PRINCIPLES :

• Design simply
Simple designs are easier to use and maintain. Design simple sites, emphasizing important elements and using simple structures and
clean, standards-based markup.

• Budd well
The Web has properties that enable universal access. Take full advantage of these inherent properties, such as fallbacks, flexibility, and
user control, to construct universally usable Web sites.
• Favor HTML over other formats
HTML is the best format for universal usability. Provide documents in nonstandard formats, such as PDF and Flash, only as an
alternative to accessible HTML.
MARKUP:

• Design for keyboard access

Some users navigate the Web using the keyboard only. Make sure all functional elements, such as links and forms, can be controlled
and activated from the key-board.

• Design for transformation Web pages adapt to the user environment and user modifications.
Design pages that adapt to different conditions, such as enlarged text or different window widths, while keeping their design integrity.

• Allow users to control their environment

Web users have control over many aspects of their environment. Do not take control of aspects of the user interface, such as text size
and link underlines, that belong in the domain of the user.
 REFERENCES…
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_usability
• https://www.washington.edu/doit/universal-design-process-principles-and-
applications#:~:text=Applications%20of%20Universal%20Design,%2C%20
worksites%2C%20and%20web%20pages
.
• https://www.wqusability.com/articles/more-than-ease-of-use.html
• http://universalusability.com/
• https://www.google.com/search?q=universal+usability+guidelines&oq=univ
ersal+usability+guide&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0j69i60.10777j0j15&sourceid=ch
rome&ie=UTF-8