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A lot of hue and cry these days about usability and accessibility. A lot of web designers still are a bit confused about the difference between the two fancy terms. A vast majority take it lightly and believe that if the client has not asked for it why bother. But you have to keep one thing in mind that websites are meant for viewing. Your job as a designer is to design a site that’s viewable by a wider public. This is where accessibility and usability comes in.
Usability simply means that your site should be available to people from different geographical regions with different computer types, with different browsers, different Internet speeds and even different individual ability. It should simply be available to as many people as possible. Accessibility makes a site more accessible to people with disabilities and learning difficulties.
Now you can’t prioritise one over another. Making a site more usable definitely helps those with disability and making it more accessible doesn’t make it less accessible to normal users.
Keep the user In Mind
What the overall aim of a web page? To be read. There is a reason why search engine crawlers can only read texts and have huge issues with more fancy sites. Sites are meant for readers with very basic lingual capabilities. We are talking about average business sites not artistic modern art portals. So when you are designing a site that’s ultimate aim is to deliver a message, as simply as possible you have to keep the user first. Put all your Flash and gimmicks back in the bag for another appropriate project.
The first step in any web design should be identifying eth objectives of a web site. This requires brainstorming with the site owner and should be done properly. Once you know what’s the site is for and what message needs to be delivered you can choose your tools accordingly.
Ask For Help
Most regular web designer wouldn’t be experts in accessibility and usability features. Even though it’s a great help if you can train yourself but if you are in doubt seek professional help. At times you might get existing sites that need to get more accessible and usable. You’d need to rope in guys who can help you identify what can be done. You might need to conduct surveys and generate data to identify what the real issues are.
Victor Solovey works as a part-time designer for a web design company. He spends rest of his time as a freelancer doing projects that inspire him the most. Victor an be contacted to do psd to html conversions quickly. | 