What is Usability?
Usability is defined as the effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction with which specified users can achieve specified goals in particular environments. Making the page design usable is a necessity if a Web site is to survive on the Internet. When possible, Usability should drive the early stages of your project, before the designers are brought on board.
In addition to the benefits of Usability, is that of ADA Web Accessibility and Compliance. Though similar, the objectives of ADA Web Compliance and section 508 Government standards include: Promoting Accessibility, Providing accessible design solutions, Ensuring graceful transformations, Making content understandable and navigable to users with a variety of disabilities including physical, sensory and cognitive.
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Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act
In 1998, Congress amended the Rehabilitation Act to require Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities. Section 508 was enacted to eliminate barriers in information technology, to make available new opportunities for people with disabilities, and to encourage development of technologies that will help achieve these goals. More recently however, Florida law states, “Sections 282.601-282.606 F.S. In order to improve the accessibility of electronic information and information technology and increase the successful education, employment access to government information and services, and involvement in community life, the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of state government shall, when developing, competitively procuring, maintaining, or using electronic information or information technology acquired on or after July 1, 2006, ensure that state employees with disabilities have access to and are provided with information and data comparable to the access and use by state employees who are not individuals with disabilities, unless an undue burden would be imposed on the agency”. This law also applies to individuals with disabilities who are members of the public seeking information or services from state agencies.
To assist in this process, is Proposed rule 60EE-1.001 -.005 F.A.C. Known as the Florida Accessible Electronic and Information Technology Rules it’s purpose is to make known and put into effect Sections 282.601-282.606, Florida Statutes.
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The Three Phases of Web Compliance Analysis
Although the scope of Usability and ADA Web Compliance analysis is largely dependent on the client, their users and their particular environment they desire testing to occur in, Blink’s standard Usability and ADA Web Compliance analysis consists of three phases:
- Usability/Compliance Analysis
- Client interview to determine needs, existing issues, goals, etc.
- Initial review of environment and associated documentation
- Creation of Usability/Compliance evaluation document outlining scope of project
- Usability/Compliance Evaluation
- Empirical and non-empirical methods
- Reports and Presentation
- Upon analyzing the data collected, a comprehensive report will be generated providing detailed information on our assessments of Usability and/or ADA Compliance.
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Benefits:
- Improved customer focus providing both commercial and government agencies with equal and more complete user adoption of products and services.
- Lower support costs with less technical help and fewer calls to the help line.
- Less expensive redesigns catching glitches before product release.
- State with confidence your Web site is user friendly and or ADA compliant.
- Ability to potentially defend non-compliant claims.
- Rapid payback with quantified benefits often seen in one year or less.
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