Human-computer interaction (hci) pioneer Ben Shneiderman defines universal usability as “having more than 90% of all households as successful users of information and communications services at least once a week.” Note that Shneiderman is not calling for any use of technology but rather successful use. He goes on to explain that, to achieve universal usability, designers need to “support a wide range of technologies, to accommodate diverse users, and to help users bridge the gap between what they know and what they need to know.”
It’s important to think about universal usability as a goal and not an outcome. Clearly, no web site can accommodate every possible use context, any more than a potato peeler can be used successfully by every individual. The web provides an environment that is far more flexible than the built world, making the goal of universal access more feasible.
Moving beyond the “typical” user
The first step toward the goal of universal usability is to discard the notion that we are designing for a “typical” user. Universal usability accounts for users of all ages, experience levels, and physical or sensory limitations. Users also vary widely in their technical circumstances: in screen size, network speed, browser versions, and specialized software such as screen readers for the visually impaired. Each of us inhabits multiple points on the spectrum, points that are constantly shifting as our needs and contexts change. For example, virtually all adults over fifty have some form of mild to moderate visual impairment. And within that context our needs change as we move from viewing web pages from the back of an auditorium to sitting in front of a large desktop display monitor to walking down the street peering at a small mobile display. A broad user definition that includes the full range of user needs and contexts is the first step in producing universally usable designs.
Supporting adaptation
Next we need a design approach that will accommodate the diversity of our user base, and here we turn to the principle of adaptation. On the web, universal usability is achieved through adaptive design, where documents transform to accommodate different user needs and contexts. Adaptive design is the means by which we support a wide range of technologies and diverse users. The following guidelines support adaptation.
Flexibility
Universal usability is difficult to achieve in a physical environment, where certain parameters are necessarily “locked in.” It would be difficult to make a book, and a chair to read it in, that fit the needs and preferences of every reader. The digital environment is another story. Digital documents can adapt to different access devices and user needs based on the requirements of the context.
A web page contains text, with pointers to other types of documents, such as images and video. Software reads the page and acts on it by, for example, displaying the page visually in the browser. But because of the nature of the web, the same page can be accessed on a cell phone, using a screen reader, or printed on paper. The success of this adaptation depends on whether the page design supports flexibility. Pages designed exclusively for large displays will not display well on the small screens of cell phones (fig. 2.1).
ผู้บุกเบิกคอมพิวเตอร์บุคคลโต้ตอบ (hci ที่) Ben Shneiderman กำหนดใช้งานสากล "มีมากกว่า 90% ของครัวเรือนทั้งหมดเป็นผู้ประสบความสำเร็จของบริการข้อมูลและการสื่อสารสัปดาห์ที่" หมายเหตุที่ Shneiderman ไม่เรียกสำหรับการใช้งานของเทคโนโลยีแต่ใช้ค่อนข้างประสบความสำเร็จ เขาไปในการอธิบายว่า เพื่อให้ใช้งานสากล นักออกแบบจำเป็นต้อง "สนับสนุนความหลากหลายของเทคโนโลยี เพื่อรองรับผู้ใช้ที่หลากหลาย และ เพื่อช่วยให้ผู้ใช้เชื่อมต่อช่องว่างระหว่างสิ่งที่พวกเขารู้และสิ่งที่พวกเขาต้องรู้"สำคัญคิดสากลใช้เป็นเป้าหมายและผลไม่ได้ ชัดเจน ไม่มีเว็บไซต์สามารถรองรับทุกไปใช้บริบท ใด ๆ มากกว่าสามารถใช้มีดปอกเปลือกมันฝรั่งที่ประสบความสำเร็จ โดยทั้งการ เว็บช่วยให้สภาพแวดล้อมที่มีความยืดหยุ่นมากขึ้นกว่าโลกสร้างขึ้น ทำให้เป้าหมายของการเข้าถึงสากลเป็นไปได้มากขึ้นย้ายนอกเหนือจากผู้ใช้ "ทั่วไป"The first step toward the goal of universal usability is to discard the notion that we are designing for a “typical” user. Universal usability accounts for users of all ages, experience levels, and physical or sensory limitations. Users also vary widely in their technical circumstances: in screen size, network speed, browser versions, and specialized software such as screen readers for the visually impaired. Each of us inhabits multiple points on the spectrum, points that are constantly shifting as our needs and contexts change. For example, virtually all adults over fifty have some form of mild to moderate visual impairment. And within that context our needs change as we move from viewing web pages from the back of an auditorium to sitting in front of a large desktop display monitor to walking down the street peering at a small mobile display. A broad user definition that includes the full range of user needs and contexts is the first step in producing universally usable designs.Supporting adaptationNext we need a design approach that will accommodate the diversity of our user base, and here we turn to the principle of adaptation. On the web, universal usability is achieved through adaptive design, where documents transform to accommodate different user needs and contexts. Adaptive design is the means by which we support a wide range of technologies and diverse users. The following guidelines support adaptation.FlexibilityUniversal usability is difficult to achieve in a physical environment, where certain parameters are necessarily “locked in.” It would be difficult to make a book, and a chair to read it in, that fit the needs and preferences of every reader. The digital environment is another story. Digital documents can adapt to different access devices and user needs based on the requirements of the context.A web page contains text, with pointers to other types of documents, such as images and video. Software reads the page and acts on it by, for example, displaying the page visually in the browser. But because of the nature of the web, the same page can be accessed on a cell phone, using a screen reader, or printed on paper. The success of this adaptation depends on whether the page design supports flexibility. Pages designed exclusively for large displays will not display well on the small screens of cell phones (fig. 2.1).
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