[thelist] Dropdowns - good or bad?
aardvark
roselli at earthlink.net
Wed Nov 22 10:58:42 CST 2000
> From: "Richard H. Morris" <richard.morris at web-designers.co.uk>
[...]
> > 'grok'. If users don't grok an interface paradigm, they won't use it
> > as effectively, and the communication/commercial aims won't be
> > realised to the same extent. That's the name of the game, surely?
>
> Apparently not, according to your employers: the pwcglobal.com web site has
> *two* drop-down menus on the home page!!! Pot | Kettle | Black error?
you're assuming he has any control over that company's site... i
would say he doesn't... look at the crap they auotmatically append
to his posts, that's not a company that understands the medium...
martin, OTOH, does understand the medium, and much better than
his (new) employers...
> > Why do you think that Yahoo gets the traffic it does? It's
> > butt-ugly, but highly usable.
>
> In a word: content. I actually find it a complete pain in the bum to get to
> anything useful on Yahoo! which is why I don't use it, preferring...
i only use it, and google, for searching only, so both are great for
me... i've learned to tune out all the portal crap...
> > Likely estimation of how many will fail through poor usability?
>
> Not half as many as through a failure to actually plan a revenue/business
> model. Sure, many will fail on usability issues but mainly in the B2C
> environment.
yes, but i think companies like boo.com are a perfect example of
how shortsightedness on the UI end as well as the business end
are both equally as dangerous... turn away customers and you turn
away *all* sources of revenue...
> > Take a look at http://www.work24.co.uk/ - try and register. That will tell
> > you why it's failing. They're getting loads and loads of hits to the front
> > page, but almost no registrations (ie conversions to customers).
>
> I find those sorts of delays with many back-end driven sites.
i actually have some familiarity with this site... trust me, the
backend is the least broken thing on this site... the site as a whole
is horribly lacking in any usability testing, or even browser testing...
it's actually in the hall of shame over here when i train new folks...
> > Quite the opposite actually. I see sites maturing into greater
> > usability, or failing.
>
> I fail to believe (in the B2B context especially) that we'll all be
> reverting to basic HTML-only sites like the institutional/research sites
> where content is king.
for B2B clients, i've found that content *is* king... anything that
slows the transfer of information (everything from EDI to online
sales tools) has proven to be costly...
> > Immature businesses moving online tend to go for whizzy,
>
> Immature, like Ford, Jaguar, Audi, etc. ?
immature developers... that would be more accurate... those
companies don't understand the medium, and as such are
immature in that medium/market and hire developers who aren't
seasoned...
> > He doesn't claim to be a visual designer. But take a look at his traffic
> > figures... Positive ROI? I think so.
>
> In much the same way as the motivational speaker types generate business...
LOL... that's a good one... seriously, though, if he *didn't* make a
site that is emminently accessible, we'd blast him... so instead it's
got no eye candy...
> > If the client is providing a public service in the UK (also other
> > countries,
> > but the UK is the area I know best) then they're legally bound to be
> > accessible.
>
> <genuine question> I'm not aware of that legal requirement: could you give
> details?
are you in the US?
Section 508 of the Workforce Investment Act, enacted on August
7, 1998
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/508/508law.html
> Of our Clients doing both B2B and B2C business, their sites are indeed coded
> for accessibility.
accesskeys? full alt attributes? no image maps or frames?
validated HTML and CSS?
> > I would also point out that there are 10m people in the UK with registered
> > disabilities. A reasonable market if I'm not mistaken.
>
> Indeed, although that again depends upon your Client demographic. I wonder
> how many sites written by designers on this list are written to comply with
> Bobby's usability/accessibility in mind?
all mine... all martin's... there are a few others who are very
particular about that... as well as the three levels of WAI
compliance...
> How many sites with DHTML navigation menus pass?
um, none...
> > 3) you've done Usability Testing as part of your development programme?
>
> No, because the Client has not requested that service - usually because of
> budgetary constraints. We don't run focus groups, usability testing
> workshops, etc. unless the Client is willing to pay for them. But then our
> Client base does not want to spend many thousands on their sites either...
i think once you've got a handle on how to build accessible sites
from the start, and experience doing them, building them that way
is no extra cost to the client... no, you can't do full-bore testing
with focus groups, but in our case, all of our sites are accessible
unless the client requests otherwise... even those really low-budget
ones...
More information about the thelist
mailing list