HighEdWeb 2007: Usability, Accessibility and Design

Usability, Accessibility and Design (UAD)

UAD1: These Kids Today: Testing Web Usability with Parents and Incoming Students

PRESENTER: Lori Packer, University of Rochester

This session is scheduled for Mon, Oct 15, from 9:45 AM to 10:45 AM.

The parents of current and prospective students are an important constituency for any university, and just like their kids, they rely on the Web to provide them with information and tools. But do Mom and Dad use the Web differently than young Madison and Tyler? This presentation will review the results of a homepage usability study conducted at the University of Rochester with both newly enrolled students and the parents of newly enrolled students, to see if there are any differences in how each group uses the Web, and what each group expects to get out of their Web experience. We'll also spend a little time discussing usability testing generally, and why it's a very, very, very good idea.

UAD2: The Accessible Video Interface

PRESENTER: Gabriel McGovern, Portland Community College

This session is scheduled for Mon, Oct 15, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

The age of video on the Web is here. Both content creators and users have high expectations, and you may become caught in the middle. Learn how to create an accessible media interface that will allow your institution to deliver high quality Flash video with closed captioning. We will begin this session by looking at the benefits of creating a single, standard interface for including video on your site. Even if you only plan to post a few videos now, a single interface will help to convey a consistent design across your Web presence. It will also remain easy to maintain even after your "small" project is unexpectedly scaled to include hundreds of videos. With that out of the way, we can explore the separate media components to be used by our interface. First, we will take a look at the options for compressing the video content into the Flash FLV format. When it comes to compression, there is no longer a reason to choose between dial-up and broadband: our interface can deliver to each user the quality they need. Next, we examine how to create captions using the Media Access Generator (MAGpie) provided by the National Center for Accessible Media. This free application is easy to learn and exports captions into the W3C supported DFXP.XML timed-text authoring format. With the separate components ready, it is time to dive into Flash and start laying out the video player. I will show you how to create an interface customized to the look and feel of your institution. We will then run through the code that will dynamically insert the individual video and caption files. With the remaining time, we can explore a standards-compliant option for inserting the interface into your Web page content. View some example of an accessible interface in action:

UAD3: Card Sorting: Research That Every Web Developer Should Use

Douglas Tschopp, Augustana College

This session is scheduled for Mon, Oct 15, from 1:30 PM to 2:00 PM.

This session was a "Best Showcase" for 2006 and is a great way to introduce you to this topic. Card sorting is a low-cost, fairly simple, quick, and effective method that informs the process of developing site architecture. This simple research method is one that every Web developer should use.

UAD4: Animate Responsibly

PRESENTER: Shelly Brown, Southwest Baptist University

This session is scheduled for Mon, Oct 15, from 2:15 PM to 3:15 PM.

This workshop will include a short demonstration on how to create accessible Macromedia Flash animation, followed by a presentation of best practices for developing accessible Flash. In our demo, we'll browse various websites with a screen reader to get a better understanding of problems users with disabilities may encounter.

UAD5: Universal Design, the Web and You

PRESENTER: Daniel M. Frommelt, University of Wisconsin-Platteville

This session is scheduled for Mon, Oct 15, from 3:45 PM to 4:45 PM.

Universal Design (UD) is the “ergonomics of the Web.” UD is the approach to designing products and services to be usable by everyone regardless of age, ability, or circumstances. Learn how UD is applied to the Web and our current technologies. The discussion will begin with the background of the Web and its bright future. This presentation will be an overview of a variety of technologies: websites, alternate displays, digital talking books, podcasting, movies, applications, user interfaces, communications, and more.

UAD6: Making Sense of Card Sorts

PRESENTER: Don Albrecht, University of Rochester Medical Center

This session is scheduled for Mon, Oct 15, from 5:00 PM to 5:30 PM.

Card sorts are powerful tool for planning and organizing websites. Unfortunately the analysis tools can be hard to find. This talk will take you through several up-to-date analysis tools it will also show how simple Excel spreadsheets and critical thinking can dramatically increase the value of card sorts in your projects.

UAD7: 10 Signs It's Time to Redesign

PRESENTER: Kathy Wahlbin, Mindshare Interactive Campaigns, LLC

This session is scheduled for Mon, Oct 15, from 5:45 PM to 6:15 PM.

How do you know when it’s time to redesign your organization’s website? For most organizations, a website started out as an online billboard or brochure. As technology has changed – and it has done so at break-neck speed the last several years – Web sites have become online locations where audiences expect to get real services and take actions important to them. “Modernizing” your Web presence – particularly if it involves multiple sites, complex e-commerce applications or extensive libraries of content – can be a long, costly (and sometimes painful) experience. A whole host of factors can figure into your calculation of whether it’s time – or not – to realign or redesign your organization’s website. We have 10 sure signs it’s time to redesign. You may be surprised how unimportant “looks” are to your decision.

UAD8: More than Logs: Improving Usability with Customer Data

PRESENTER: David Anderson, University at Buffalo

This session is scheduled for Tue, Oct 16, from 8:15 AM to 9:15 AM.

Use tools like Clickheat, Google Analytics, and modern log analysers to understand site-use patterns, test effectiveness, and improve site usability. Building on the lessons of website access logs, we'll look at how modern tools like Clickheat and Google Analytics can be used to improve website usability and effectiveness.

UAD9: Designing Compelling User Experiences (in Higher Education)

PRESENTER: Beck Tench, Duke University

This session is scheduled for Tue, Oct 16, from 9:45 AM to 10:45 AM.

This seminar will review principles of user-focused Web design, particularly with the typical audiences (prospective students, faculty members, community members) of higher ed websites in mind. We'll start off by demystifying the concept of "interactive" websites and examining how a 2-D graphic (on paper!) can hold it’s own and often trump many of the typical uses of Flash, Ajax and streaming video. Then, using examples from Jesse James Garrett, Christopher Alexander, Edward Tufte, and my own personal hair stylist, we will define and illustrate the components of a compelling user experience (for websites and Web applications). This meatier part of the presentation will be augmented with take-home printouts so that we can fit everything in. Last (and with the world of HighEdWebDev in mind), we will discuss smart and fiscally inventive methods for researching users, interpreting our findings, and making a case for user-driven design. Note: This introduction to the acronym-laden world of UX, IxD, HCI, JJG, IA, UIDE, etc. will likely leave you a bit bored if you can already rattle off their meanings with impressive ease (but come talk to me over beers).

UAD10: User Interface is King: Developing a Web App UI

PRESENTERS: David Olsen, West Virginia University
Chris Scharf, West Virginia University

This session is scheduled for Tue, Oct 16, from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM.

User interface (UI) can make or break a Web app project. Simple and easy? Users will flock to your project. Overly compicated and confusing? Your project will wilt. Using slate — a Ruby on Rails-based CMS being developed at West Virginia University — as our example, we'll be looking at lessons learned in developing a good Web app user interface. To help demonstrate our points we'll share before and after example screenshots from slate. We'll share practical steps any developer can take to improve their current applications user interface. We'll also discuss issues and ideas a developer should keep in mind when tackling a new project to get the UI (nearly) correct from the very first release.

UAD11: Snag Your Usability Studies With Screen Recorder Software

PRESENTER: Rose Pruyne, Penn State University

This session is scheduled for Tue, Oct 16, from 2:15 PM to 2:45 PM.

Using screen recorder software, you can capture keyboard and mouse activity as well as audio and video when conducting Web usability studies. Once this information is captured, you can generate chaptered eLearning-module videos for your Web team to study - and to present to your stakeholders to build a case for design rationale. The presenter will demonstrate how to record usability study information using the software Camtasia.

UAD12: 10 Checkpoints of a Web Standards-based Curriculum

PRESENTER: Virginia DeBolt, Writer

This session is scheduled for Tue, Oct 16, from 3:00 PM to 3:30 PM.

From handcoding HTML, CSS, and JavaScript to software training in Dreamweaver and Flash, check your curriculum against these checkpoints for Web standards and best practices.

UAD13: Graphics Optimization for the Web

PRESENTER: Derek Tonn, mapformation, LLC

This session is scheduled for Tue, Oct 16, from 3:45 PM to 4:15 PM.

This session examines a variety of file optimization techniques that will result in better-quality, faster-loading graphics on the Web. The session is intended as a practical guide for design professionals who are developing and maintaining Web sites, as well as individuals who are simply looking for better ways to deliver graphics to their Web development staff on campus.