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E-Business Secrets
Brian Livingston
Designing e-commerce for users with disabilities

Most of an e-business' customers may not have a physical impediment, such as weak vision or poor hand-eye coordination. But customers that do may be some of the most loyal patrons of e-commerce sites, because using a well-designed site can be more convenient than shopping around town. And the numbers can be significant. Nearly one out of every five people in the United States has an impediment, according to the American Association of People with Disabilities (see link below).

Now the Nielsen Norman Group, a leading e-commerce research firm, has released a new report on how Web sites can make themselves more usable by the disabled. The group tested people who use screen readers (which audibly read the text of Web pages) or screen magnifiers (which can magnify Web pages and make them more contrasty).

The volunteer subjects were asked to buy items on Web sites, look up factual information, and perform other tasks. The researchers found that 78 percent of a control group of people without impediments could successfully carry out these tasks on the Web sites tested. But only 21 percent of screen-magnifier users and 12 percent of screen-reader users could complete the routines. This is money being left on the table by e-commerce sites that are hard to use.

Nielsen Norman recommends a series of steps, divided into 12 functional areas, which can improve usability for both people with disabilities and people without. It's impossible to list all the recommendations here, but a few of the more important ones are:

GRAPHICS. Use HTML's ALT tag to describe graphics, and when graphics contain useful information, also include that information in text form.

POP-UP WINDOWS. Don't use pop-ups, or if you do, make sure there's an easy way to get back to the main window.

LINKS. Create links within text when possible, and avoid using graphics as links.

PAGE ORGANIZATION. When users must make a choice, keep all the options within the same area of the page.

INTERVENING PAGES. Avoid using splash pages. Make sure the first page people see is the one that best describes your site and its offerings.

FORMS. Don't use only red text or yellow highlighting to indicate errors in user's input on a form. Don't rely on an asterisk (*) to indicate required fields.

SHOPPING. Thoroughly describe items you are selling, as though there were no images on the page at all.

TABLES. Avoid using large tables, and don't rely on graphics to indicate states such as yes/no or on/off.

Nielsen Norman's 148-page report costs $190 in PDF form, or $390 for the report and a license to reproduce the report within your organization

"Beyond ALT Text: Making the Web Easy to Use for Users with Disabilities," by Kara Coyne and Jakob Nielsen:

http://www.nngroup.com@836.as/?4e41

Information on Americans with disabilities:

http://www.aapd.com@a2.tc/?61c9

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

E-BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY REVIEW: TINY DESKTOP PCs

If you're cramped for space, consider the tiny desktop PCs being offered by Mwave.com. The SV24 model looks like a mini-tower cut off at the knees: it's only about 7.5 inches high.

Despite the small size, the SV24 supports the normal variety of ports: keyboard, mouse, monitor, serial, parallel, Ethernet, and two USB ports. It's an underpowered system, supporting only as much as a Pentium III at 133 MHz, sufficient for routine computing tasks. But it features on-board IEEE 1394 support (also known as FireWire) and two 1394 ports for fast data transfer of as much as 400 Mbps. Mwave's price is $250.

TINY DESKTOP PC WITH IEEE 1394 PORTS:

http://direct.mwave.com@54.vg/?7551

LIVINGSTON'S TOP 10 NEWS PICKS O' THE WEEK

1. Part of Microsoft Passport suspended due to flaws

http://news.cnet.com@5a0.tc/?409

2. Online air ticket tax? Other taxes may hit you, too

http://www.ecommercetimes.com@a2.tc/?7f1

3. Add an anthrax/toxin detector to your Palm for $300

http://abcnews.go.com@th.gs/?bd9

4. How this year's holiday Web sales are shaping up

http://www.nytimes.com@e.la/?fc1

5. Amazon to be less unprofitable in Q4, Bezos restates

http://www.boston.com@31.dk/?13a9

6. Online travel rise brings e-commerce to normal level

http://www.bizreport.com@836.as/?1791

7. Priceline turns a profit, excluding one-time items

http://www.msnbc.com@a6r.ms/?1b79

8. Dot-com job cuts surge 62 percent in wake of attacks

http://www.inq7.net@a2.tc/?1f61

9. HTML tips: Optimizing your copy for Web readability

http://www.webmasterbase.com@54.vg/?2349

10. Coming soon to a store near you: digital e-pens

http://www.wired.com@1c.to/?2731

E-BUSINESS SECRETS: Our mission is to bring you such useful and thought-provoking information about the Web that you actually look forward to reading your e-mail.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: E-Business Secrets is written by InfoWorld Contributing Editor Brian Livingston. Research Director is Ben Livingston (no relation). Brian has published 10 books, including:

Windows Me Secrets:

http://www.amazon.com@54.vg/?0764534939

Windows 2000 Secrets:

http://www.amazon.com@54.vg/?0764534130

Win a book free if you're the first to send a tip Brian prints: mailto:tips@SecretsPro.com


Brian Livingston , an InfoWorld contributing editor, has published 10 books, including Windows Me Secrets and Windows 2000 Secrets. Win a book free if you're the first to send a tip Brian prints. Send in your tips today, at tips@secretspro.com.



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