Design, Usability and Accessibility on the Web

Design, usability and accessibility are three keys to web design. While some might argue that one is more important than the other, in reality, all three must work in concert to create a memorable and effective website.

Design is the layout and appearance of the site. How does it look? Is it visually pleasing? How are the elements laid out on the page and do they work well together? In my opinion, web site design is most like print layout. Text, color and images all have to work together to create an informative page. The more visually interesting it is, the better it will hold the reader’s attention. But at the same time, it must communicate the message effectively.

The next piece of web design is usability. Usability is the reader’s ability to effectively navigate and find the information provided on the website. Can the user easily find the information? As important as effective navigation through the web page is the user’s ability to actually use the features on the site. A web page that is using the latest and greatest technologies or is graphic or Flash intensive may be unavailable to a user with a slower connection or an older computer. Also important is how usable is it from devices other than a computer. Increasingly people are accessing web pages from their phones, music players and tablet devices. A fully functional website should be accessible and useable on all of these devices.

Finally accessibility is important in good web page construction. The Internet is accessed by people using a wide variety of accessibility devices such as web readers and motion sensitive devices. Web designers must keep these factors in mind while designing. A user who depends on a web reader for instance, isn’t going to be able to get any useful information from a web page that is built entirely in Flash.

By combining all of these elements, web designers can create a truly effective, usable and beautiful site that can be used fully by a variety of people. The purpose of the web is to push information to users, and these three keys will insure that the most maximum variety of users are served.