Abstract
Universal usability of World Wide Web (Web) environments—that is, having 90% of households as successful users—requires universal access, usability, and universal design. Factors such as Web technology and user-centered design contribute to universal access and usability, but key to universal usability is a universal design methodology. Universal design principles for the Web follow from universal design principles for the built environment, and emphasize perceptibility, self-explanation, and tailorability for the user. Universally usable Web environments offer the benefit of expanded participation, as well as the unanticipated benefits that generally follow from innovative design initiatives. However, to achieve Web universal usability, Web designers need tools that facilitate the design of intuitive interfaces without sacrificing universal access.
The purpose of this chapter is to promote a universal design approach to meet Web accessibility requirements and to establish a research agenda for the development of standards and tools that support both universal access and advanced interfaces, which can be used by Web designers to design for universal usability.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Brewer, J., ed. 2004. How People with Disabilities Use the Web. http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/Drafts/PWD-Use-Web <accessed 29 January 2007>
Chisholm, W., G.C. Vanderheiden, and I. Jacobs, eds. 1999. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT <accessed 29 January 2007>
Connell, B.R., M. Jones, R. Mace, J. Mueller, A. Mullick, E. Ostroff, J. Sanford, E. Steinfeld, M. Story, and G.C. Vanderheiden. 1997. Universal Design Principles. North Carolina State University, The Center for Universal Design. http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/about_ud/udprinciples.htm <accessed 29 January 2007>
Covington, G.A., and Hannah, B. 1996. Access by Design. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
Dardailler, D., J. Brewer, and I. Jacobs. 2001. Making the Web Accessible. In User Interfaces for All: Concepts, Methods, and Tools. Stephanidis, C., ed. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, NJ.
Eason, K.D. 1984. Towards the Experimental Study of Usability. Behaviour and Information Technology. 3 (2) 133–143
Federal Communications Commission. 1996. Communications Act of 1934, as amended by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. http://www.fcc.gov/Reports/1934new.pdf <accessed 29 January 2007>
Horton, S. 2006a. Access by Design: A Guide to Universal Usability for Web Designers. New Riders, Berkeley, CA. http://www.universalusability.com <accessed 29 January 2007>
Horton, S. 2006b. Designing beneath the surface of the Web. In Proceedings of the 2006 international Cross-Disciplinary Workshop on Web Accessibility (W4A): Building the Mobile Web: Rediscovering Accessibility? (Edinburgh, U.K., May 22 - 22, 2006). W4A, vol. 134. ACM Press, New York, 1–5.
Section 508 Homepage: Electronic and Information Technology. http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm <accessed 19 January 2006>
Shneiderman, B. 2003. Leonardo’s Laptop: Human Needs and the New Computing Technologies. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Shneiderman, B. 2000. Universal Usability. Communications of the ACM. 43 (5) 84–91.
Shneiderman, B. and H. Hochheiser. 2001. Universal usability as a stimulus to advanced interface design. Behaviour and Information Technology. 20 (5). 367–376.
Shneiderman, B. and C. Plaisant. 2004. Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human–Computer Interaction (4th Edition). Reading, MA: Addison Wesley.
Story, M., R. Mace, and J. Mueller. 1998. The Universal Design File: Designing for People of All Ages and Abilities. Raleigh, NC: North Carolina State University, Center for Universal Design.
Tinker, M. 1963. Legibility of Print. Ames, IA: Iowa State University Press.
Trace Research and Development Center. General Concepts, Universal Design Principles and Guidelines. http://trace.wisc.edu/world/gen_ud.html <accessed 29 January 2007>
U. S. Access Board. Section 508 Homepage: Electronic and Information Technology. http://www.access-board.gov/508.htm <accessed 29 January 2007>
Vanderheiden, G.C. 1990. Thirty-something million: should they be exceptions? Human Factors, 32 (4) 383-396.
Vanderheiden, G.C. 2000. Fundamental principles and priority setting for universal usability. In Proceedings on the 2000 conference on Universal Usability (Arlington, Virginia, United States, November 16 - 17, 2000). CUU '00. ACM Press, New York, NY, 32-37. DOI= http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/355460.355469
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI). http://www.w3.org/WAI <accessed 23 January 2007>
Worldwide Web Consortium (W3C). http://www.w3.org <accessed 23 January 2007>
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Springer-Verlag London Limited
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Horton, S., Leventhal, L. (2008). Universal Usability. In: Harper, S., Yesilada, Y. (eds) Web Accessibility. Human-Computer Interaction Series. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84800-050-6_21
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84800-050-6_21
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-84800-049-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-84800-050-6
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)