UKNM: Blind Blind Blind (was two launches and two funerals)

[Richard Longhurst]

Speaking of user interfaces, did anyone see that...


"The National Federation of the Blind filed a federal suit against AOL for

making its service inaccessible to the

blind. The suit claims AOL violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by

failing to make its service compatible with programs designed to help blind

people..."


And, coincidentally I got the following mail on Rich Clickings over the

weekend...


> > body: Hi

> > I'm a Campaigns Officer at the Royal National Institute for the Blind.

My

> area of interest is ensuring that people with sight loss or blindness are

> able to get maximum benefit from the Internet.

> > I read about your site in Internet Advisor (Oct 99), and as you ask for

> feedback I thought you might be interested to know more about accessible

> design. There may be some really simple changes you could make to your

site

> and service to ensure that more people with sight problems can use them.

> I've put together some info on the Web at http://www.rnib.org.uk/digital

> > I hope you find this useful. Please don't hesitate to contact me if I

can

> be of further help.

> > Best wishes

> > Julie Howell

>

> JHowellrnib [dot] org [dot] uk

> > 0171-391 2191


The RNIB site has a cheesy doohickey called 'Bobby' that checks your site

for ease-of-use for blind people. Needless to say, Boo.com doesn't do too

well, but then nor did Rich Clickings and I doubt many of our sites will.


Of course, blind Net users are a pretty small market - probably as niche as

you can get. While it's easy to say a site isn't designed site for 'lowest

common denominator' users without Flash and fast modems, what are you going

to say to blind people who want to visit and buy from you? Or aren't there

enough of them to matter?


Could I be arsed to incorporate Bobby's suggestions in Rich Clickings? No,

but I might be able to find time tomorrow. Or possibly the day after.


Richard


--

Richard Longhurst

PC Format - http://www.futurenet.co.uk/

Rich Clickings - http://www.richclickings.co.uk

And some newspapers




----- Original Message -----

From: Chris Locke <

chrisfeeshes [dot] freeserve [dot] co [dot] uk

>

To: <

uk-netmarketingchinwag [dot] com

>

Sent: Saturday, November 06, 1999 10:14 AM

Subject: UKNM: two launches and two funerals



> What a week.

>

> So, whilst we are arguing a little about innovation vs experience, I think

> it's fair to summarise that the opinion is that Smile & Boo have both

> launched without fully realising their potential.  For whatever I'm worth,

> I think this is because of two faults that each site demonstrates.

Indeed,

> they're almost textbook examples:

>

> 1 - Smile & Java.

> Java may well have been chosen to surround the user experience and

> communication in a cloak of security, but the site feels as though the

Java

> decision was made very early on and every decision from then on was made

to

> fit around that.  There is no reason to put low-security mail for your

> customer onto a bespoke system on your site unless you're a)Hotmail (cheap

> jibe, that) or b)craving for page impressions.  Smile needs to redesign to

> catch up to Egg standards, and fast.

>

> 2 - Boo and everything.

> The UI just doesn't work.  And whilst it's innovation may be justifiably

> praised, it may be foolhardy to innovate that much when you have big,

> anxious backers who've invested a fortune for a site that's already late.

> I think it's spurious to continue to use Boo as a stick to beat Flash

with,

> as actually Flash is just one of it's problems.  Ultimately, it seems, the

> thing that might kill the business overall is price . . .

>

> Me, I'm waiting for the BBC News Online relaunch, who I know have been

> doing strenuous user-testing for *months* to tweak an already successful

> site and make it ready for the future.  They're lucky to have (and have

> had) such a great team, and the Playboy Matt Jones is as clued-up as UI

> designers get in the UK (and that's a drink he owes me).  But it's the

> process and user-testing that makes me confident to predict we'll be

> lavashing plaudits on the site in the coming weeks.

>

> It's the *user-testing*, stupid.  It works, so do it.

>

> Chris. 


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