Book Image

UX for the Web

By : Marli Ritter, Cara Winterbottom
Book Image

UX for the Web

By: Marli Ritter, Cara Winterbottom

Overview of this book

If you want to create web apps that are not only beautiful to look at, but also easy to use and fully accessible to everyone, including people with special needs, this book will provide you with the basic building blocks to achieve just that. The book starts with the basics of UX, the relationship between Human-Centered Design (HCD), Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), and the User-Centered Design (UCD) Process; it gradually takes you through the best practices to create a web app that stands out from your competitors. You’ll also learn how to create an emotional connection with the user to increase user interaction and client retention by different means of communication channels. We’ll guide you through the steps in developing an effective UX strategy through user research and persona creation and how to bring that UX strategy to life with beautiful, yet functional designs that cater for complex features with micro interactions. Practical UX methodologies such as creating a solid Information Architecture (IA), wireframes, and prototypes will be discussed in detail. We’ll also show you how to test your designs with representative users, and ensure that they are usable on different devices, browsers and assistive technologies. Lastly, we’ll focus on making your web app fully accessible from a development and design perspective by taking you through the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG).
Table of Contents (19 chapters)
Title Page
Credits
About the Authors
About the Authors
About the Reviewer
www.PacktPub.com
Customer Feedback
Preface

Chapter 10. The Basics and Benefits of Web Accessibility

In this chapter, we introduce the basics and benefits of web accessibility. We have already mentioned accessibility while considering other topics in previous chapters. For example, in Chapter 7, Bring Your UX Strategy to Life with Wireframes and Prototypes, we touched on keeping accessibility in mind while designing wireframes and prototypes; and in Chapter 8, Build Your Product - Devices, Browsers, and Assistive Technologies, we briefly discussed designing for assistive technologies.

Here, we focus on accessibility in more detail. After describing web accessibility, the different types of special needs to cater for, and the benefits of making sure your product is accessible, we will discuss the legal implications for non-accessible websites around the world. Thereafter, we will revisit assistive technology and explore how assistive technologies support people with disabilities. The topics covered are:

  • Defining web accessibility
  • Catering...