Usablity and Accessibility Meets Broadband

March 13, 2006 / Usability

In the initial dot com boom, most sites were heavy on graphics, scored low on usability and accessibility, and weren't browser-compatible.

When the dust settled after the bust, most of the gold-diggers got out of the web industry, leaving those who cared about the web as a medium to develop the standards and best practices that have since become accepted, at least in the web design industry.

Gradually, then, we saw the prominence of usability and accessibility, the emergence of XHTML and standards compliance. Web design company used phrases such as "clean, elegant, professional websites" to lure clients. (In other words, chunky blue buttons on vanilla backgrounds.)

The days of using graphics-heavy sites that resembled little more than online brochures were gone, as designers realised that users hated them (they took too long to download and typically weren't very interactive or intuitive).

These days, however, I am noticing a new shift -- towards graphic-heavy websites that meet usability and accessibility standards.

Take for example the new site that promotes Ireland as a tourist destination to British holidaymakers, www.discoverireland.com/gb/

This site has visual flair. The graphics, while optimised, are still a little heavy for dial-up users, but are no problem to those with broadband access. The gamble, and it's a calculated one, is that broadband penetration in Britain has now reached the point that sites can once again be graphically rich, although this time around they must be designed using XHTML and CSS, and they must comply with standards and best practices.

There are still problems with the new DiscoverIreland website, in interation design and in browser compatibility. However, I think the gamble has paid off. The site is certainly visually impressive, and uses the medium well (I particularly like the way that the background overlaps with the foreground).

I expect we're going to see many more sites like DiscoverIreland emerge over the next 12-18 months, as another internet cycle gets underway?

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Mediajunk was Michael Heraghty's blog from 2002 to 2010, with articles on usability, UX, SEO, web design, online marketing, etc. More »

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