Chapter 2: Universal Usability

Basis for Universal Usability
The Universal Usabilities goal is to create universal designs accessible to all rather than creating alternatives for those who may have disabilities. This broad view means they continuously monitor and check users’ interactions with the designs.

Sidebar: Universal Design Principles
These principles include equitable use, flexibility in use, simple and intuitive use, and perceptible information. All of these aim to ensure designs are accessible, flexible, and easy to understand and read.

Universal Usability Guidelines
This section focuses on the importance of considering all of the potential variations of users and how this approach should affect design. The guidelines want successful users across the board.

Universal Usability in the Design Process
In the design process, you cannot rely on web metrics alone to understand users and be cautious in ensuring not to exclude users. So it is important to gather information about your user’s wants and needs, which can be done through surveys, interviews, focus groups, web analytics, and field study, and apply what is learned through these methods to the design.

Sidebar: The Development Cycle
The development cycle outlines the steps that need to be taken in the development process to achieve project completion. These stages are requirements, design, development, testing, linear development, iterative model, and a hybrid approach.

My Response
I found these initial chapters interesting because I have not overly thought of web design from the perspective of those who design them and all it necessitates. For some reason, I viewed it as a more robotic process, but it is a field deeply concerned with its users and ensuring accessible access to everyone, not off assumptions of who will most likely be using the internet. Additionally, they want to ensure all can easily navigate sites independently no matter their limitations, another aspect I had never associated with web design.