27 practical tips on web ergonomics: a summary

When web ergonomics is discussed, web usability is often mentioned. Web usability is the notion of defining the ease of use of an interface for a particular group of users within a particular context. Evaluation is based on three aspects: efficiency, meaning the possibility of the user reaching their goals, efficience, which takes into account the necessary efforts to reach these goals and satisfaction. Note that together these criterions have an important impact on visitor loyalty.

Our guide is divided into 6 principle axes of criterion. Each criterion is offered under the guise of an advice accompanied with best and not so good practices. The document has thirty of so screen shots.

Homepage

Regardless of the advent of search engines, it is still often the main point of entry for internet websites. Therefore it is one of the most important pages that will determine the success or failure of a visit. It is recommended to put in a sufficient amount effort to guarantee a good usage.

1. Chose and display a direct tagline

2. Offer recent examples of content

3. Highlight the principal options and tasks

4. Do not overload the page without real reason

Menus

This axis helps evaluate the ergonomics of the navigation menu. This has a considerable impact on the ease of access to content. If the user does not understand or does not clearly see the sections they have access to, it is evident that site navigation will be penalized.

5. Follow the web standards for the menus.

6. The menu should not overlap the first scrolling page

7. Create a clear menu

8. Highlight the first clickable elements of the menu

Links

This axis is about links presented in a text manner on pages on the internet. This can be contextual links or secondary menus. These links allow users to develop an idea of the information value of a common page as well the possible destinations deriving from this page. They have great influence on the internal navigation of a section.

9. Follow web standards for text links

10. The titles of the pages and links must be logical

11. The presentation of links must be related to what they point towards

12. Identify outbound links

Navigation and orientation

This axis concerns more general aspects of navigation and aims to evaluate the quality of orientation guides provided to users. Besides menus and links, there are other parameters to take into account to evaluate ease of navigation. In this axis, we approach criterions of a constant interface, common position identification, pop-up abuse and the help section.

13. Present the common position to the user

14. Returning to the homepage should be easy

14. Sections help site navigation

16. Avoid using excessive pop-ups

17. The site design should be constant throughout the visit

Visual aspects and Legibility

This axis concerns legibility of information present on the site. The previous axes were concerned with information access, but it is evident that the presentation of the information plays an equally important role for the website usability. The users must be capable of easily reading and visually identify the different compositions of a web page.

18. Allow easy print of the content on the pages

19. Limit the length of text lines

20. A strong contrast maximizes the legibility

21. Avoid superfluous animations

22. Avoid the use of frames and offer a HTML version for a flash website

23. Add a favicone

Error Management

The last aspect discussed in this guide concerns error management. A site that has errors will lose in terms of visits and credibility. Moreover, an important point from this axis concerns the recuperation and prevention of errors when online forms are filled out. This is effectively a key point of all sites wanting to integrate with users whether it is for newsletter inscriptions or for an online sales order.

24. Pay attention to the use of plug-ins

25. Have a personalized 404 error page

26. Manage the possible errors in the forms

27. Ensure the site is multiplatform

We hope you appreciate our guide to best practices in web ergonomics.