Effective Web Communication. Bunnyfoot Services

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1 Effective Web Communication. Bunnyfoot Services Harwell Innovation Centre 173 Curie Avenue Didcot Oxfordshire OX11 0QG Tel: +44 (0) Fax: +44 (0) Web:

2 Bunnyfoot offer seven main services: Accessibility Services: o Accessibility Audit, o Accessibility Expert Evaluation, o Accessibility Testing, Usability Services o Usability Expert Evaluation, o User Testing, o Competitor Goal Based Evaluation and Interface Design and Consultancy. Accessibility Audit Designing for accessibility is a key proposition of Bunnyfoot - we aim to facilitate the design of websites that can be used across the range of browsers and adaptive technology. Doing so ensures that the sites are accessible regardless of visual, motor, cognitive or other impairment the user has. The deliverable from an Accessibility Audit is an assessment of how the site conforms to current accessibility standards. We provide detailed reports outlining all accessibility violations and offer prioritised action plans in order to provide pragmatic and practical solutions to accessibility problems. We can make recommendations or manage a whole-scale site redesign to best support accessibility. This can be combined with work to support site access via a range of digital devices. Accessibility Audits take two to four days depending on the site. Accessibility Expert Evaluation Bunnyfoot employ several expert users of adaptive technology who evaluate sites for accessibility and make recommendations based on their experiences. Our accessibility experts are disabled users who employ adaptive technology as their preferred method of interacting with the WWW. Bunnyfoot accessibility consultants cover a full range of adaptive technology to include text to speech software (for both visually impaired and dyslexic users) screen magnification, contrast and text adapters. Notably one of Bunnyfoot s accessibility consultants has unique experience of adaptive technology totally losing his sight for 12 years, then regaining it gradually over the course of three years. Bunnyfoot is the only company able to offer this services. Accessibility Expert Evaluation takes four to eight days.

3 Accessibility Testing Accessibility testing is a formal examination of how users of adaptive technology perform on a site. Because it involves real users of adaptive technology, user testing is one of the most important techniques available. Bunnyfoot have invested time building links with several organisations whose members employ adaptive technology to surf the web. Bunnyfoot are in a unique position of being able to test a site with people who represent the end users of the final system. During the test, users perform realistic activities by attempting to achieve realistic goals. The participants are observed and can also be asked to think aloud (i.e. articulate their thoughts), allowing us to find out why they act as they do. The number of errors made and the level of understanding (and confusion) demonstrated by site users can then be examined. We are then able to identify those areas of the system that will are problematic, causing users either to become less productive or be unable to complete a required activity. The deliverable from an accessibility test is a report that details the problems encountered by the users and recommendations for change based on accessible site design, known human factors, cognitive, and behavioural principles. Bunnyfoot can also provide edited highlights video taken from the accessibility test, see screen shot below for an example. Accessibility testing takes between five and ten days. Clip from Picture in Picture Edited Highlight Video

4 Expert Usability Evaluation Expert usability evaluation is a usability engineering technique designed to find problems in a user interface. It involves a small group of usability specialists who examine the interface and judge its compliance with recognised usability principles or heuristics. Expert usability evaluation requires high skilled professionals to gain the maximum benefit. At Bunnyfoot usability evaluations are carried out by Dr Mark Newman and Dr Jon Dodd, Mark holds a PhD in Cognitive Psychology from Cardiff University and has nine years experience of user testing, Jon holds a Dphil from Oxford University in Visual and Computational Neuroscience and has two years experience of user testing. Bunnyfoot expert usability evaluations identify between 50 and 75% of usability problems in an interface. The deliverable from an Expert Evaluation is a list of the well-designed aspects of the interface, a discussion and record of the usability problems, and prioritised recommendations for change based on human factors, cognitive and behavioural principles, and recognized best practices. The expert usability evaluation can therefore help you "clean up" an interface, and can be conducted either on existing sites or as part of an iterative design cycle. This can help alleviate many user issues before testing the application with end users. Expert usability evaluations take two to four days depending on the site. User Testing A User Test is a formal examination of user behaviour on a site. Because it involves real users, user testing is one of the most important techniques available. Bunnyfoot have a dedicated usability and accessibility testing lab equipped with high quality screen capture hardware, video cameras, picture in picture generator, video editing equipment and a viewing area fitted with one way glass. We test a site with people who represent the end users of the final system. During the test, users perform realistic activities and attempting to achieve realistic goals. The participants are observed and can also be asked to think aloud (i.e. articulate their thoughts), allowing us to find out why they act as they do. The number of errors made and the level of understanding (and confusion) demonstrated by site users can then be examined. We are then able to identify those areas of the system that will are problematic, causing users either to become less productive or be unable to complete a required activity.

5 The deliverable from a usability test is a report that details the problems encountered by the users and recommendations for change based on known human factors, cognitive, and behavioural principles, and recognised best practices. Usability testing takes between four and ten days. Diagram of Bunnyfoot Usability and Accessibility Laboratory. Competitor Goal Based Evaluation. Identifying what your competitors sites do well gives you a head start when designing a website. Looking at the goals competitors support is more beneficial than picking out what they do wrong. This technique was developed by Dr Mark Newman at Bunnyfoot laboratories further information can be found at: Bunnyfoot is the only company able to offer this services. Competitor goal based evaluation take five to ten working days. Interface Design and Consultancy We can help you develop user interfaces based on site functionality, established Graphical User Interface (GUI) standards, and the needs of your end users. By working with the design team, we can identify and resolve usability and accessibility problems early on in the design process. This means that mistakes can be avoided that would otherwise be extremely costly to fix later on in the project. The consultation service we offer includes both Expert Evaluation of usability issues and User Testing with representative end users. These valuable forms of

6 assessment can be performed when early models of the system are being created. The most successful of these models can be taken on to later stages of the design process. We can also help in the design process, for example advising how menus should be structured and how common, related activities should be grouped. This approach supports the users as they find information and move through the site. We make recommendations for improving the site "look and feel" and its effectiveness, but take a pragmatic approach. By doing so we aim to maintain the unique style and features of each site. We aim to support effective site design, producing a site that best meets the needs of the users. For more information about how Bunnyfoot can help make your site communicate effectively please contact Robert Stevens on [email protected] or Bunnyfoot are Web Usability and Accessibility Specialists Registration No: VAT No: