Website accessibility for disabled persons
This case should be watched with great detail by internet retailers selling goods in the United States. While the class action lawsuit brought forth against Target makes claims that Target "failed and refused" to make its website accessible to the blind, it makes me wonder how many sites actually do consider disabled consumers during the development of a site.
Technologies like ajax and Flash create very usable experiences (when executed correctly!), but creating alternate methods of navigating and purchasing online without ajax or Flash presents an interesting challenge for internet retailers.
From the article:
The federation complaint alleges that Target.com lacks compliant alt-text, an invisible code embedded beneath graphic images that enables screen readers to detect and vocalize a description of the image to a blind computer user. The federation’s suit also alleges that Target.com has inaccessible image maps and other graphical features that prevent blind users from navigating and making use of all of the functions on the web site. Because the site requires the use of a mouse to complete a transaction, blind Target customers also are unable to make purchases on Target.com independently, the federation says.
Where lawsuits like this end? Will the Googles and Yahoo!s of the world be required to develop completely accessible applications to accommodate disabled persons? Where is the line drawn? On e-commerce sites? On highly-trafficked sites like Google Maps? Search?
Fortunately, for sites really well optimized for search engines, the underpinnings of an accessible site are already in place for disabled persons. However, advanced functionality (ajax, flash, etc.), while creating a trendy web 2.0 experience, still acts as a road block for search engines and thus disabled persons accessing sites through screen readers.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out.
Scotts’ great, timely lawn care newsletter, but falls short of convenient-to-use
This morning I received a my Scotts Lawn Care update newsletter. I love this newsletter! Anything to help me out with what to do next with my lawn, which fertilizer to use, how to control weeds during this time of year, etc. is welcomed information. Here is a screen shot of the top half of the newsletter, personalized with my account information, and with a call-to-action on "What to do now":
Great! The weather's getting really warm here and I can tell the lawn isn't growing as quickly as it has been several weeks ago -- typically an indicator that it's time for another feeding. So, I click on the "What to do now" link:
Not good! Scotts is assuming I'm already logged into the site. What's interesting is that they provide quick links to be able to modify subscription preferences for e-mails without having to login, but they don't include a way for me to directly link to the "next steps" that already includes my zip code. Since they already sent me an e-mail, they have my account on file with my zip code -- they should implement a way for me to link directly to the "what to do next" that applies to my account and zip code.
I enter my zip code and get the following:
Fair enough, a few quick links to suggestions on what to do next. Having already visited their site before and setup an account, I decide to log in so I can get the full details on what's next in my Soctts Annual Lawn Care Program. After logging in, I click on the Annual Lawn Care Program link:
I have to enter my zip code again -- even though I've already entered it once AND have logged in. This is a major usability oversight.
The conversion funnel for Scotts should look like this:
- Deliver targeted, personalized e-mail to remind consumer the next feeding for their lawn is due.
- Visit annual planner for their location
- Identify next product needed based on time of year
- Provide store locator information for nearest retailer
Instead, their conversion funnel looks like this:
- Deliver personalized e-mail to remind consumer the next feeding for their lawn is due
- Provide a link to "what to do now"
- Require zip code to be entered (despite linking directly from e-mail or already being logged into the site)
- Show consumer generic page with possible suggestions on their zip code of what's next
- Link consumer to the annual planner for their location
- Require entering of zip code again (despite having already entered it)
- Require specification of grass type (even if they are already logged into their account and have specified this in a previous session)
- Require specification on where consumer normally shops for Scotts products (even if they are already logged into their account and have specified this in a previous session)
- Identify next product needed based on time of year
9 total steps in the actual process versus 4 steps of what the process could be. Scotts already has all of the information available to them when consumers visit the site, it's just a matter of streamlining the conversion funnel so the consumer doesn't have to jump through all of the hoops.
If Scotts is requiring consumers to enter this information every single time they visit the site, then there's no value-add for registering an account with them. Registering an account should always provide quick access to information you routinely enter on a website.
Disruptive Innovations May Lead to Tunnel Vision
This post over at Brand Story got me thinking about how similar this topic is to strategic inflection points (from Only the Paranoid Survive by Andrew S. Grove). I work in an industry where competition from product imports (from China) are a serious threat to our business. The discounts at which their products are sold are very challenging to compete with. Fortunately, we think we have disruptive innovations in the works, but reading the post at Brand Story really got me excited -- primarily because what we've got coming up over the next couple years is really exciting, and we're doing it right. There are however, downsides to new innovations that must be taken into consideration, namely tunnel vision.
Fortunately for our industry, competing profitably at much lower costs is not the end-all, be-all of business strategy. Driving costs down is certainly always top-of-mind when competing with imports and when dealing with retailers who private-label imported products to directly compete with your brand-name products. At the end of the day however, and this may be the case for several other industries, you've got an industry with a plethora of products and brands, all similarly priced, but giving the consumer serious information overload and confusion (ever tried shopping for blinds and shades in a retail store? 
).
Avoiding tunnel vision: Consumer insights are your friend!
Disruptive Innovations, while game-changers, cannot get away from the fact that consumers still need to understand how to shop your category and ultimately make a decision to buy. A lot of new product development may lead to tunnel vision -- being so focused on that great new feature, huge cost savings, adopting a "me too" product (playing "catch-up" to other competitor innovations), or a new type of product altogether, that sometimes the "big picture" is lost for consumers.
Tunnel vision is really hard to see while you're in development mode. You may begin to see it after the product is ready for consumer testing and you are able to take a moment and step back from the nitty-gritty and see just how consumers respond to what you think is an innovation. From a web development standpoint, it's very easy to get lost in the cool, new features of a website and completely forget that the consumer must actually find their way to your site at first, be aware of the new technology, and know how to navigate to this area of your site.
Don't forget the marketing
Worse yet, consumers may respond quite well to the innovation itself during the consumer insights session, giving you the reinforcement you'd be hoping for -- but your innovation may tank in the marketplace. The branding, marketing, advertising, and/or overall awareness will help bring your disruptive innovation to its full potential.
Sometimes, this is the most critical component. You may have the best product in the world, but if nobody knows about it, or it's buried in an aisle of other similarly confusing products, then you're back to square one. Don't forget to think "big picture" when it comes to consumers -- it's very easy to get lost in the industry competitiveness. Consumers insights and evaluating all aspects of the innovation are critical to success. This applies to many businesses, not just manufacturing companies -- web companies are just as guilty (Google is a major offender: I just discovered Google Browser Sync, nearly a 1-year old product and I love it! But where's the marketing for it?).
Applying Six Sigma to Web Development, Design, and Usability
A few weeks ago while analyzing the results of an internal test on a new web design we're testing, it was brought up about how manufacturing is guided by Six Sigma standards. It was suggested the website live in a similar realm of excellence.
What is Six Sigma?
Six Sigma is a rigorous and disciplined methodology that uses data and statistical analysis to measure and improve a company's operational performance by identifying and eliminating "defects" in manufacturing and service-related processes. Commonly defined as 3.4 defects per million opportunities, Six Sigma can be defined and understood at three distinct levels: metric, methodology (DMAIC/DFSSstructured problem solving roadmap and tools) and philosophy (Reduce variation in your business and take customer-focused, data driven decisions).
Can Six Sigma be applied to web development, design, and usability?
This is a very logical question. Yes, it can be applied, but achieving it is another issue altogether.
Pulling from Jakob Nielson's November 2003 post, Six Sigma engineering relies on a five-step process called DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control). He was really ahead of his time in this article. A google search does not pull up much information on applying six sigma to web development, design, or usability. This tells me the concept has not been discussed too much and it makes sense -- the web is still in its infancy, and the more experienced developers within organizations today are now moving into upper management where they are beginning to look at the website from a higher view within the company.
As the web becomes more of a vital tool for most businesses today, upper management (who often times knows little about how exactly a website goes together or how to build a successful site) is seeing the value in applying other business practices and methodologies towards the design, testing, and execution of their websites.
Why Six Sigma is difficult to achieve in web development today.
In manufacturing, the amount of variables encountered in an assembly line is not as vast as a complex website. Manufacturing doesn't deal directly with consumers, either, and the manufacturing process has very strict processes and tolerances for how things are assembled.A website is dynamic in nature and also navigated and operated by your customers -- customers who may not know a thing about your product and have had no training on your website. Manufacturing lines are staffed by duty-specific workers, trained to perform specific tasks accurately and efficiently.
A website on the other hand can be navigated in millions of different ways and combinations by millions of different people. Testing each of these combinations is impossible and will result in you testing your website into eternity without ever releasing it to the market. Add on top of this a team of people who are most likely very diverse in their backgrounds: developers, designers, and marketers -- each come with their own education and experiences and often time have no visibility into what their other team members' job responsibilities really entail (how many developers do you know that can truly do graphic design? how many designers do you know that can write complex database queries?).
Accept the variables in web development, and apply the concepts of Six Sigma
The key is applying the Six Sigma mentality to web development, design, and usability so you can get the best balance of accuracy and conversions. The problem most developers and designers have is that they get "tunnel vision" and focus exclusively on just one piece of the entire web application. This is a problem for any type of site which has multiple conversion funnels (sales, registration forms, contact forms, etc.).
Next Segments:
More on this topic over the next several days as I cover each phase of the DMAIC process in individual blog posts in an effort to keep the posts spread out and on-topic, rather than one long, rambling post. 
I'll provide links at the end of this post as each phase of DMAIC is evaluated.
Building a dynamic web team without the silos
I came across this post while scanning my RSS feeds and it made me think about the group of designers and developers we've got. The "silo'd" effect is really common in web development. Project manager, developer, designer...and the only links in between are a task list with due dates. While this is effective for some companies, I don't believe it lends itself to an outstanding online experience, whatever the desired goals might be.
The end-user savvy developer & designer
Having developers who are usability-savvy and having designers who are development-savvy (may not be experts, but understand the general concepts of abstracting out CSS classes and approaching it like a developer would) is the perfect blend of talent. It's why I'm also not a huge fan of completely separating design elements from development elements in the code on a site.
A designer who's primary responsibility is interface design and usability is of much higher value to me if they know some code and can navigate around some of the simpler concepts with languages like PHP. Likewise, a developer who understands the value of making an effort to build a usable application is also highly desired. It's less work in the long-run for everybody.
It's hard to go into too many specifics without divulging our internal projects, but the above article was a really great overview as to why you've got to encourage collaboration and hire individuals who take interest in what the other aspects are of web design and development. Sprinkle in some marketing savvy amongst the designers and developers and you've got a very efficient team. It gives the project manager more time to spend with the individuals to brainstorm ideas rather than being the "bridge" between design and development.
Silos are bad in many areas of business, web development is just one of them
I prefer working with people who themselves don't act like their job responsibilities are in a silo. This is true in many aspects of business, not just web development. It's a concept that many developers don't fully realize and as a result, they may be limiting their potential growth within their organization/career path.
Blog by Eric Long
I'm an experienced digital product & marketing strategist and am passionate about providing outstanding cross-channel, mass customization (product configurators), and considered-purchase experiences.
About Eric Long
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