Usability standards benefit all

A usable site supports its visitors to perform their information retrieval goals easily and efficiently, and in doing so delivers the goals of Salford City Council.

A usable site inspires confidence in the site and ultimately visitors will be keen to return again and again. In short, usability is absolutely critical to a website's success.

Good usability can be defined as a product that is:

• intuitive to use
• efficient to use
• easy to remember
• enjoyable to use
• consistent in its behaviour

On a website this means using well-thought out content and design, and creating content that is easy to find and simple to navigate.

There is no single style formula for ensuring usability. However, ensuring consistency is an important factor which is why you must follow these corporate standards.

Jakob Nielsen

Long regarded as the 'king of usability', Jakob Nielsen is the man people turn to when they want to know what makes a good website. You can subscribe to a bi-weekly usability online column about topical issues written by Jakob. See the Alertbox website.

This page was last updated on 3 October 2009