| How to Test Your Web Site Usability | | | | Internet |
| | | | Explorer and Netscape. It has received |
| When designing a web site, you are never sure how | | | | internationalrecognition for being faster, smaller and |
| it appears toall people. This is because people use | | | | more standardscompliant than other browsers. |
| different browsers,resolutions, computers and | | | | Kmeleon |
| connection speeds to the Internet. | | | | This is a simple, efficient, fast browser that loads |
| Your site may look good with your browser, but | | | | very quickly. |
| absolutelyhorrendous in other browsers. This is why | | | | This is because it is an unbloated browser. If your |
| you should test theusability of your site, before you | | | | web sitelooks good in this browser, it will look fine in |
| expose it to the world. | | | | Netscape. |
| What is usability testing? | | | | Test for different resolutions. |
| This indicates the ease with which folks can use your | | | | Just because your site looks great with your |
| web site. | | | | computer setto a resolution of 800x600, it doesn't |
| Let's look at a few usability factors. | | | | mean it will look goodat a 1024x768 resolution. Often |
| Who is winning the browser war? | | | | your web site may be hardto read or aligned to the |
| Here are the browser statistics: | | | | left or right of the screen. |
| 39% Internet Explorer 6.0 | | | | Here are the statistics: |
| 51% Internet Explorer 5.0 2% | | | | 1024 x 768 resolution 44% |
| Internet Explorer 4.0 | | | | 800 x 600 resolution 50% |
| 3% Netscape 4.0 | | | | 640 x 480 resolution 3% |
| A few years ago Netscape was the dominant | | | | To test your web site in different resolutions, go to |
| browser, however | | | | start -settings - control panel - display - settings - |
| Internet Explorer now has 80% of the market. With | | | | slide thepointer to the resolution you want. |
| theintroduction of Netscape 6.0 and 7.0 (their latest | | | | Test for connectivity speeds. |
| release),this may eat a little into IE's market. | | | | You may be proud of your fast DSL, satellite or |
| The latest browsers support the latest designing | | | | cableconnection to the Internet, however still most |
| technologies,such as Cascading Style Sheets (CSS1, | | | | Internet |
| CSS2) and XML. | | | | Users still connect via the modem. Connectivity |
| Installing different browsers | | | | speed,determines how fast your site will load. If it |
| Test your web site in different browsers, so your | | | | containsmany graphics, which have not been |
| web sitecan be seen by as many people as possible. | | | | optimized for the Web, youmay rapidly lose the |
| Internet Explorer | | | | patience of your visitors. They will clickelsewhere. |
| Download Internet Explorer 5 and 6. | | | | Sources |
| The way to do this is to either have each one | | | | Web Browser Statistics - daily summaryof browser |
| installed ona different computer, or to have 2 | | | | statistics. - tests your site in different browsers |
| operating systems on yourcomputer. You can do this | | | | (not always reliable). |
| with partition magic. | | | | Browser Downloads |
| Trying to install IE 5 & 6 on the same operating | | | | Internet Explorer |
| sysytem doesn'twork. One overrides the other. | | | | Netscape |
| Netscape | | | | Opera |
| Download NN 4.79 and 6.2. You can install them on | | | | Kmeleon |
| thesame operating system as Internet Explorer. | | | | Checking your web site's usability can generate more |
| Other browsers | | | | traffic toyour site. It may take you a little extra time |
| The Opera browser | | | | and patience,but you can be assured you are |
| This is often known as the "third browser" after | | | | reaching and pleasing a wideraudience. |