Evaluation and Usability of the Library Web Site

Good marketing requires evaluation.

How effective is the Web site?

A web site marketing plan specifies evaluation methods for marketing goals. For web sites, evaluation methods may include usage statistics, feedback and comments surveys, or polls -- and usability testing. Many sites take advantage of programs that monitor usage: time users spend on the site or a page, what pages were visited in what order, number of times per month a page was used, most used pages, least used pages, etc. Counters, weblogs, and capture of demographic information with cookies provide constant monitoring.

Web sites are evaluated through usability testing

Usage patterns are not a sufficient measure of web site success. Usability (ease of use) is evaluated also. Usability is the effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction with which users achieve specified goals or accomplish specific tasks on the web site. Effectiveness pertains to accuracy and completeness, efficiency involves time and effort needed, and satisfaction considers comfort and acceptability.

[Defined in Ergonomic requirements for office work with visual display terminals (VDTs) -- Part 11: Guidance on usability (ISO 9241-11:1998)]

Methods of evaluation such as formal usability tests and focus groups are recommended. An article written for Computer in Libraries says, "One of the best forms of marketing the technology of your library is word of mouth. One of the best ways to get word of mouth marketing is to provide usable products and services. " (See sidebar for usability links.)

Universal access and design

The success of the web site may differ with user groups. For those with disabilities, special considerations are needed for design. Section 508 of the ADA requires that Federal agencies' electronic and information technology is accessible to people with disabilities. Library web designers should comply with these standards as much as possible. Truly accessible design requires converting to the latest standards for design. NYPL web page authors, for example, are asked to "follow accessibility guidelines in compliance with U.S. Law, so that the site’s content will be made available to the widest possible number of people, browsers, and Internet devices." Several Web sites are devoted to universal usability, universal design, and universal access. (See sidebar.)

The marketing plan establishes specific measurable goals and methods of evaluation. The library Web site requires additional evaluation: usability testing and solicitation of feedback are recommended. Evaluation of web sites should be done on a frequent and regular basis, should consider needs of all user groups, and results should be used in site updating.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that public agencies provide services to handicapped citizens that equal those provided to the general population. Consider the difficulties of the vision impaired on a web site, for example.

• To get an idea of what it's like to work with special adaptive software that translates web site text into voice, close your eyes and have someone read aloud a page of the library web site. (If your library has adaptive technology for patrons, become familiar with it.)

• Unless special measures have been taken, this would mean that you would hear every word on the page, including every link on every page (even those long lists of links repeated in the side menus). However, no information would be derived from images, such as buttons for important links, or from seeing the way information is arranged or highlighted or colored on a page.

• Check out at least one of the accessibility site links in the sidebar.

Summary and the future