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Design |
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Program the Site
When should you begin programming?
Before you begin programming your new site or the new pages you plan to add to your existing site, you may want to consider paper prototyping your design and testing it with users. This technique ensures that you're focused on users' goals and allows you to make changes to the prototype before you invest a lot of time and money into programming the Web site. To learn more about prototyping, see the article on Developing a Prototype.
You may also want to consider using Parallel Design in order to ensure that you have integrated all of the best design ideas into your new Web pages.
When you should test the site?
You should consider conducting usability tests on the HTML prototypes as early in the process as possible. You don't have to have a fully functioning prototype to conduct usability testing. You may test with only a few "click-through" pages or a much more developed site. To learn more, see the article on Learn About Usability Testing.
What about accessibility?
Accessibility (Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act - 29 U.S.C. 794d) requires all Federal agencies to make their electronic and information technology accessible to people with disabilities.
Accessibility is an important part of the design process and should be considered throughout the entire development process.
In addition to following the requirements of the law, many Federal agencies conduct accessibility testing with actual users. Accessibility testing is simply a usability test with users who have disabilities.
At Usability.gov, we believe that accessibility is simply another aspect of usability. Simply put, it's making your site usable for all types of user populations. By making your Web site accessible, you are not only helping people with disabilities to be able to easily access your information, but you are improving the usability of the site for all users.
For more information on accessibility, please see the following resources:
- Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act - Read the full text from the Access Board Web site.
- Guidance for Implementing Section 508 - View the Section 508 Web site for complete information on how to meet accessibility requirements.
- Access for People with Disabilities - Learn how other agencies have worked to make their Web sites accessible.
- Synopsis of Section 508 Accessibility Requirements - Read a summary of Section 508 provided by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Next steps
Once you've begun programming your Web site, you should evaluate the usability of your site. In order to judge the usability of your site, you can have usability experts review your site and give you feedback on how to improve your site. To learn more about this, see Learn About Evaluations.
In addition to the evaluations, you'll also want to test your Web site with representative users. To learn more, see Learn About Usability Testing.
