HealthInsite Publishing Standards - Usability

Usability is a measure of whether people manage to do what they want to on a website, and whether (consequently) the site achieves its goals.

From the user's perspective, usability is important because it can make the difference between performing a task accurately and completely or not, and between enjoying the process or being frustrated. From the developer's perspective, usability is important because it can mean the difference between the success or failure of a site.

Common factors impacting on the usability of a website include:
- ease of learning
- efficiency of use
- memorability
- error frequency and severity
- user satisfaction.

By following accessibility and standards based web design guidelines, developers can go a long way towards ensuring that their sites are usable. It is recommended that developers also consult the following Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) checklists: 

• the Usability Checklist at http://www.finance.gov.au/publications/user-profiling-and-testing-toolkit/usability-checklist.html. This checklist covers: architecture and navigation; layout and design; content; forms; platform and implementation; and accessibility
• the Information Architecture for Websites checklists at http://www.finance.gov.au/e-government/better-practice-and-collaboration/better-practice-checklists/information-architecture.html. This checklist covers information architecture in more detail.

Some particular requirements and recommendations for HealthInsite are provided below.

Site level issues

Document formats

General text standards for individual HTML documents and pages

Long documents

Non-textual material

HealthInsite Publishing Standards, v5, June 2007

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