Vocabulary Practice: Usability and Accessibility

Read the text again and answer the questions with some of the words in bold.

In this day and age it is not enough to simply offer great quality products and have a nice website. If visitors add items to their carts, but experience problems interacting with the website or cannot fully use its features, they will probably give up and will not complete checkout. As a result, you will not make any money. Checkout abandonment is a serious problem especially since competitors are just a click away. What can be done to increase the number of visitors who actually make a purchase? To boost the conversion rate web developers track how users behave and then improve the usability and accessibility of websites to maximize customer satisfaction.

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) defines usability as “the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction.” How accurate are the search results? Are the buttons on the landing page clearly visible and clickable? Can users easily locate the “Contact Us” tab? If your website is not easy to navigate, it is possible that you may be losing your customers to your competitors.

Accessibility means designing content which is more accessible for people with disabilities such as blindness, low vision, deafness, limited movement or photo-sensitivity. When designing the layout of your website include features which take into account the needs of these individuals. Don’t forget! A satisfied customer is a loyal customer who is likely to recommend your services to a friend.