Thread Subject: Re: about the word usable

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From: Whitney Quesenbery
Date: Wed, Jan 31 2007 8:45 AM

Hajime,

Thank you for the explanation - I completely agree with you: usability and
accessibility are related, but different.

A slight digression from the topic of structure, but just to follow up on
the relationship:

In thinking about cognitive disabilities, the line between "usability for
all" and "access for people with specific disabilities" becomes quite
blurry. In the voting system standards (VVSG) for example, we created a
group of requirements around clear language, perception and understandable
navigation -- but put them in the general usability section. We did this
because they applied to all voters, not just those with cognitive
disabilities. These requirements are very difficult to draft in a testable
manner, however. It's easier when the standard is for a specific type of
product, of course.

Whitney



At 10:24 AM 1/31/2007, Yamada@TOYO-UNIV wrote:

>Whitney,
>
>For example, a website which only contains texts is "accessible" by
>everyone. However, if the structure of the website is not the one ordinary
>people expect, or if the texts include a lot of jargons that are difficult
>to understand by ordinary people, we feel the website is not "usable" or
>"easy to use."
>
>In Japan, ordinary people use the word "bike" to express the motored
>two-wheel vehicle (Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki's.) But the government
>officials use "light weight motored vehicle" instead of "bike," because
>"light weight motored vehicle" is the word used in the related legislation.
>Therefore, many people face difficulty in getting information from
>governmental website when they want to know how to register "bike." In this
>case, the website itself is "accessible" but not "usable."
>
>I found the word "usable" in your proposal. Thus I made the comment. But now
>I know you changed the word in your proposal. Thank you for the
>modification.
>
>Hajime Yamada
>
>
>

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