article

Free access

Universal usability

Author:

Ben ShneidermanAuthors Info & Claims

Communications of the ACM, Volume 43, Issue 5

Pages 84 - 91

https://doi.org/10.1145/332833.332843

Published: 01 May 2000 Publication History

All formats PDF

References

[1]

Anderson, R.H., Bikson, T., Law, S.A., and Mitchell, B.M. Universal access to e-mail: Feasibility and societal implications. The Rand Corporation, 1995; Santa Monica; CA, www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR650/]]

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[2]

Clement, A. and Shade, L.R. The Access Rainbow: Conceptualizing universal access to the information/communications infrastructure. In Gurstein, M., Ed., Community Informatics: Enabling Communities with Information and Communications Technologies. Idea Publishing, Hershey, PA, 1999.]]

Google Scholar

[3]

Computer Science and Telecommunications Board (CSTB), National Research Council. More than Screen Deep: Toward an Every-Citizen Interface to the Nation's Information Inj~astructure. National Academy Press, Washington, DC, 1997.]]

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[4]

Kobsa, A. and Stephanidis, C. Adaptable and adaptive information access for all users, including disabled and elderly people. In Proceedings of the 2nd Workshop on Adaptive Hypertext and Hypermedia, ACM HYPERTEXT'98 (1998); wwwis.win.tue.nl/ah98/Kobsa.html]]

Google Scholar

[5]

Kraut, R., Scherlis, W., Mukhopadhyay, T., Manning, J. and Kiesler, S. The HomeNet field trial of residential Internet services. Commun. ACM39, 12 (Dec. 1996), 55-63.]]

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[6]

Laux, L.F., McNally, P.R., Paciello, M.G., Vanderheiden, G.C. Designing the World Wide Web for people with disabilities: A user centered design approach. In Proceedings of the Assets "96 Conference on Assistive Technologies, ACM, NY, (1996), 94-101.]]

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[7]

National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Dept. of Commerce. Falling Through the Net: Defining the Digital Divide. Washington, DC (July 1999); www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/ digitaldivide/]]

Google Scholar

[8]

Perry, J., Macken, E., Scott, N., and McKinley, J. L. Disability, inability and cyberspace. In Human Values and the Design of Technology. B. Friedman, Ed., CSLI Publications and Cambridge University Press, 1997, 65-89.]]

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[9]

Shneiderman, B. Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction, Third Edition. Addison Wesley, Reading, MA, 1998.]]

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[10]

Silver, D. Margins in the wires: Looking for race, gender, and sexuality in the Blacksburg Electronic Village. In B. Kolko, L. Nakamura, and G. Rodman, Eds., Race in Cyberspace: Politics, Identity, and Cyberspace. Routledge, London, 1999.]]

Google Scholar

[11]

Thomas, J.C., Basson, S., and Gardner-Bonneau, D. Universal design and assistive technology. In D. Gardner-Bonneau, Ed., Human Factors and Voice Interactive Systems, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, 1999.]]

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[12]

van der Meij, H. and Carroll, J.M. Principles and heuristics in designing minimalist instruction. Technical Communication (Second Quarter 1995), 243-261.]]

Google Scholar

Cited By

View all

Droutsas NSpyridonis FDaylamani-Zad DGhinea G(2025)Web accessibility barriers and their cross-disability impact in eSystems: A scoping reviewComputer Standards & Interfaces10.1016/j.csi.2024.10392392(103923)Online publication date: Mar-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csi.2024.103923
Doore SIstrati DXu CQiu YSarrazin AGiudice N(2024)Images, Words, and Imagination: Accessible Descriptions to Support Blind and Low Vision Art Exploration and EngagementJournal of Imaging10.3390/jimaging1001002610:1(26)Online publication date: 18-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.3390/jimaging10010026
Massaguer LAlcaraz-Martinez R(2024)Analysis of web accessibility skills required in graphic design and visual communication job offers in SpainProceedings of the XXIV International Conference on Human Computer Interaction10.1145/3657242.3658575(1-7)Online publication date: 19-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3657242.3658575
Show More Cited By

Index Terms

Universal usability
1. Human-centered computing
  1. Human computer interaction (HCI)
2. Social and professional topics
  1. Professional topics
    1. Computing education
      1. Computing literacy

Recommendations

Universal Usability
Non-universal usability?: a survey of how usability is understood by Chinese and Danish users
CHI '09: Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Most research assumes that usability is understood similarly by users in different cultures, implying that the notion of usability, its aspects, and their interrelations are constant across cultures. The present study shows that this is not the case for ...
Models for universal usability
IHM '03: Proceedings of the 15th Conference on l'Interaction Homme-Machine

This paper discusses how model-based approaches can support designers and developers to address a number of challenges raised by universal usability, such as the possibility of obtaining user interfaces able to adapt to any device and usability ...

Reviews

Reviewer: Edward Baker James

Most of us manage to use the telephone and find something to watch on television, but doing what we want with a computer seems ever more difficult. This paper promotes a concern with this fact, and suggests a research agenda aimed at improving things. There are great challenges in providing universal access, because people are so different. An easy-to-use method for one person <__?__Pub Caret>is just tedious for another. And what of disadvantaged users with no confidence in reading or pressing keys__?__ Many years ago, we provided a terminal aimed at giving every visitor to the Science Museum in London the experience of computer use. We found that young people clustered round, fiddled about, and had fun. Older people were often afraid to get close to the terminal. I have always believed that problems with computer use are an integral part of much wider problems of confidence in communicating. Whether research departments full of bright, confident users are the right places to dream up new ways of helping disadvantaged people is a moot point, but I cannot suggest anywhere better. Shneiderman has labored in these fields for many years, and we should listen to him.

Access critical reviews of Computing literature here

Become a reviewer for Computing Reviews.

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

Communications of the ACM Volume 43, Issue 5

May 2000

108 pages

ISSN:0001-0782

EISSN:1557-7317

DOI:10.1145/332833

Editor:
Diane Crawford

Issue’s Table of Contents

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 01 May 2000

Published in CACM Volume 43, Issue 5

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Request Permissions

Check for updates

Qualifiers

Article

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

378
Total Citations
View Citations
14,256
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)1,122
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)163

Reflects downloads up to 13 Sep 2024

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

View all

Droutsas NSpyridonis FDaylamani-Zad DGhinea G(2025)Web accessibility barriers and their cross-disability impact in eSystems: A scoping reviewComputer Standards & Interfaces10.1016/j.csi.2024.10392392(103923)Online publication date: Mar-2025
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csi.2024.103923
Doore SIstrati DXu CQiu YSarrazin AGiudice N(2024)Images, Words, and Imagination: Accessible Descriptions to Support Blind and Low Vision Art Exploration and EngagementJournal of Imaging10.3390/jimaging1001002610:1(26)Online publication date: 18-Jan-2024
https://doi.org/10.3390/jimaging10010026
Massaguer LAlcaraz-Martinez R(2024)Analysis of web accessibility skills required in graphic design and visual communication job offers in SpainProceedings of the XXIV International Conference on Human Computer Interaction10.1145/3657242.3658575(1-7)Online publication date: 19-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3657242.3658575
Wang YObie HLi ZSalim FGrundy JMueller F(2024)GustosonicSense: Towards understanding the design of playful gustosonic eating experiencesProceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642182(1-12)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642182
Ansari B(2024)Evaluating the usability of public health data dashboards as information sources for professionals and the public: Findings from a case study with domain expertsHealth Information & Libraries Journal10.1111/hir.12532Online publication date: 8-May-2024
https://doi.org/10.1111/hir.12532
Rutter SZamani EMcKenna-Aspell JWang Y(2024)Embedding equality, diversity and inclusion in usability testingInternational Journal of Human-Computer Studies10.1016/j.ijhcs.2024.103278188:COnline publication date: 1-Aug-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2024.103278
Fornasari ALisimberti PMinerva R(2023)Formazione dei futuri insegnanti e tecnologie immersive nella pratica didattica: un’indagine esplorativa sui bisogni formativi degli iscritti al corso di specializzazione per il sostegnoTraining future teachers and immersive technologies in teaching practice: an exploratory survey on the training needs of students enrolled in the specialization course for supportIUL ResearchIUL Research10.57568/iulresearch.v4i7.4204:7(28-46)Online publication date: 19-Jun-2023
https://doi.org/10.57568/iulresearch.v4i7.420
Chagas BPagano APrates RPraes EFerreguetti KVaz HReis ZRibeiro LRibeiro APedroso TBeleigoli AOliveira CMarcolino M(2023)Evaluating User Experience With a Chatbot Designed as a Public Health Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Brazil: Mixed Methods StudyJMIR Human Factors10.2196/4313510(e43135)Online publication date: 3-Apr-2023
https://doi.org/10.2196/43135
Hannan JWeiner GStirling L(2023)Perceived Usability of a Live Feedback Interface for Neonatal Ventilation TrainingProceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual Meeting10.1177/2169506723119258967:1(1844-1849)Online publication date: 21-Oct-2023
https://doi.org/10.1177/21695067231192589
Dabi GGolga D(2023)Digital inclusion: Lived experiences of students with visual impairment accessibility to web-based information in higher education institutions of EthiopiaBritish Journal of Visual Impairment10.1177/02646196231187558Online publication date: 22-Jul-2023
https://doi.org/10.1177/02646196231187558
Show More Cited By

View Options

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

PDF

eReader

View online with eReader.

eReader

Magazine Site

View this article on the magazine site (external)

Magazine Site

Get Access

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

References

Cited By

Index Terms

Recommendations