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Modern Education
Правильная ссылка на статью:
Kiryanov D.A.
Formation of Requirements for University Website Interfaces Based on Accessibility and Usability Standards
// Современное образование.
2023. № 2.
С. 44-59.
DOI: 10.7256/2454-0676.2023.1.37503 EDN: RBELWG URL: https://nbpublish.com/library_read_article.php?id=69836
Formation of Requirements for University Website Interfaces Based on Accessibility and Usability Standards /
Формирование требований к интерфейсу сайтов ВУЗов исходя из стандартов доступности и удобства использования
Кирьянов Денис Александрович
ORCID: 0000-0001-8502-8333
магистр, Балтийский государственный технический университет ВОЕНМЕХ имени Д. Ф. Устинова
190005, Россия, г. Санкт-Петербург, ул. 1-Я красноармейская, 1
Kiryanov Denis Aleksandrovich
Master's Degree, Department of Information Systems and Software Engineering, Baltic State Technical University "Voenmeh" anmed after D. F. Ustinov
190005, Russia, Saint Petersburg, 1st Krasnoarmeyskaya str., 1
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dennis.kiryanov@gmail.com
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Другие публикации этого автора
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DOI: 10.7256/2454-0676.2023.1.37503
EDN: RBELWG
Дата направления статьи в редакцию:
11-02-2022
Дата публикации:
27-02-2024
Аннотация:
Предметом исследования являются методы построения пользовательского интерфейса сайтов ВУЗов, исходя из целевого назначения, потребностей пользовательской аудитории и ограничений пользователей, включая сенсорно-моторные и когнитивно-психологические ограничения. В качестве отправной точки для исследования целевой аудитории и следования стандартам доступности проводится анализ восьми сайтов университетов, на основе данных из открытых источников. Рассматриваются основные нарушения, которые препятствуют в различной степени пользоваться сайтом ВУЗа, а также наиболее известные и часто применяемые в дизайне и проектировании интерфейсов подходы, которые позволяют делать интерфейсы более удобными, не перегружая кратковременную память пользователя и не вызывая преждевременного утомления. В результате исследования формируются основные требования к дизайну интерфейса сайта ВУЗа. Согласно основному выводу данного исследования, для адаптации сайта ВУЗа к ограничениям возможностей пользователей необходимо следовать основным рассмотренным стандартам юзабилити и доступности, таким как ГОСТ Р 52872–2019, WCAG 2.1 и ГОСТ Р ИСО 9241-20-2014, а также учитывать особенности законодательства, которые накладывают свое влияние на формирование разделов сайта и его доступности для людей с ограниченными возможностями здоровья. Следует придерживаться таких принципов организации интерфейсов и подачи информации, как: Закон Хика, Гештальт-принципы, Закон Миллера, Закон и эвристики Джейкоба. Особым вкладом автора в исследование темы является анализ проверки восьми сайтов университетов России на соответствие стандартам доступности. Данный анализ показал, что даже версии для слабовидящих рассмотренных сайтов не удовлетворяют стандартам доступности, что затрудняет доступ к информации лицам с ограничениями здоровья и подчеркивает важность исследования. Новизна исследования заключается в формировании основных требований к пользовательскому интерфейсу сайтов ВУЗов. Результаты исследования могут быть в дальнейшем использованы при построении подобных информационных систем.
Ключевые слова:
Когнитивные нарушения, Моторные нарушения, Закон Хика, Кратковременная память, Закон Джейкоба, Доступность, Удобство использования, Проектирование интерфейсов, WCAG, Эвристики юзабилити
Abstract: The research subject is the methods of building the user interface of university websites based on the intended purpose, the needs of the audience, and user limitations, including sensory-motor and cognitive-psychological limitations. As a starting point for studying the target audience and compliance with accessibility standards, eight university websites are analyzed based on open-source data. The main violations that prevent users from using a university's website to varying degrees are considered, as well as the most well-known and often-used approaches to interface design and design that make interfaces more convenient without overloading the user's short-term memory and causing premature fatigue. As a result of the research, the basic requirements for designing the interface of the university's website are formed. According to the main conclusion of this study, to adapt the University's website to the limitations of users' capabilities, it is necessary to follow the main standards of usability and accessibility considered, such as GOST R 52872-2019, WCAG 2.1 and GOST R ISO 9241-20-2014, and also take into account the peculiarities of legislation that affect the formation of sections of the site and its accessibility for people with disabilities. It is necessary to adhere to such principles of interface organization and information presentation as Hick's Law, Gestalt Principles, Miller's Law, Jacob's Law, and Heuristics. The author's special contribution to the topic is the analysis of the verification of eight sites of Russian universities for compliance with accessibility standards. This analysis showed that even the visually impaired versions of the sites reviewed do not meet accessibility standards, which makes it difficult for people with disabilities to access information and emphasizes the importance of the study. The novelty of the research lies in the formation of the basic requirements for the user interface of university websites. The study's results can be further used in constructing such information systems.
Keywords: cognitive impairment, motor disorders, Hick's law, short-term memory, Jakob's law, accessibility, usability, interface design, WCAG, usability heuristics
Previously published in Russian in the journal Pedagogy and Education https://nbpublish.com/ppmag/
Introduction
When designing the user interface of mass software, it is essential to consider the numerous limitations of the user audience, including sensory, motor, cognitive, and psychological limits.
Knowledge of these features allows you to design a user-friendly interface, minimizing premature fatigue and other cognitive load. This will eventually make the software product more attractive, functional, and convenient and increase the economic effect of its implementation, increasing user conversion.
Currently, almost every university (higher educational institution) in Russia has a website, but unfortunately, the information posted on these sites does not always meet the needs of the user audience. The basic principles of color combinations and user interface convenience are not considered when designing interfaces. In addition, very often, the features and limitations of users, including people with health restrictions, are not taken into account, which makes the posted information challenging to perceive or even inaccessible to people with disabilities.
This circumstance can be explained by insufficient analysis of the user audience, incorrect understanding of the purpose of such information resources, and ignorance of basic accessibility standards. This study is designed to eliminate this gap because university websites play a vital social role, being, in fact, a guide to the world of higher education and should be accessible to every user.
This article investigates the limitations of university website users' capabilities. Then, the requirements for the user interface are formed based on the analysis of the target purpose and audience, the requirements for the target hardware and software platform, and the consideration of the limitations of user capabilities.
1. The purpose of a university website: According to 273-FZ [1, Article 29], the main purpose of a university website is to form an open and publicly accessible information resource.
Sites of this type contain the necessary information about the educational institution on the Internet, in accordance with [2], and also publish data on the academic programs being implemented, teaching staff, tuition fees, contact information, management, publication of necessary documents, and other important information for the site's target audience.
Ideally, a university's website should be an essential tool for interaction between various groups of users: applicants, students, and scientists, being a single point of access to numerous educational and information projects of the academic institution. It can be used to receive documents for admission, order certificates, provide information about admissions campaigns, class schedules, information about individual student performance, etc.
University websites are intended for use by a wide user audience, including people with health restrictions, who, per paragraph 5 of Article 15 of the 181-FZ [3], should be provided unhindered access to information.
2 Description of the target audience: Let's consider the target audience of university websites, which we will understand as a set of real and potential users interested in receiving information posted on its pages and ready to choose to study or work at this university.
Thus, it can be concluded that the main group of users of such sites are applicants, students, and teaching staff.
Based on the statistical data presented in [4], the following general portrait of students can be formed: these are, with a slight predominance, women (53%), the age of 82.4% of the students lies in the range from 17 to 26 years [4, p. 184]. 7.2% of students are citizens of foreign countries (mainly citizens of Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) [4, p. 187]. Most students from foreign countries are citizens of China and India [4, p. 188].
The target audience of the teaching staff is 57.6% women, 66% of this target audience are people aged 30 to 60 years, and 73.5% have scientific degrees [5, p. 92].
This work analyzed the statistics of visits to the websites of eight universities in Russia to analyze the behavioral factors of the target audience and determine its size and geographical features.
The list of selected universities for research is given in Table 1. Table 2 shows statistics on visits to the analyzed university sites, formed based on data provided by the company Similarweb.com [6] (data for December 2021).
Table 1 – List of university websites selected for comparison
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Abbreviation
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Official name
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Internet address
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BSTU "Voenmeh"
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Baltic State Technical University Voenmeh named after D. F. Ustinov
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https://voenmeh.ru
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SPbGMTU
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Saint Petersburg State Marine Technical University
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https://smtu.ru
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SPbPU
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Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University
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https://spbstu.ru
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SPSU
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Saint Petersburg Mining University
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https://spmi.ru
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MSU
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Lomonosov Moscow State University
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https://msu.ru
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HSE
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National Research University Higher School of Economics
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https://hse.ru
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FEFU
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Far Eastern Federal University
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https://dvfu.ru
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St. Petersburg State University
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St. Petersburg State University
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https://spbu.ru
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Table 2 – Statistics of visits to university websites
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UNIVERSITY
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Visitors, thous.
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Country for a visit
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Average visit time, min
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Visits by country, %
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Sources of visits, %
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Russia
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Kazakhstan
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Ukraine
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Straight
coming in
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Search
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Social networks
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BSTU "Voenmeh"
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415,38
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8,15
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9:53
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97,77
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0,8
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0,19
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57,57
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15,49
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23,12
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SPbGMTU
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360,51
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5,19
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5:51
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97,25
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1,33
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0,4
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52,54
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18,76
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18,55
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SPbPU
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1350
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8
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7:25
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93,88
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1,4
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0,77
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55,05
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31,93
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8,2
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SPSU
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246,81
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3,98
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3:04
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93,28
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0,84
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3,69
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51,47
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39,39
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6,77
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MSU
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3810
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4,15
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3:53
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84,26
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2,19
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3,47
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32,58
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58,52
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4,12
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HSE
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4950
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5,1
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5:18
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82,74
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2,6
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2,31
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42,27
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48,97
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4,08
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FEFU
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634,74
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3,64
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3:19
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95,57
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0,54
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