WebWord.com Newsletter Issue #41

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ISSUE #41

7-February-2000

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                WebWord.com Newsletter
              "Usability & the Internet"
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                      List Owner 
                    John S. Rhodes 
                   John@WebWord.com
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February 7, 2000                    Newsletter #41
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Table of Contents

1. The Myth of the Stupid User
2. Web User Bill of Rights
3. Usability of Dell Latitude Cpi A300ST (laptop)
4. What Can You Find at WebWord.com?


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ITEM #1

A new WebWord.com interview is now online:
--> http://webword.com/interviews/gaffney.html

"The Myth of the Stupid User"

I asked Gerry Gaffney of Information and Design (based in
Melbourne, Australia), several questions such as:

  * As a business, what special issues do you face 
    being based out of Melbourne, Australia?  

  * Can you comment more broadly about the international
    issues that web developers and software developers 
    face, particularly in relation to usability?   

  * What is your Usability Toolkit? Who should use it? 
    How can we get it? 

One thing that struck me in this interview was that Gerry 
thinks users are smarter than most of us think. They are 
not that stupid. I agree! The jokes that go around are 
interesing, but they don't prove that users are dumb. They
show that technology is hard to use and understand. If
I had to perform brain surgery on someone, I'd kill them.
Many people feel that way about computers. They don't
have special training in computers yet most computers
and computer programs treat users as informed experts, not 
as just plain old people. I think this interview with 
Gerry Gaffney captures these feelings pretty well, and 
a whole lot more.

You can read the interview here:
--> http://webword.com/interviews/gaffney.html


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ITEM #2

Web User Bill of Rights

I'm putting together a Web User Bill of Rights in
conjunction with Sean Lindsey, Editor of the 
DisabilityTimes.com. Sean and I exchanged several 
emails and we decided that people needed some commonsense
advice on usability and accessibility. We hope to create
a one page document that explains in plain language what 
web users expect from a web site. 

For example, rather than giving a guideline such as "All
links must be blue and underlined" why not say something
like "Every effort has been made on this web site to make
the links easy to understand and use"? Or something 
similar. You probably get the point. So, I am asking
for your help. In simple terms, what should every web
page have for a usability policy? If there was a link
at the bottom of your web site that said Web User Bill
of Rights, what would it lead to? What would you stand 
behind and advocate to world? What things are important
to you?

Speak your mind! Email me at  john@webword.com

Let's see where this takes us...


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ITEM #3

Usability of Dell Latitude Cpi A300ST (laptop)

I recently finished an review of the Dell Latitude
Cpi A300ST laptop computer for Epinions. I cover
what is good and bad about the portable computer.
I provide several reasons why I chose it. All in all, 
it is a solid machine and I have had almost no problems 
with it. For the full review, go here:

http://www.epinions.com/cmd-review-7DC3-4DD429D-389DB143-prod2

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ITEM #4

What Can You Find at WebWord.com?

Articles (Moving WebWord)
<http://webword.com/moving/>

Expert Interviews 
<http://webword.com/interviews/> 

Recommended Books
<http://webword.com/books/booksindex.html>

Newsletter Archive
<http://webword.com/archive>

Usability Reports 
<http://webword.com/reports>

Recommended Web Sites
<http://webword.com/hotsites.html>

Free Stuff
<http://webword.com/freestuff.html>

Friends
<http://webword.com/friends.html>


---- End of WebWord.com Usability Newsletter #40 ------

(c)1998-99 by John S. Rhodes. All rights reserved.

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