NIST'S SOFTWARE USABILITY PROGRAM GAINING INDUSTRY ATTENTION.Recent articles in several publications highlighted two software usability products developed at NIST--NIST WebMetrics and the Common Industry Format (CIF (1) (Common Intermediate Format) A standard video format used in videoconferencing. CIF formats are defined by their resolution, and standards both above and below the original resolution have been established. The original CIF is also known as Full CIF (FCIF). ) for Usability Test Reporting. This signifies industry understanding of the importance of these measurement tools for assessing web and software usability. A product review of automated web usability Web usability is the application of usability in those domains where web browsing can be considered as a general paradigm (or "metaphor") for constructing a GUI. General tools included a favorable article about one of the NIST (National Institute of Standards & Technology, Washington, DC, www.nist.gov) The standards-defining agency of the U.S. government, formerly the National Bureau of Standards. It is one of three agencies that fall under the Technology Administration (www.technology. WebMetrics tools--the Web Static Analyzer Tool (WebSAT). This article was included in the August 2000 issue of Web Techniques (http://www.webtechniques.com/archives/2000/08/stratrevu/) and noted WebSAT's usefulness for ensuring that the HTML HTML in full HyperText Markup Language Markup language derived from SGML that is used to prepare hypertext documents. Relatively easy for nonprogrammers to master, HTML is the language used for documents on the World Wide Web. code follows good coding practices and for providing basic usability guidelines. WebSAT identifies potential usability problems according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. six categories: accessibility, form use, performance, maintainability, navigation, and readability. In addition, the recently released book WebSite Usability Handbook provides a CD that includes the NIST WebMetrics Suite. The suite includes four tools, which are also available on the web (http://www.nist.gov/webmet/). The feature article in the July 2000 issue of the Computer Systems Technical Groups CSTG CSTG Casting CSTG Coordination of Space Techniques for Geodesy and Geodynamics CSTG Civil Service Technical Guild CSTG Context-Sensitive Tour Guide Bulletin explained the benefits of the Common Industry Format (CIF) for Usability Test Reporting project at NIST (http://wellhost.com/cstg/nl2000_27_1.pdf). This project was initiated 3 years ago at NIST to increase the visibility of software usability by means of a widely accepted and understood method for reporting the results of usability testing. Several prominent software suppliers and consumer organizations worked together to understand user needs and tasks and to develop a common format. This allows consumer organizations to treat usability as an important criterion for software procurement. The first release of the CIF is available on the web (http://zing.ncsl.nist.gov/iusr/documents/cifvl.lb.htm). |
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