Website Usability Tips

When searching the Internet for information, website usability varies significantly across sites. It’s another way of saying, “How user-friendly is this site?” If a website is usable, users can achieve their goals by using links and menus to move around the site and find the desired information.

The website’s design and navigation will focus on the user experience, making it easy for people to complete desired actions. Sometimes, the default site functionality does not meet your needs. Review the following tips to make website navigation easier across many device types.

How to Enlarge Font on a Website

All browsers allow users to enlarge the font size, but some sites may restrict this functionality.

  • For Windows machines, when your browser is open, select the Control (Ctrl) key and press the + (plus) key to increase the font size.
  • For Apple/Macs, when your browser is open, select the Command key and press the + (plus) key to increase the font size.
  • For iPhone and iPads, you can permanently increase font sizes by going to Settings, selecting “Accessibility”, then selecting “Display & Text Size”, and finally choose “Larger Text” to use a slider to adjust font size. See the Apple website at https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/.
    • To temporarily increase the font size, pinch two fingers together on the screen and then expand them apart to zoom in on your desired content.
  • For Android phones and tablets, you can permanently increase font sizes by going to Settings, then selecting “Accessibility”, then selecting “Visibility Enhancements”, and finally selecting “Font Size and Style” to choose a larger font. For more Android device settings specific to your manufacturer, visit https://support.google.com/android/.
    • For temporary font size increases, pinch two fingers together on the screen and then expand them apart to zoom in on your desired content.  You can also tap the content you want enlarged three times and it will zoom in on the screen.

How to Navigate Websites from a Computer without a Mouse

When a website is accessible, you should be able to access all content on a page using only your keyboard. Here are a few common keys and commands to help you navigate with your keyboard:

  • Navigate forwardsthrough links, buttons, and form elements: Tab
  • Navigate backward through links, buttons, and form elements: Shift + Tab
  • Select a button: Spacebar or Enter
  • Close a pop-up window: Esc
  • Navigate text and other content(that are not buttons, links, or form elements) on a screen: Arrow keys
  • Go to the top of the page:
    • CTRL + Home (Windows)
    • Fn + left arrow (Mac)
  • Go to the bottom of the page:
    • CTRL + End (Windows)
    • Fn + right arrow (Mac)
  • Refresh the page:
    • F5 (Windows)
    • Command + R (Mac)

How to Access Video Content When it is Hard to Hear

You can increase the volume of a video on our video player in the bottom left corner by selecting the button with a speaker and toggling up the volume. You can also increase the volume on your phone, tablet or computer.

  • For a Windows machine, select the Speakers icon in the notification area. A volume slider will appear, and you can adjust it to the right to increase the volume.
  • For an Apple/Mac, select the “Speaker icon in the menu bar, then adjust the slider to the right to increase the volume.
    • If the Volume control isn’t in the menu bar, choose the Apple menu, select “System Preferences,” then select “Sound.” Select the “Show volume in menu bar” checkbox.
  • For iPhones, iPads, Android phones, and tablets, use the volume buttons on the side of the device to increase its overall volume.

How to Reduce Motion on a Website

The Expanders website has background videos that can be distracting. The pause option within each video allows you to stop the motion on the page.

  • For Windows machines, go to “Settings”, then select “Ease of Access”, then “Display”, then “Simplify and personalize Windows”, where you can set your “Show animation in Windows” to off.
  • For Apple/Macs, go to “System Preferences”, then select “Accessibility”, followed by “Display”, where you can check a box for “Reduce Motion”.
  • For iPhones and iPads, go to “Settings”, then “Accessibility”, then “Motion” where you can turn on the “Reduce Motion” setting.
  • For Android phones and tablets, go to “Settings”, then “Accessibility”, then “Visibility enhancements”, then toggle on “Remove Animations”.

Expanders Commitment to Usability

Expanders’ mission is to change the lives of business owners and stakeholders as we perfect our buy-grow-keep strategy. Input from our diverse user group shapes everything we do as an organization. Expanders is committed to providing adults in Ohio with access to our digital content and resources.

Usability includes features like clear navigation, intuitive layouts, and consistent design. To deliver a positive experience for our website visitors, we’re using thoughtful considerations to improve the accessibility of our site. Below, you see three ways we’ve incorporated ease of use into our work:

  • Focused effort on ease of use across our site
  • Auditing the accessibility of our site and actively fixing issues found
  • Partnering with industry-leading companies for consulting, site monitoring, and usability

Contact Expanders

Expanders is always seeking input from owners, brokers, professionals, and other website users. If you have questions or feedback or would like assistance navigating the website, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us using the method you prefer below.

Complete the Contact Us form: https://www.expanderscos.com/connect/contact-us/

Email Us:  access.use@expanderscos.com

Mail Us:

Expanders, Inc.

Attn: Site Usability

PO Box 4480

Dublin, OH  43016-0783