INTRODUCTION
Toofa Beauty Salon is a business enterprise offering beauty services and solutions. In a bid to expand more in the beauty industry, the store desires to establish a website where it can interact with its users more rewardingly. This paper details the development of the website of the company. The website puts in place the best industry wide practices for availability, access, navigation and usability. Specifically, this specification report explores the accessibility techniques employed in the development of the website, website description, design and implementation. It also includes evaluation mechanisms and validation and testing Aspects. Finally, it will provide recommendations for future considerations.
CONCEPTUAL ANALYSIS
Web accessibility refers to the simplicity with which websites are developed to allow easy access to even the disabled and elderly members of the community. A well desired website should consider people with visual disabilities and factor this in their design fundamentals. For instance, visually impaired individuals might find it difficult to see or even interpret what is in the website using the standard font size. Thus, designing the website so that images get magnified when mouse is hovered over them will help visually impaired individuals while browsing the site. Also using the right colors while designing a website will help color blinded users to view it in a better way. Because they are unable to differentiate between certain colors, it is always important to website designers to be aware of web accessibility for disabilities sake.
According to WCAG 2.0, and W3C guidelines, we content should be developed in a manner that is more accessible to both normal persons and those with disabilities. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines provides a framework for ensuring that web content creators develop content that are easily accessible to a wide variety of people.
According to Shawn Lawton Henry and the Education and Outreach Working Group fraternity, the web plays a central role in the lives of the people and the society especially in aspects of education, health care, trade, recreation, and governance. It is the practical medium that provides equal opportunities and access to all the citizens, disabled or not. People with disabilities can participate and contribute to the society more interactively through the web. Barriers associated with print, audio, visual and even mobility can be overcome using web technologies. Thus, Toofa beauty salon desires an interactive website that gathers for the needs of all individuals. Users with visual, audio and other impairments will all be served to their satisfaction.
Web accessibility is also an important consideration even to the normal users without any disability. When dealing with slow connections, website access can be difficult if graphics used are in large sizes. By using small size images, videos, and other files, the loading time is shortened giving the user a better surfing experience.
For the aging population and other users with different kind of ailments and needs, either permanent or temporary, the website interface should be assistive and accommodating. An older lady, for instance, looking for beauty and hair care services online should not strain with the site. Rather, visual details of the site should complement with the content and be delivered in a manner that is easy, understandable and with precise details and contact information.
Some of the additional ways that web content creators can utilize to ensure that they create content that are easily available to a wide variety of population include:
- Using non-text alternatives where text is not desirable. For instance, instead of an all text interface, developers should integrate video and audio content that details processes, products, services and locations.
- Create content that can be presented in different formats other than the standard format. For instance, creating mobile applications for web pages will allow mobile users to interact the same way as other users.
- Using available resources such as the keyboard to provide all the functionalities.
- Web pages should be made to appear and be displayed in predictable manner to reduce confusion on the part of users
- Auto correct functionalities help users who are font of making errors
- Making it easy for users to see and hear content delivers value and satisfaction
- The content in web pages should be readable and understandable. Vocabulary and language used in web pages should be understandable to all users.
WEBSITE DESCRIPTION
Toofa Beauty Salon is a beauty service and product provider opened in 2006and located in Saudi Arabia. The business is owned by one accomplished beauty therapist Tarfah Al-Zeer. Al-Zeer is famed for her beauty therapy skills manifested by five professional qualifications she possesses. The salon is distinguished from other salons in the region by its diligence in make-up and beauty services. The saloon provides the best services in hair styling, pedicures, manicures, bridal care, body therapy among others.
Toofa Beauty Salon website contains five sections and subsections. Its homepage is designed with five headings including: Home &About Us, News, Hair Gallery, Make-Up Gallery, and Contacts sections. Home and About Us describes the history of the saloon, its owners and general information on services offered.
The homepage to the site is designed in a manner that is easily visible and deliver information sought by the user. As described, homepage attracts the attention of the user and its design determines whether the site will be a success or not. The homepage of Toofa Beauty Saloon is attractive to the eye, with correct visual display and content. It is not cluttered and at the same time provides the required information sought by the user. A user who requires beauty therapy services or offers in beauty care and related products will navigate to pages 4 and 2 respectively.
News subsection describes the promotions and offers offered at specific times. In this website, Brides services are offered at special dedicated rooms designed for the occasion. Also on the list is Make-Up training courses offered every three months by the professional guru himself Tarfah Al-Zeer.
This section is shortened but provides sufficient information to the curious user looking for such services. The page directs the user to the contact page where communication and clarification is provided.
Contacts section contains the contact information of the beauty salon including phone number, mobile number, and email address. This section is important because it initiates communication between service providers and the client. Contact information is provided in sizeable font and colour that is visible to many users including the visually impaired.
Hair and makeup gallery are two sections that are of importance to the business and the clients. This is the section that describes in detail the services offered by the salon. The salon provides a host of services ranging from hair styles, makeup and body therapy. All these services are arranged in a horizontal format such that when a user hover the mouse over it, the service is highlighted and magnified, upon which if clicked, the details are described. The font size is visible and the Pink colour is associated with femininity and beauty products and services. Thus, it is attractive, visible and derives satisfactory content.
DESIGN
Website development has to factor in the user interface in order to entice the client to remain in the website until they have recognized and booked the service they require. The website has been developed following the three layers that perceptual layer, conversational layer and relationship layer.
The website is structured hierarchically and by using HTML sitemaps, the user can find the content on the page easily. The site is arranged into subsections starting from the homepage to the contact information. Navigation from one page to the other is through active links that when clicked takes the user to the next page.
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The perception layer consists of three main components; page furniture, instructions, and prompt/response pairs. Page furniture contains the details on the page that includes, the logo, tool bars, page numbers and display characteristics.
Such activities such as registration and online booking require the user to input his/her details. The conversational layers allow users to converse with the business before services are offered. The exercise gathers information about the location of the user and provides responses on the required spaces.
Finally, the relationship layer of the website creates a distinct relation between the organization and the web page. The user interacts with the salon through online inquiries and bookings. The task structure and the relationship determine the information the client will feed in at specific instances. News and promotions are delivered in an easy manner to avoid causing confusion to the client. Duplication is avoided and feedback is solicited from the user on how the site can be improved and managed.
As illustrated, the home page contains the logo, navigation links and description sections. Details on the home page cover at least 60% of the display, making it sufficiently informative but not too cluttered to exhaust the user. The page size is 960 x 720 pixels.
The layout adopted for this website is fluid. The display is not determined by the size of the screen and since most users are expected to be using mobile phone with smaller screens, this feature will allow content to be displayed in flexible font size. The layout style is also accommodating for users with impaired eye sight as font will be changing in respect to the width. A visually impaired user will adjust the font to suit his or her needs.
Colour selection was done to complement with the services offered. The saloon offers beauty and hair cure services. Most of its clients are expected to be women of all ages looking for beauty services, hair styles and models, nail care and related services. Pink colour is associated with femininity and beauty and is, thus, adopted to identify with the users.
The site employed the use of Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif typography with sufficient font size for different kind of users. Contact text, homepage, and menu text used any of the three font types as desired. Since the layout used is fluid, font size changes according to the device display size.
IMPLEMENTATION
The template code for the site is as follows:
body{
background: url("Images/bg.gif") repeat;
}
.wrapper{
width: 960px;
margin: 10px auto;
background-color:rgba(255,255,255,0.3);
padding:5px;
border:1px black solid;
border-radius:10px;
}
.logo{
width: 95%;
margin: 15px auto;
height: 200px;
background: url("Images/logo.jpg");
background-size: 100% 100%;
border:1px black solid;
border-radius:10px;
}
.menu{
width: 95%;
height: 30px;
margin: 15px auto;
border-bottom: 3px black solid;
padding-top: 0px;
}
.menu ul{
list-style:none;
margin: auto;
text-align:center;
padding: 0;
font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
font-style: bold;
}
.menu li{
color: #FF3399;
font-weight: 500;
text-shadow: none;
padding: 2px;
display:inline-block;
margin: auto 15px;
}
.menu li:hover{
background-color: black;
border: 2px;
border-color: #FF3399;
}
.content{
border:1px black solid;
border-radius: 3px;
width: 95%;
min-height:150px;
margin: 15px auto;
margin-bottom: -2px;
background-color: #210E05;
padding: 0px;
}
.contactheadertext{
text-align: center;
color: pink;
font-style: bold;
margin: 10px;
font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
}
.contacttext{
text-align: center;
color: pink;
font-style: normal;
font-size: 120%;
margin: 10px;
font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
}
.hometext{
text-align: justified;
color: pink;
font-style: normal;
font-size: 120%;
margin: 10px;
font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;
}
#gallery {
width: 960px;
height: 720px;
}
#gallery > a {
float: left;
width: 24%;
height: 24%;
position: relative;
margin: 0.5;
border: 1px solid #ffffff;
box-sizing: border-box;
-moz-boz-sizing: border-box;
text-decoration: none;
text-align: center;
}
#gallery > a > img {
display: block;
width: 100%;
height: 100%;
position: absolute;
opacity: 0.3;
cursor: pointer;
}
#gallery > a :focus > img {
width: 250%;
height: 250%;
opacity: 1;
z-index: 1;
cursor: default;
box-shadow: 0 0 15px 2px #000000;
border: none 0px;
border-radius: 10px;
}
.footer{
border:1px black solid;
border-radius:3px;
width: 95%;
height: 30px;
margin-top: -4px;
margin-bottom: 15px;
margin-left: auto;
margin-right: auto;
background-color: #FF3399;
}
.copyright{
text-align: center;
margin: auto;
padding: 0;
font-style: italic;
}
HTML is the language used to format data in a web page in order to be interpreted by the browser. CSS, on the other hand, is the format used to add styles to a web page. Web pages in HTML are expressed either as texts or tags. Tags are the representations of documents while text is the real content. Tags are represented by names and their attributes enclosed by < x > marks.
CSS is a language used to describe presentation semantics of a document written in HTML. Selectors are used to describe the part of the text that needs to be formatted in a certain way. Declaration blocks are also used and comprises of a property, colon and a value. The code provided above has numerous examples of selectors and declaration blocks.
VALIDATION AND TESTING
The website is validated and tested to ensure that all the functionalities are operational as desired. Results derived from the CSS and HTML validator indicate few errors that need more consideration. They include font-style value and text alignment. As designed, these values are intended to be that way and do not affect the working of the site.
EVALUATION
The website is considered a success because it attracts the attention of the user. A basic search directing the user to the website yields a captivating and content-rich website which exhilarates the user and make him/her desire for more information. The look and feel of the website is associated with extreme beauty. Pink colour is a perfect match for a beauty salon while the layout and design complements it.
In terms of usability, the designers will integrate a scientific method or researching its effectiveness. The user’s interaction with the interface is sampled through a small query the user will fill at the end of any service. The survey is voluntary and users are highly advised to fill it. Reviews are sampled to determine the usability of the website. Test parameters include the time required for the user to complete a task such as registration, complete and incomplete activities and the reasons why? ,and feedback from the users. Results are analyzed at a regular basis to indicate the effectiveness the site in terms of navigation, ease of access and use, and value.
The content in the site need to be of value and sense to a common user. Similar metrics used for usability will be applied to determine whether the information supplied is of use to the users. Language, font, colour representation of information in the site will be evaluated through surveys and interviews to determine whether users find the content useful.
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that continuous evaluation be conducted to determine what is desirable in the site and what needs to be changed. Website redesigning and redefining is expected to be conducted as required to bring the best out of it in terms of colour representation, look and feel, and navigation and user experience. In future as the growth of the site continues, applications for mobile platforms will be developed. This is intended to tap into mobile market that is expanding rapidly. Targeted platforms include Android, Windows Mobile and IOS.
CONCLUSION
This specification report has discussed the essentials put into perspective in the development of a website for Toofa Beauty Salon. In has discussed the major aspects concerning accessibility of websites and the considerations that were employed in its design. Designing web content for the sake of normal population and people with disabilities, for instance, requires the application of WCAG 2.0, and W3C guidelines. The design considerations including site maps, layouts, and colour selection have been discussed. Fluid layout was chosen because it represents content in the same way no matter the device used. The font keeps on changing according to the width of the display unit. CSS declaration blocks and HTML tags has been used in the interpretation and formatting of data respectively. Finally, an evaluation has been conducted on the site based on usability, look and feel and content. It is recommended that in future, applications for mobile devices should be developed.
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