Late spring seems to have brought out the confrontationist in me.
First it was Donald Norman and his assertion that simplicity on the web is overrated. Now it's Lyle Kantrovich and his rail against sitemaps in Sitemaps are Stupid (Guides are Good).
Guides may very well provide distinct advantages over sitemaps. But calling them "stupid"? That seems incredibly harsh.
Once again (at least to my eyes), the author is not taking into account the special-needs user . In many cases, these text-only representations of site structure may be the only way for certain user types to navigate with any degree of confidence -- for example, those who rely on screen readers, or those who have trouble with sites containing high levels of rich media (navigation in Flash, etc.)
Sitemaps may indeed be fairly useless for "normal" people, who have good vision and/or a reasonable degree of computer literacy, but their presence on web sites seems to me to be a very small price to pay to ensure that the content is accessible to as many people as possible.
Tuesday, May 01, 2007
Once again, a little common sense please
A nice article by Jessica S. Ancker notes why you should not rely on the Flesch-Kincaid scale (or any other scale) for determining the readability of text, on-screen or otherwise.
To get a quick idea of why, check out the following passages and guess which one was determined to be easier to read by Flesch-Kincaid:
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DISCLAIMER: WE ARE INVITING YOU TO BE IN A RESEARCH STUDY BECAUSE YOU HAVE A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY. A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY IS AN INJURY TO THE BRAIN CAUSED BY SOMETHING THAT HIT OR SHOOK THE HEAD.THIS CONSENT FORM EXPLAINS THE PURPOSE, RISKS, AND BENEFITS OF THE STUDY. THIS INFORMATION MIGHT HELP YOU DECIDE WHETHER TO BE IN THE STUDY. PLEASE READ THIS FORM CAREFULLY. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, ASK YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE YOU MAKE A DECISION.
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Disclaimer
We are inviting you to be in a research study because you have a traumatic brain injury. A traumatic brain injury is an injury to the brain caused by something that hit or shook the head.
This consent form explains the purpose, risks, and benefits of the study. This information might help you decide whether to be in the study.
Please read this form carefully. If you have any questions, ask your doctor before you make a decision.
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Answer: They were given the same readability grade.
To get a quick idea of why, check out the following passages and guess which one was determined to be easier to read by Flesch-Kincaid:
--------
DISCLAIMER: WE ARE INVITING YOU TO BE IN A RESEARCH STUDY BECAUSE YOU HAVE A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY. A TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY IS AN INJURY TO THE BRAIN CAUSED BY SOMETHING THAT HIT OR SHOOK THE HEAD.THIS CONSENT FORM EXPLAINS THE PURPOSE, RISKS, AND BENEFITS OF THE STUDY. THIS INFORMATION MIGHT HELP YOU DECIDE WHETHER TO BE IN THE STUDY. PLEASE READ THIS FORM CAREFULLY. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS, ASK YOUR DOCTOR BEFORE YOU MAKE A DECISION.
--------
Disclaimer
We are inviting you to be in a research study because you have a traumatic brain injury. A traumatic brain injury is an injury to the brain caused by something that hit or shook the head.
This consent form explains the purpose, risks, and benefits of the study. This information might help you decide whether to be in the study.
Please read this form carefully. If you have any questions, ask your doctor before you make a decision.
--------
Answer: They were given the same readability grade.
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