Readability as a Component of the Usability of a Web Presentation - A Case Study from the Banking Sector

Abstract

In many comprehensive and overall considerations of usability of web presentations, readability as a factor that potentially influences usability is not represented at all, or it is represented unsystematically and superficially. The main goal of this paper is establishing a connection between usability and readability. There is no known research that previously dealt with this topic. In order to establish the above correlation, firstly the classification of usability features was performed. This original classification has had an important function in identifying the major website usability constructs. Based on the identified major usability and readability features (constructs), an original questionnaire for assessing the usability and quality of websites was formed. This tool, together with the interviewing method was used in the case study, which referred to the website of a company operating in the banking sector. As a result of the case study, a high correlation of 0.943 is established between the organization of information on the screen (a usability feature) and the structure of headings, sub-headings, and positioning of the text (a readability feature). The existence of a strong link between the possibilities for finding information (a usability feature) and the content (explanations, arguments, coherence) of the textual presentation (a readability feature) has been established. This and other results obtained indicate that complex considerations that refer to the usability of websites, as well as tools that are used for usability assessment should involve in a systematic way the readability as an important factor, which can have the influence on usability.