[LINK] eCensus web page design

[Tom Worthington]

Some comments on the ABS eCensus page. I can't comment on the actual 
eCensus form, as I have not yet been delivered a number needed to access it.

The ABS eCensus home page says: "The eCensus form has been designed 
and tested following the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 
developed by the World Wide Web Consortium." 
<http://stream0.census.abs.gov.au/eCensusWeb/#Sys>. This would 
suggest the page has been carefully designed to be easy to read, but 
is not the case. While usable and accessible, the design is clumsy.

The page has a banner image at the top containing text which is 
difficult to read, even at its native resolution. It would be better 
if the logos, with text and line drawings, had been separate PNG or 
GIF images from the photos in JPEG.

The banner image has the ALT text "Australian Bureau of Statistics 
and eCensus". The use of the word "and" is confusing. Simply 
"Australian Bureau of Statistics" may be better.

At a size large big enough to read comfortably, the text of the page 
runs off the right hand side of the screen, requiring horizontal 
scrolling. The page should be formatted so this is not required.

The page is readable in a text-only browser, as it would appear with 
assistive technology, and on the mobile phone emulator. The page is 
actually more readable in this format than on an ordinary web 
browser, as the visual clutter and horizontal scrolling of the normal 
display are reduced.

The instructions for starting the eCensus form are confusing. There 
is an in-line text link "Start Accessible Version", followed by a 
button "START eCENSUS". The ALT text on the button is labelled 
"eStart eCensus (Non-Accessible Version)". It is not clear when 
looking at the page that these are two mutually exclusive options, as 
one is inline text and the other a button.

The other image on the page is a photograph of a census collector. 
This has the ALT text "Census Collector", which is accurate but 
irrelevant. The photo is only decorative and would be better with an 
empty ALT tag to indicate it conveys no useful information.

The button is followed by this text in bold red text: "Please do not 
use the browser navigation buttons.". The words "do not" are 
underlined but are not a hypertext link. Underlining should not be 
used as this is confused with links and red should be avoided.



Tom Worthington FACS HLM tom.worthington at tomw.net.au Ph: 0419 496150
Director, Tomw Communications Pty Ltd           ABN: 17 088 714 309
http://www.tomw.net.au                PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617