Equivalent Sites: What It Means

At 04:43 PM 1/22/2001 , William Loughborough wrote:
>At 03:27 PM 1/22/01 -0800, Kynn Bartlett wrote:
>>Maybe we don't mean equivalent at all.
>
>Maybe it falls into the "I don't know what it means but I know it when I encounter it" category. But I'll bet there's widespread agreement in a lot of cases as to whether an "equivalent site" works and we hope to codify what it takes to make how to do that clear.

Here's a start.

Two interfaces are equivalent if:

(1) The same functionality is available in each interface.

(2) The same content is conveyed through each interface.

(3) The same meta-content -- if not interface-dependent -- is conveyed
     though each interface.

(4) The branding/identity components of each interface are
     as similar as possible given the limitations of each
     interface type.

Additionally, each interface should be constructed so as to maximize
the usability of that specific interface by the possible user
types.  (For example, if a screenreader presentation is created,
the interface should be optimized for screenreader use.)

These are the principles we are using at Reef as we build web sites
which edapt to the needs of their users.

--Kynn


-- 
Kynn Bartlett  <kynn@idyllmtn.com>                http://kynn.com/
Technical Developer Relations, Reef           http://www.reef.com/
Chief Technologist, Idyll Mountain Internet   http://idyllmtn.com/
Contributor, Special Ed. Using XHTML     http://kynn.com/+seuxhtml
Unofficial Section 508 Checklist       http://kynn.com/+section508

Received on Monday, 22 January 2001 22:37:46 UTC