- From: Jesper Tverskov <jesper@tverskov.dk>
- Date: Sat, 22 Jul 2006 10:27:59 +0200
- To: <w3c-wai-ig@w3.org>
Should an error message include a local search engine? My overall point of departure is that simplicity is the most important aspect of both usability and accessibility. It is also good for the maintainer of webpages in the long run. On my own website, www.smackthemouse.com, I only have a search engine at the homepage. It makes the homepage stick out and gives it more character and it makes all the other pages less crowded. Better put the search in one place and put more focus to the task, than adding it also to the end of an error message haphazardly. It is funny that Jakob Nielsen's error message also had this additional search engine at the end of his error message in 2003, when the first edition of my article was published. But it didn't work. It used the old search engine of some good old days, and this search engine had been disconnected long time ago. Only the search fields in the web sites ordinary pages used the new search engine. Watch out for "text versions" of websites they are seldom updated as often as the rest of the webpages, and watch out for adding all sorts of functionality to an error message soon forgotten for years. Also, the longer an error message gets the more is it likely that the user will just skip it or that most of the error message is irrelevant for many users. But the longer error message could also benefit some users. Since the overall usability of the longer message is more that dubious, I recommend to use "simplicity" as decision rule. Cut it out. "Cut it out", "remove it", "drop it", et cetera, almost always make webpages better from the point of view of usability and accessibility. I strongly believe that if you are ever in doubt about a feature, if you should include it or not, the decision is already taken. It is not important enough if you have doubts. Kill it. I don't recommend a "Back" link in error messages because the user most often arrived from another website. Hitting BACKSPACE or a similar link in the error message, and the website probably looses that user. Best regards, Jesper Tverskov, www.smackthemouse.com/error404
Received on Saturday, 22 July 2006 08:28:07 UTC