Week 7

System usability is vital to any information system. I believe that it is the first step toward accessibility, as it allows developers to know if the system they’re working on is useful enough to be worth using. While there is definitely more to system accessibility, it’s a very important step. I think that a helpful addition to heuristic studies would be an initial accessibility evaluation. Since heuristics include elements like user control and freedom, matching the system & real world, and flexibility (Nielsen, 1995. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/), including tests for accessibility and ensuring that websites and other facets of info systems are usable by all seems like a sensible addition.

While week 7 focused on usability, not accessibility, I believe that the two are inseparably connected; after all, for a system to be usable, it needs to be accessible to all, including those with disabilities. 

Nielsen, J. (1995). Ten Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design. https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/ Retrieved October 22, 2016.