On the usefulness of Aaa-links for controlling text size on web pages : preliminary results

Aaa-links, also known as triple-a links, have over the last few years become commonplace on the web. In a move to become more universally accessible organizations have introduced Aaa-links to help users with reduced vision. This study questions this practice. Three related research questions are posed. First, how is text enlargement functionality best represented visually? Second, are these Aaa-inks really making the web-browsing experience more comfortable for users? Third, is it better to use built-in browser text-enlargement functionality? A small user test involving 30 individuals was conducted. The preliminary results suggest that the effectiveness of Aaa-links is overrated

Pengembangan Media Pembelajaran Biologi Berbasis E-Learning pada Materi Ekskresi Kelas XI IPA 3 SMAN 4 Makassar

Jenis penelitian yang digunakan adalah penelitian dan pengembangan (R&D) yang bertujuan untuk mengembangkan media pembelajaran Biologi berbasis e-learning menggunakan Joomla dan Wondershare Quiz Creator yang valid, efektif, dan praktis, pada materi sistem ekskresi. Tahap penelitian dan pengembangan mengacu model Gall et al., (2003) yang terdiri atas 5. Subjek penelitian adalah validator, siswa kelas XI IPA3 SMA Negeri 4 Makassar dan guru Biologi SMA Negeri 4 Makassar. Pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan menguji validitas produk, memberikan tes hasil belajar, mengamati aktivitas siswa, mengumpulkan data respon siswa dan guru. Data yang terkumpul dianalisis dengan menggunakan analisis deskriptif kuantitatif, dengan hasil sebagai berikut: (1) Validitas mendapat kategori valid dari 3 validator; (2) 100% siswa memperoleh skor hasil belajar di atas Kriteria Ketuntasan Minimum (KKM) sebesar 75 pada Tes Evaluasi; (3) Sebanyak 6 dari 7 aktivitas yang diamati telah memenuhi kriteria keaktifan; (4) Guru dan siswa memberikan respon positif terhadap produk. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian, maka media pembelajaran yang dikembangkan dinyatakan valid, efektif, dan praktis

RESEARCH OF GUIDELINES FOR DESIGNING E-STUDY MATERIALS

E-study use is increasing; its main content is information for self-education and it is delivered to the user through modern technologies that provide greater opportunities. In order to reach the user, information must be presented in a comprehensible and easy to remember way. The article focuses on the recommended ways of information presentation in e-studies, so that it would be possible to perceive and memorize information more efficiently, it also focuses on technologies that could help in building and analysing ways of presentation. There are analysed several technology products and presented various examples. The authors offer recommendation Guidelines for development and presentation of e-study materials, their assessment and presentation considering user needs and requirements of research, as well as literature study research, and, also, based on the foundations of visual science. The focus for the development of Guidelines was particularly on the visual function importance in the reading and learning process, as clear and stable text perception primarily is provided by near visual functions. In a structured manner, there are recommendations presented for a user-friendly e-study material design - style, size, spacing, position, colour - which should be applied for easy perception with visual processes, thus helping the learning process and facilitating memorization. As nowadays there is a growing need for teaching methods and learning environment that is user-oriented, guidance specifics may be different for each of the e-study targeting groups that are divided primarily into three groups: children, adults, and seniors because each group has a different needs, requirements, and visual perception, as well as it is necessary to consider other features of the user which may differ from the standard and affect efficiency of recommendations. This work deals with part of the target group – adults (16-38)

Effect of Contrast Polarity Towards Eye Fixation Rates When Reading On Smartphone

This study is conducted to investigate the effect of contrast polarity towards eye fixation patterns when reading text on a smartphone in bright and dark conditions involving the effects when reading on a smartphone such as in real-life situations. The number of fixations and duration of fixation showed no statistically significant difference (p=0.160 and 0.099 respectively). However, emmetropic subjects showed a higher result in bright conditions compared to myopic subjects (p=0.046). This concludes that emmetropic eye movement efficiency seems superior, possibly due to lower spherical order aberration as pupil size decreases in bright illumination. Keywords: Contrast Polarity; Fixation Rates; Eye Tracking; Light conditions eISSN: 2398-4287 © 2023. The Authors. Published for AMER & cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), College of Built Environment, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/ebpj.v8i24.468

Colour in online advertising: Going for trust, which blue is a must?

In an online environment the customer relies heavily on cues that indicate that an electronic vendor (e-vendor), can be trusted (especially in comparison with an offline shopping environment). Several studies investigated the factors that reduce mistrust in an online environment. However, little is known about the effects of colour on the process of establishing trust between e-vendor and consumer, and purchase intention. The current body of studies on the effects of, specifically, the colour blue on trust in an online environment also show contrasting results. Further, the literature review revealed that (value) variations of colours have different effects on human behaviour, or perception. It was also argued that the effect of blue on trust and behaviour would be greater for people from cultures that are generally more risk averse. The aim of the present study, therefore, was to investigate the effect of two different values of blue (i.e. lighter and darker valued) on trust and the intention to book an accommodation, differentiated by culture. In an online experiment 91 Chinese and 125 Dutch respondents (average age 27 years) were presented with an accommodation offer displayed within either a predominantly darker, or lighter valued blue environment. The results showed an indirect (mediating) effect of trust on the relationship between the predominantly darker coloured blue environment and booking intention. There was no evidence for the hypothesized moderating effect of culture. To conclude, this study contributes to a better understanding of the effects of (value) variations of colour in an online environment on human behaviour, and perception. The use of dark blue colour schemes in an online environment can be recommended to e-vendors. Especially in online environments in which the customer is more involved (e.g. financially) or vulnerable in the (purchasing) process, and thus more cues are needed to win a visitor’s trust

But is it Useful? Website Usability Testing of the UH STEM Education Website

This paper was presented at the Learning Design & Technology's TCC online conference in April 2016.The digital age has ushered in a time where users are instantaneously and continuously connected to the world at the touch of a screen. Having an online presence is the lifeline of an institution. It is therefore imperative that an institution’s website be easy to use, provide reliable information and be aesthetically pleasing to the user. Upon the creation of the new Office of STEM Education at the University of Hawai‘i, a website was immediately launched to provide information. However, as the office grew the website remained stagnant. Feedback from constituents focused on the lack of current and relevant information. The purpose of this usability study was to analyze, develop and evaluate the content, navigation and user satisfaction of the Office STEM Education website and to improve its efficiency for faculty and students at the University of Hawai‘i. Based on such feedback in the rapid prototyping and usability study changes were implemented on the website to improve the overall design and navigability

The colour red for emotion in cross-cultural e-commerce

Web stores tend to differentiate themselves from competitors by relying on hedonic aspects, such as colour. This study focusses on web store colour and emotions in the online shopping process. Preferences of Western and Asian consumers are compared when exposed to a web store with specific colour values of red. This was done in the context of an online booking web store for hotels. An online experimental survey was conducted with two conditions, viz., dark red and light red. A total of 220 participants (130 Dutch and 90 Vietnamese) completed the questionnaire. Contrary to expectation, the results showed no direct effect of colour: the light red web store did not induce the highest booking intentions, though an indirect colour effect was found through the pleasure emotion. The light red web store induced more pleasure, which in turn induced higher booking intentions. Cultural differences (indulgent vs. restricted), influenced the relationship between colour and the arousal emotion. Participants from the more indulgent culture were more induced by the light colour web store