YouTube’s Usability and Accessibility
Unless you live under a rock with no internet connection, you’ve probably come across this little website called Youtube. Just kidding, it might not be as small as I mentioned. Let me rephrase that. I DEFINITELY know you have surfed on this website, maybe once or twice already today, actually. I sure have. YouTube is a huge brand that is available in more than 100 countries around the world. Launched on Valentines Day of 2005, it has grown into the huge video sharing platform that it is today. I personally use YouTube to watch daily vlogs, ASMRs (autonomous sensory meridian response), mukbangs, tutorials, interview prep and many more subjects, the list can go on and on. The team that created YouTube did a wonderful job with the usability and accessibility of the website as a whole, which I will be looking into now.
Learnability. For one, the learnability of the website is amazing. The consistency throughout the website helps users easily navigate through the various videos. It has great visibility and feedback when in use. For example, the loading sign is a great indicator to let users know that their video is being loaded and buffered. They also do a great job with mapping as well, an example that is seen through this is the volume bar on the bottom left of the video.
Efficiency. Through using the website, users will be able to easily learn different things to help use this app in an efficient manner. One being the space bar to play or pause the video, the arrow keys to move forward to backwards in the video and ‘m’ to mute and unmute as well as many others. This helps users be able to navigate through the website using shortcuts that make the experience feel more in control of the user.
Memorability. How do new and returning users remember how to use this website? It is because of how easy it is to navigate through YouTube. We are able to see that users who are new or returning are able to use this app with ease because of its consistency and clarity of actions and options available. For example the settings feature on the bottom of the video screen.
Minimizing Errors. How does YouTube do this you ask? They make it easy and simple for users! You can easily subscribe and unsubscribe from a YouTuber with a click of a button. You accidentally subscribe? Just click the button again to unsubscribe. No Problem. Another great thing I personally appreciate with YouTube is being able to preview the video before committing to watching an entire video. Cudos to the designers for thinking of their users time like that. I appreciate it.
Satisfaction. This is definitely hard to measure, since my level of satisfaction could be different from others. According to Statista, YouTube had an American customer satisfaction index number of 75 points out of 100, which was close second to Pinterest, who has 77 points.
Overall, YouTube is a well designed website for users not only because of its usability but also accessibility as well. YouTube has helped make their app very accessible to all people and especially to those who may have disabilities. Some things they have include subtitles for people who are hearing impaired, contrasting colors throughout their website to help people who may have color blindness and use of icons. The use of being able to make this website accessible to all people is what really makes Youtube so great.
