Web User Experience Blog

There is a lot of debate sometimes on whether to create a non-JavaScript (JS) version of a web page to support users without JS.

This can seem like a no-brainer initially as it would seem that everyone has JS enabled. The percentage of users online with JS disabled is a mere 2-3% depending on where you look. JS functionality is also supported on the mobile platform which is growing steadily. And besides, how unexciting would it be to traverse the web sans JS - imagine all the cool functionality you would miss!

All that aside though, site owners can sometimes only gleen analytics on users with JS enabled to improve the user experience. But, the reality is that some users just don't like JS for privacy reasons or they don't have JS support because they have an older or non-JS browser, etc.

However, much of it comes down to knowing your users. How many of them have JS disabled or are on non-JS supported browsers? The percentage might be higher or lower than the worldwide web average and the actual number of users may or may not be significant. Also, it depends on what locales the site serves as the number of users disabling JS varies even within the US and globally.

It is interesting to note that JS usage has been trending upwards. As well, the latest version of web markup, HTML 5, is supposedly able to achieve even more powerful capabilities and user experiences when paired with JS.

If at the end of a cost-benefit analysis it's decided not to create a non-JS version, what is the opportunity cost associated with this and is it significant? It's clearly ideal to plan for this from the outset and incorporate support for non-JS folks, but I don't think anyone would argue with focusing on creating the best possible experience for the majority of your users and working your way towards any edge cases.

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

We've been seeing some interesting trends in the mobile access to our VeriSign.com website. The number of people visiting the site from a mobile device has been steadily increasing in an upward trajectory. This is probably not surprising given the onslaught of mobile phones and tablets with superior web browsers which render sites as well as on a desktop computer.

The devices most users are accessing the site from are the iPhone, Android, and iPad. The majority are new visits, and the average time on the site and pages per visit are comparable to visitors from a desktop computer. While the percentage of mobile visitors compared to total visits to the site per day is still relatively small, it is nonetheless indicative of a growing trend which is likely to keep growing.

Here are some of our sister mobile sites for Symantec.com and Norton.com.

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Imagine being able to use your iPhone to protect and authenticate your identity online. Well, now you can - cool! VeriSign today announced the launch of VIP Access for Mobile, a FREE downloadable app on the Apple App Store which generates a one-time password to access participating sites. In addition to your username and password, the iPhone application will generate a six-digit security code which dynamically changes every 30 seconds and which you input as your second factor of authentication when signing into your online accounts. Initially, a 'Credential ID' specific to your iPhone is generated and SMS text-messaged to that phone number for verification. This credential is only entered when you first register for the network's sites such as Paypal, eBay, AOL, or Geico.

Similar pilot tests are also being conducted on other mobile devices such as the Blackberry in the U.S. and India.

Here's a Demo:

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 9:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Text: OMG! R U Serious?! Wht a Gr8 Yr 4 Mobl Msging!

Translation: Oh my God! Are you serious?! What a great year for mobile messaging!

And, it sure was a record year. More than 224 billion mobile messages were delivered in 2008 - a 134 percent increase from 2007. The increase is attributed to the continued worldwide growth of text messaging and its usage for social purposes including P2P (peer-to-peer) and A2P (application-to-person) messaging services.

And Valentine's Day also promises to not break any hearts. VeriSign expects a record breaking 1.7 billion inter-carrier and a total of 3.5 billion SMS messages to be sent in North America on February 14 which is typically a very high-volume day for texting love notes.

Get the full story.

Posted by Reshma Kumar at 4:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)