Extra Help (AAA)

SC Shortname: Extra Help (AAA)

SC Text

Extra Help: Provide easily available beginner's help or human help.

Suggestion for Priority Level

AAA

Related Glossary additions or changes

beginner's help: Help that:

• Does not assume people are familiar with the Internet
• Does not assume people use other Internet services such as email or social media
• Does not use Internet jargon
• Explains the use of any design patterns other than standard HTML controls of underlined links, buttons and text boxes
• Uses symbols at the beginning of most paragraphs and headings
• Gives detailed instructions on how to complete critical tasks

• Can be set once with as wide a scope as possible (such as using the standards of the OS, ETSI or GPII when available)
• With the option to save or to change the settings, were available interoperably, but also for the scope of a set of Web pages
• Is reachable from each screen where it may be needed, and the path and the control conforms to all of the document.

What Principle and Guideline the SC falls within.

Principle 3, Guideline 3.3: Help users avoid and correct mistakes.

Description

It is hard to find a user interface design that is obvious to all users. Human help or beginner's help gives flexibility and support to people who are struggling with the interface.

Although providing extra help may be a burden, there are content providers who want to be as inclusive as possible. They may look to these guidelines for direction on how to include everyone. This may include educational sites or sites who truly believe that their content is important to everyone. It is therefore important to have an AAA criteria that provides this guidance.

Beginner's help is useful for people who are new to using the Internet, for people who learn slowly or have impaired short term memory and therefore do not remember terms and design.

Help related content enables a user to conveniently access information needed to understand how to use a website effectively. Users who need help related content are usually already confused.

Human help includes:

• An option for live help. Note: It must be easy and clear to close new windows that open as part of live help functionality.

• A phone number that will automatically call via an interoperable Voice over IP specification.

• A simple site contact form.

• Use available standards to get human help for example, using the 0 digit on voice menu systems.

Benefits

This Success Criterion enables users to:

• Access quick answers to user questions

• Easily get human help

Related Resources

Resources are for information purposes only, no endorsement implied.

• Gap analysis Table 4: Help and support

• User needs Tables Table 3: Entering data, error prevention & recovery

• Background research document

• Semantics for adaptive interfaces

• Personalization and Preferences

• Voice Menu Systems

• COGA Techniques

Testability

This Success Criterion can be tested manually.

Test Procedure

• Identify if this is a critical service according to the definition
• If this is a critical service confirm that there is one of the following:
  • beginners help
  • human help

Techniques

• Providing a live help option. Note: It must be easy and clear to close the live help session.

• Providing a phone number that will automatically call via an interoperable Voice over IP specification. This will be initiated by the user via a link similar to an embedded (Skype) number so that the user is in effect calling the support.

• Providing a simple contact us form.

• Using available standards to get human help such as using the 0 digit on voice menu systems.
• Using COGA semantics to enable extra help on standards controls
• Using COGA semantics to enable symbols
• Adding icons and graphics.
• Using coga semantics
• Advisory: providing both human help and beginners help
• Advisory: providing beginners help for non-critical content
• Advisory: providing human help for non-critical content

Working groups notes (optional)