End-users focus of World Usability Day

The second annual World Usability Day kicks off tomorrow, 14 November, with 135 events across 35 cities aimed at increasing the user-friendliness of technology.

Organised by the Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA), the day’s local activities will be held in Sydney with a number of events to discuss strategies and techniques for improving technology users' experience.

Seminars include a discussion on the user experience strategy of Office 2007, a live demonstrations on how well the Web works for people who are blind or have poor vision and how Australians’ use of mobile phones is evolving.

According to World Usability Day founder and director Elizabeth Rosenzweig, the response to last year’s event proved that a dedicated annual event dedicated to issues around usability was required.

“From the tools we use to teach our children, to our hospital emergency rooms to the telephones we use to communicate, it’s a part of our daily lives and it's important to recognise we all have the right to have things that work better,” she said in a statement.

Organisers claim the second event will be more accessible than the first with twice the number of Web-based events and more than 15,000 people from around the world expected to attend in-person.

Sydney World Usability Day will be held at the State Library of NSW, with all events taking place in the Dixon Room, Mitchell Wing.

More information is available here.