Web Standards, Accessibility & More » usability

12 Reasons Why Accessible Twitter is Better Than HootSuite (Besides the Obvious)

Dennis — Sun, 26 Sep 2010 05:17:26 +0000

As you probably know, I’m an avid Twitter user. I’m also the author of a web-based Twitter client, Accessible Twitter (AT). I also use HootSuite sometimes (also a web app) as well as a couple Twitter clients on my BlackBerry. In some respect, it’s really not fair to compare my humble Accessible Twitter app to HootSuite, as HootSuite is obviously much, much better off in staffing and funding. It has some great features like multi-column layout, scheduled tweets, and multiple accounts. Accessible Twitter is obviously better in that it’s web accessible, which brings another set of advantages which is outside the scope of this article. But there are also many additional reasons (usability, features)Â why Accessible Twitter is better than HootSuite, as follows.

1. Tooltip for user stats

AT provides a tooltip (title attribute) over the author’s name on every tweet which provides the full user name if available, number of followers and number of friends. In HootSuite, to get this info,Â you must open the user modal window and wait for an overly abundant amount of information to load.

2. Inline image previews

Accessible Twitter provides icon-sized image previews in tweets with link to TwitPic and YFrog images. And support for more providers is planned. No support in HootSuite.

3. Pagination of user timeline

Unless you create a column for a particular user, HootSuite limits viewing of a user’s tweets to 10. Accessible Twitter provides pagination on a user timeline page, so you can view many more.

4. Viewing Trends

Viewing Twitter trends in AT is easy, click Trends in the main menu. AT provides weekly, daily, and current trends list. In HootSuite only the current trends are provided, and it’s opening it is very “un-usable”; it’s a dropdown when entering the search field!

5. View popular Links

In AT, simply click the (Popular) Links item in the main menu to view the most popular links in the Twittersphere. No support in HootSuite.

6. Quick Go To User

AT provides a text input on every page where you may enter a username and jump to that user’s profile or timeline page. No similar feature in HootSuite.

7. Faster to View User Timeline

AT provides a “TL” icon in each tweet so that the user may jump to the author’s timeline with one click. In HootSuite, You must open the user details dialog, then navigate to the Timeline tab.

8. Delete your tweet in all timelines

AT provides a link to delete your tweet on all pages in which your tweet may appear. In HootSuite, the delete option is only available in your Sent timeline.

9. Links to followers, following

The user details page contains links to followers and those following; HootSuite’s user details page doesn’t.

10. No broken account icons

In HootSuite, the icons for users many times are broken; the images do not load correctly. This issue occurs on different browsers and has been for many months now.

11. No horizontal formatting issues

When a modal window is opened in HootSuite from the right column, it throws off the horizontal display. (It can be fixed by clicking an obscure button on the bottom left.)

12. Don’t lost your place in timeline due to updates

AT never messes with your page content without you approving. In HootSuite, how irritating: when I scroll down to read tweets, and there’s an auto-update, I lose my place. And then it’s difficult to relocate the tweet I was reading when interrupted.

Be Sociable, Share!

Internet User Experience (IUE) Conference

Dennis — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 20:16:55 +0000

The fourth annual Internet User Experience (IUE 2008) conference will be held at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Michigan the week of March 31, 2008-April 3, 2008.

Organized by the Michigan Usability Professionals Association in collaboration with Washtenaw Community College’s Internet Professional Program, the User Experience Network (UXnet), Refresh Detroit, and other sponsors, the conference provides four days of presentations,panels, training sessions, and workshops on optimizing web sites so they are effective, compelling, and profitable for businesses.

Experts in search engine optimization, online communities, and user experience management will lead sessions at the conference. Tutorials and training are also available to attendees with 1/2 day and full-day workshops before and after the main conference days.

Discounts are available for Usability Professionals Association members and several other organizations, as well as full-time non-working students.

For more information and details on registration, visit the Michigan Usability Professionals Association or the IUE Conference web sites.

Be Sociable, Share!

Went to Usability Conference

Dennis — Wed, 15 Nov 2006 14:58:05 +0000

Yesterday, Ross Johnson and I attended the Fourth Annual Usability and Accessibility Event on World Usability Day, (November 14) at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan.

We each got a late start to the day as I slept through my alarm and Ross got stuck in traffic. It was dark and rainy morning, but we arrived at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center in Lansing just in time. The morning was spit into two sessions and the afternoon was a string of several diverse topics. The break was excellent as pumpkin pie was provided! It also a good opportunity to meet few more usability professionals.

I had an iRiver MP3 device with me, and did some short interviews with folks (funny how a couple people did not want to be recorded). A podcast following the day’s events will be released on Web Axe next week. I suspect it will be very entertaining!

Update 11/21:
The Web Axe podcast on the Usability Event is now posted.

Be Sociable, Share!