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Richard Atterer, Albrecht Schmidt, Heinrich Hussmann
Extending Web Engineering Models and Tools for Automatic Usability Validation
In Journal of Web Engineering, ISSN 1540-9589, Vol. 5, No. 1 (2006), pages 43-64

In this paper, we present ideas of how to improve the quality of automated web usability validators. This can be achieved by taking advantage of the models of established Web Engineering solutions. We begin by analysing two of the currently available Web Engineering solutions (UWE and OO-H) with regard to the question whether any websites created with them have a high usability. Additionally, it is examined whether the respective models can express usability aspects. In a small case study, an example website is created by converting a model to an implementation manually. Special attention is paid to usability issues regarding both the generated pages and the development process. Subsequently, we take a look at existing implementations of usability validators, noting how the quality of their results is often not optimal. This is due to the fact that not enough abstract information is available. In the next step, we identify existing Web Engineering model properties which can be used to improve the checks, and propose further extensions to models.