Downloads - a helping hand

Never over-estimate your users' abilities...

Through user feedback on our Intranet we've picked up that not all of our staff are computer-literate enough to know how to properly handle document downloads. It appears many are opening forms online, filling them in within the browser, and then trying to save or e-mail - a technique which doesn't always work.

We've also got the added issue that our current Intranet is based on frames (tut tut) and unless you specify a target for document links, they will open within the frameset, compounding people's confusion.

The only solution to this is to try to educate our users, and to this end I've come up with the following short but succinct tip:

Opening, saving and printing documents

To open, save or print documents, such as Word or PDF files, right-click on the document link (or Ctrl + click on a Mac) and then choose:

• 'Open in new window' (to view online)
• 'Save Link As...', 'Save Target As...' or equivalent (to save the document to your computer), or
• 'Print target' (to print the document)

This tip can be replicated on all pages where there are downloads available, and is hopefully simple enough for all users to grasp. It takes account of the fact that we have multiple browsers within the organisation, but combines the instructions for brevity.

Trying to educate users of a public site is like pushing peas up a hill with a rake, but there's a much stronger return for doing it with an internal audience. Every member of staff you educate, in a way that saves them time, improves your organisation's efficiency and provides a real cost benefit. This is also why Help sections, FAQs and basic guidelines can be a great idea.

Info for non-mouse users

As a brief aside - the instructions above are only for mouse-users. This excludes people with various disabilities, such as those with limited or no use of their arms, or blind users using screen reader software. It was decided to omit keyboard-specific instructions for three reasons; firstly because including these details would have reduced the concise nature of the instructions; secondly because we can assume that such users will have a high level of support already available to them within the organisation; and thirdly because they will most likely already have the knowledge of how to open links and documents correctly with their preferred software or method of browsing.

Such assumptions can not be made for a public audience, and we would expect to offer guidance, perhaps as part of a Help section or via the Accessibility link prominent on every page.