For people with motor disabilities unable to control a pointing device, there is a need for an efficient keyboard Web navigation method. The current state of keyboard navigation tools is surveyed and discussed. The standard tab key navigation system is widely regarded as insufficient for practical keyboard access to the Web. Other techniques, such as identifier navigation --- where links are activated by entering their numeric code --- are found to be much more efficient, but possibilities remain for improvement. A technique based on selecting links by text search provides an alternative method of keyboard navigation, but does not minimize the number of required keyboard inputs, which is important for individuals not capable of fast typing input. A new technique called KeySurf is proposed, which aims to make text search navigation more efficient and intuitive by estimating which elements are more likely to be selected by the user, and then allowing those elements to be selected with fewer keystrokes. Web page elements without text associated with them are assigned labels based on algorithms that make generated labels predictable to the user. Various constraints on the searching algorithm are implemented to decrease the keystroke cost of selections, such as selecting visible elements first, matching the first characters of labels, and prioritizing visually prominent elements. In addition, the user's browsing history is used to calculate a measure of page and element interest in order to make interesting elements easier to select. KeySurf performance is examined in three experiments: an automated analysis of keystroke cost of element selection on randomly selected Web pages, a small study involving four individuals with motor disabilities to compare KeySurf and mouse use, and a study of 11 individuals browsing the Web with KeySurf collecting data passively in the background. The automated selection test calculates the number of keys necessary to activate each link for 48,182 links, resulting in a mean of 2.69 keystrokes. The study involving individuals with disabilities shows that KeySurf can be faster than mouse use if the user is able to type 2 or 3 keystrokes faster than pointing to a target using their pointing device. The study with 11 non-disabled individuals shows that for 4,601 recorded clicks, KeySurf would have required 2.38 keys per selection. Comparing mean keystroke cost for pages containing similar numbers of elements, we find that for real Web sessions KeySurf can decrease keystroke cost by 15\% compared to the simulation results by anticipating which elements a user is likely to select. A keystroke level model of tabbing, ID navigation, and KeySurf indicates that the predictability of ID navigation makes it more efficient for faster typists, while KeySurf is likely to be faster for slower typists. / Graduate

Une étude de Nielsen (2006), largement citée, indique que les internautes explorent les pages Web suivant un pattern en forme de "F". Ce résultat a amené les concepteurs à organiser les informations d'une page en fonction de ce comportement, même si aucune étude n'a permis de répliquer ces résultats. Bien que les conclusions de cette étude portent sur le comportement visuel, la question des patterns comportementaux permettant de décrire la navigation des internautes se pose de manière plus générale. L'objectif de cette thèse a donc été de déterminer si des patterns pouvaient être mis en lumière à partir de différents indicateurs. Trois études ont été réalisées. Dans la première étude, 112 participants devaient réaliser quatre tâches de recherche d’information sur deux sites web différents. Le protocole impliquait une répétition immédiate de ces mêmes tâches. Une classification automatique a permis d'identifier 4 patterns qui se distinguent à la fois en termes de navigation sur la page d’accueil, mais aussi de performances. Lors des répétitions, la classification nous a permis d’identifier 3 des 4 patterns précédents. Ceci implique que les individus ne répètent pas forcément leur façon de rechercher l'information et ceci, peu importe la tâche, et le site. La deuxième étude a porté sur 27 individus et impliquait, pour les participants, de se présenter trois fois consécutives à 48 heures d’intervalle, afin de refaire les mêmes tâches. La répétition des tâches, que ce soit à court ou à moyen terme, entraîne une augmentation des performances, c'est-à-dire que les tâches sont réalisées plus rapidement et de façon plus efficiente. Toutefois, les patterns identifiés diffèrent entre les répétitions à court et moyen terme. Un autre résultat observé est que les stratégies ou patterns ne sont pas propres aux individus. En d'autres termes, un individu peut présenter ou adopter plusieurs patterns d'une tâche à une autre, d'un site à un autre ou d'une répétition à l'autre. Enfin, pour notre dernière étude, nous nous sommes demandé si l’homogénéité de nos échantillons pouvait influer sur les patterns. Nous avons donc réalisé une expérimentation comptant 47 participants avec des profils variés. Les individus ont eu tendance à se distinguer selon les 4 mêmes patterns identifiés. Nous avons pu observer qu’en fonction des individus, une même stratégie pouvait conduire à la réussite ou à l’échec de la tâche. De plus, les styles d’apprentissage ne semblent pas liés aux patterns observés. Les limites et les perspectives de ces travaux sont discutées. / A study by Nielsen (2006), widely cited, indicates that Internet users explore web pages following a "F" shape pattern. This result brought the designers to organize the information of a page according to this behavior, even if no study replicated these results. Although the conclusions of this study concern the visual behavior, the question of the behavioral patterns allowing describing the navigation of the Internet users remains in a more general way. Thus the aim of this thesis was to determine if patterns could be revealed from various indicators. Three studies were conducted. In the first study, 112 participants had to perform four information search tasks on two different websites. The experimental protocol involved an immediate repetition of the same tasks. A clustering method allowed us to identify 4 behavioral patterns, which distinguish themselves in terms of navigation on the homepage, but also in terms of performances. During the repetitions, the classification allowed us to identify 3 patterns out of the 4 previous ones. This implies that the individuals do not repeat necessarily the way they look for the information and this, no matter the task, and the Web site. The second experiment involved 27 persons. They had to come three times, with 48 hour intervals to repeat the same tasks. The repetition of the tasks, whether in short or medium-term, increased the performances of the users, that is the tasks are more quickly realized and in a more efficient way. However, the identified patterns differ between the short and medium-term repetitions. Another observed result is that the strategies or patterns are not peculiar to the individuals. In other words, an individual can present or adopt several patterns from a task to another one, from a site to an other one or from a repetition to the other one. Finally, in our last study, we wondered if the homogeneity of our previous samples could have influenced the patterns. So we conducted an experiment with 47 participants with varied profiles. The individuals tended to distinguish themselves according to 4 same identified patterns. We were able to observe that according to the individuals, the same strategy could lead to the success or to the failure of the task. Furthermore, the learning styles did not seem to be related to the observed patterns. Limits and prospects of this work are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to explore web use and web navigation behavior. This paper presents findings from qualitative research based on interviews and diarie studies. The basis of this study is Eli Parisers work about “the filter bubble”. As personalization systems shape our experience of the web, based on who we are, our bubble of knowledge and information becomes smaller. But it’s not only how technology works to show us a narrow part of reality. Our own choices about websites, content and the activities on the web, lead us into another type of bubble. A behavior bubble. A bubble where all the content we consume is interesting. The conclusion of this paper is that narrow web navigation behavior can be observed among all subjects studied irrespective of age and devices used, whereas monotonous web navigation behavior only can be identified among individuals using a smartphone for web browsing.

Syftet med denna undersökning är att finna för- och nackdelar med olika menymodeller och hur de bör se ut för att fungera optimalt på hemsidor för kommuner i Dalarnas län. Resultatet togs fram med hjälp av semistrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer och användartester. Deltagarna i denna undersökning valdes ut med hjälp av bekvämlighetsurvalet och består av studenter från Högskolan Dalarna. Den analysmetod som användes för att analysera den data som samlades in var en konventionell analysmetod. För att svara på den första frågeställningen om vilken menymodell som var vanligast bland Dalarnas samtliga kommunsidor genomfördes en jämförelse av dessa 15 kommunsidor. Det visade sig att den vanligaste menymodellen på kommunsidor i Dalarna var horisontell och bred med understruken text när muspekaren rörde sig över den, med linjärt typsnitt och utan ikoner. Positionen på hemsidorna är främst centrerad. Efter detta genomfördes användartester och semi-strukturerade intervjuer med testpersoner som fann för- och nackdelar hos specifika menymodeller. Valet av menymodell som bör användas på en kommunal webbplats beror på hur mycket information som fanns att sortera ut. De för- och nackdelar som återfanns på hamburgermenyn var att den sparade utrymme, men var svår att överblicka och klicka rätt på. Card-gridmenyn hade tydlig uppdelning men krävde många klick för att komma till målet.  Drop-downmenyn hade en bra överblick men upplevdes kompakt och vissa rubriker hade med fördel varit klickbara. / The purpose of this study is to find the pros and cons of different menu models and how they should look to function optimally on websites for municipalities in Dalarna County. The results were obtained using semistructured qualitative interviews and user tests. The participants in this study were selected using the convenience selection and consist of students from Dalarna University. The assay method used to analyze the data collected was a conventional assay method. In order to answer the first question about which menu model was most common among all Dalarna municipalities, a comparison of these 15 municipalities was conducted. It turned out that the most common menu model on municipal pages in Dalarna was horizontal and broad with underlined text when the mouse pointer moved over it, with linear typeface and without icons. The position on the websites is mainly centered. After that, user tests and semistructured interviews were conducted with test persons who found the pros and cons of selected menu models. The choice of menu model that should be used on a municipal website depends on how much information there was to sort out. The pros and cons found on the hamburger menu were that it saved space but was difficult to overlook and click right. The card grid menu had a clear breakdown but required many clicks to find where to go. The drop-down menu had a good overview but felt compact and some headlines had advantageously been clickable.