Joanna, CKO

The Toronto Transit Commission web site was launched this week. There was no big deal like there had been for the launch of the preview site (which had little or no content) at the beginning of June.

I am the accessibility expert that Joe Clark won’t mention by name. I’m also the information architect and the usability person. I also did the front-end code scrutineering.

Frequently asked questions

Where’s the trip planner?

The trip planner is part of a separate RFP, and is being built by Trapeze (not Trapeze). While you’re waiting for that trip planner, you can buy tokens online

Have you seen myttc.ca?

Yes. Have you seen Hop Stop?

Well, you couldn’t have made it worse than the old site.

Clearly I didn’t; but, someone else might have.

Why don’t you open up the data?

Not my department.

Don’t you live in Vancouver?

Yes. I spent half of the year not living in Vancouver during the worst Toronto winter in living memory.

Why don’t you just move here (to Toronto)?

Do you remember last winter?

Did you go to TransitCamp?

Nope. (See above about living in Vancouver)

So, what do you know about taking the TTC?

I once lived at Neville Park and Queen East – without a car – when my job was near High Park.

What did you do with that fake TTC parka you were constantly wearing?

I gave it to a charity. I paid $45 for it at the Mountain Equipment Co-op and no longer need a parka.

Was the CNIB involved in usability testing the site?

I paid the CNIB about $4 (plus $10 shipping and applicable taxes) because I needed to put location dots on the keyboard for visually impaired users. The CNIB mailed them to me.
Since then, I’ve grown really attached to having the dots on the keyboard – they’re really convenient and easier to feel than the tiny dots manufacturers usually put on keyboards. I would recommend you try them out yourself.

If you could change anything about the TTC, what would you change?

I would make the entire physical system accessible. Then, I would renumber and rename all of the routes to completely eliminate branches.

Why are you calling this Trying To Conceive?

TTC is a frequently used abbreviation for people who are trying to conceive. Early in the project, Google suggested I meant “trying to conceive” when I did a search for TTC. It became my own codename for the project.

If you have any questions about the site, I can try to answer them.

projects, Toronto Transit Commission, TTC, work

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 13th, 2008 at 11:42 pm and is filed under Working. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.