A Usability Investigation of Parallax Scrolling for Web Pages

Abstract

This paper presents an empirical investigation, concerning the usability of parallax scrolling for web pages. Parallax scrolling within a web page can be explained as usually having several backgrounds that move at different speeds. This creates a visual three-dimensional effect of motion. The main aim of the investigation was to try and gain further insights into whether using parallax scrolling would have a positive or negative effect on usability aspects, which in turn would affect end user experience. The data collected, were statistically analyzed using significance testing (T-test). The statistical analysis indicated that on average participants were faster with the non-parallax web site. Further, on average, participants indicated stronger preferences for the parallax web site. The significance testing indicated that there were no significant differences in total task completion time and total number of errors. Participants’ opinions concerning the two web page styles also indicated no significant differences. Although this work does not present statistically significant results, it is still useful to the research community. The averages indicate tendencies which could be useful to web site designers for improving usability. Well known guides such as WCAG 2.2 and the Seven Uni-versal Design principles give clear indication that in most cases parallax scrolling should be avoided and if it cannot be avoided there needs to be a clear and easy way for users to switch off the feature should they wish to do so.