Papers:Sending the Right Signals

This document is currently in draft.

Please do not edit this page without permission. Your feedback and comments are welcomed on the discussion page.

This is Mozilla's submission for the upcoming W3C Workshop on Transparency and Usability of Web Authentication.

• Review of current UI in browsers (IE, firefox, safari, opera)
  • status notification areas
  • security status notification techniques
  • terminology used, technologies supported

• Arguments for consistency
  • ability to move from browser to browser w/o relearning metaphors
  • shapes user expectations
  • promotes clarity

• What we know doesn't work
  • techno-centric terminology
  • expecting users to think deeply on these issues

And then, if we feel that a recommendation is needed, I was going to take a flyer with:

• What we propose
  • simple notification with plain language to tell user if the site they are visiting is
    • real: this website is who it says it is
    • secure: this website is encrypted
    • recommended: this person says this website is safe
  • potentially match up "zones" with these ideas