For people who use watercraft in the ocean, tides are important. They influence where
you can go and how hard it will be to get to your destination.
In Vancouver, you can get official tide predictions
in the form of tables.
A web program called Tides can also show unofficial predictions in the form of a graph.
Notice that the graph is much faster to interpret. Unfortunately,
because the data is unofficial, you can't really rely on it if you need really
accurate tide predictions. I think the ideal would be the official predictions in
graph and table format.
The other problem I see with the government presentation of the data is that the
exact location of the prediction is not shown with a map. I suppose you
could look up the location on another chart, but this is more work and takes more
time. Tides can vary depending on the exact location, and Vancouver has a very large
coast with major land barriers that influence the actions of the ocean level.
Good design for accessibility usually results in better usability for all. Do you see
any other concerns with the tide data?
