Abstract

Join us to: Learn to adapt common usability evaluation techniques to cover accessibility issues. Understand modifying usability testing protocol, recruiting participants, and conducting tests with participants with disabilities, with seniors, and in diverse situations, such as on-site testing. Practice interacting with various assistive technologies, screening techniques, and usability testing situations.

Introduction

Recent regulations have brought accessibility to the forefront of interface design for many organizations producing websites, software, and hardware. While accessibility considerations cross into design, development, and testing, it is often human factors engineers and usability specialists who hold the primary responsibility for accessibility. Indeed, accessibility is most effectively implemented when considered early and throughout a user-centered design process. One of the early challenges for usability professionals has been usability testing with participants with disabilities. UPA 2002 presentation attendees were eager (some desperate) for information and tips on this topic. This tutorial addresses that need.

Learning objectives

The primary goal of this tutorial is to provide participants with the knowledge and resources to successfully conduct usability tests (UT) with participants with disabilities, with seniors, and in diverse situations, such as on-site testing. After completing this tutorial, participants will be able to:

• Define accessibility
• Understand the importance of integrating accessibility into the user-centered design process, and how to modify various usability evaluation techniques to cover accessibility
• Know of various types of assistive technology, including screen readers and screen magnifiers
• Adapt standard usability testing protocol to evaluate accessibility including test planning, test recruiting, preparing test materials, and conducting tests
• Conduct screening tests for accessibility
• Appreciate the benefits and limitations of accessibility evaluation tools
• Use provided checklists and templates to implement techniques for including accessibility in a their usability testing

Prerequisites

Minimum: Tutorial participants should have at least basic knowledge and experience in usability testing. No knowledge of accessibility is required.

This tutorial is appropriate for intermediate and advanced usability professionals who are just starting to address accessibility. The tutorial will not teach basic usability testing techniques; that is prerequisite knowledge.

We will briefly define accessibility and its relationship to usability for those without accessibility knowledge. However, we will not cover accessibility issues such as accessibility regulations, designing accessible web pages, and impetus for accessibility. We will provide references that cover these other issues, and spend the tutorial time focused on accessibility evaluation, especially usability testing with people with disabilities.

How tutorial will be conducted

Participant activities, videos, demonstrations, and passionate lecture combine to make this a lively tutorial. The primary presentation form is lecture, and half the time is spent on more interactive forms. This balance provides sufficient “instruction” for participants who want a lot of “meat” (content), as well as reinforcement for participants with more active learning styles.

Instructors will share first-hand experiences and encourage participant contributions throughout the day. Extensive use of activities, examples - including clips of people with disabilities using IT - and lessons learned will be incorporated. Tutorial materials will include a reference list that includes relevant papers for additional information.

Defining accessibility, understanding the issues

Accessibility can be defined as the ability to use a product even when functioning under limiting conditions. Limiting conditions can be functional limitations, or disabilities — such as blindness or arthritis. Situational limitations, including constraints from the environment, circumstance, or device — such as eyes-free operation of navigation and cellular communications systems in vehicles, are another type of limiting condition. Accessibility and hands-free, eyes-free, or ears-free operation have become an important issue for many designers and usability professionals in recent years.

Assistive technologies

One of the challenges for usability professionals starting usability testing with people with disabilities is dealing with new technologies. To be able to follow along as a UT participant interacts with a product and recognize usability and accessibility issues, it is important that usability testers have at least a basic understanding of and experience with the assistive technology (AT) used in their tests. During this tutorial, participants will have the opportunity to use various assistive technologies and adaptive strategies in interacting with web pages, software, and consumer products. Video clips will be used to help participants become familiar with other AT.

Integrating Accessibility into UCD Process

Accessibility is most efficiently and effectively implemented when included from day one of a project. Accessibility considerations come into play at each step in a user-centered design process. We will discuss how to include accessibility in planning and staffing projects, understanding business objectives, and product parameters; developing a vision, usability goals, and user performance requirements; conducting field studies; and developing user profiles and scenarios.

Years of research and practice have culminated in guidelines that cover development of hardware, software, and web pages. Facilitators will discuss the role that established and recently published guidelines – including the Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Standards (under Section 508); Product Design Ideas Browser from the Trace R&D Center; and Web Content Authoring Guidelines (WCAG) from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) – play in evaluation.

Evaluation methods and strategies

Evaluating for accessibility — that is, assessing a product's usability from the perspective of users with functional or situational limitations — requires the same basic evaluation methods and techniques in use today, with minor modifications. Specifically, participants will learn how to include accessibility in design walkthroughs, heuristic evaluations, and usability tests. Areas of focus include web evaluation tools, screening techniques, and usability testing. Accessibility heuristics, or functional performance criteria, that usability professionals can use for design and evaluation will be covered.

Usability testing

Issues relating to usability testing using screening techniques and people with disabilities as usability test participants will be covered. The facilitators’ experiences with usability testing will address issues such as adjustments to standard test procedures to accommodate people with disabilities in test settings, including recruiting participants; the test itself; access to facilities, prototypes, and test materials; interacting with and writing about people with disabilities; ethics; and safety. Activities will give participants a chance to actively address some of the issues.

This section will start out with a small group brainstorming activity. Instructors will define topic areas and participants will be able to select which area they would like to discuss. Each small group will share the key points from their discussions and instructors will fill in additional information.

Standard usability testing practice can be used to evaluate accessibility, with modifications such as those outlined below. In usability test planning, consider accessibility in the following:

• Setting usability goals - e.g., time-on-task targets may be different for participants with disabilities
• Determining participant characteristics - e.g., including people with specific disabilities
• Compensating participants - e.g., will you cover additional expenses that participants incur in getting to the testing facility, such as paratransit or paying personal assistants

In usability test recruiting, consider accessibility in the following:

• Recruiting participants - e.g., format of recruiting notices and locations of postings
• Communicating with potential participants - e.g., knowing how to interact with people with disabilities
• Screening participants - e.g., additional considerations such as what assistive technologies they use

In preparing for usability tests, consider accessibility in the following:

• Preparing test materials - e.g., additional formats such as large print tasks
• Reviewing the accessibility of the facility and procedures
• Setting up and testing assistive technology
• Conducting a pilot test - e.g., using screening techniques by people without disabilities

In conducting usability tests, consider accessibility in the following:

• Orienting the participant - e.g., describing the room layout and equipment to a participant who is blind
• Obtaining informed consent - e.g., reading aloud the consent form for people who cannot read it
• Collecting data - e.g., making sure camera angles are not blocked by wheelchair attachments
• Ensuring participant safety - e.g., make sure that objects such as cables, lights, and camera mounts that cannot be seen by a participant who is blind do not present a hazard
• Accommodating personal attendants and service animals

Screening techniques

Screening techniques for accessibility and usability are simple, quick, and inexpensive simulation activities that can be used by usability evaluators to gauge the usability of a product prior to testing with people with disabilities. Screening tests can be used early in the design process by the design staff themselves, and later with initial usability test participants. A set of screening techniques can be used to evaluate several functional limitations, such as:

• Using low-vision simulation glasses
• Blindfolding
• Using white noise, wearing earplugs or ear defenders
• Using one hand, using one finger, wearing heavy gloves or mittens

Activity: Putting it all together

Participants will be able to practice what they have learned by conducting mock usability tests. This will encompass many of the issues discussed throughout the tutorial, including using assistive technology and screen techniques.

Q&A and conclusion

At past UPA presentations on related topics, participants asked facilitators many questions that were not brought up during the main tutorial presentation (despite the “ask questions anytime” policy). To adequately prepare this year, we will allot extra time specifically to allow participants to ask questions on related topics that were not directly addressed in the tutorial.

As a conclusion, we will facilitate a discussion in which participants can share how they plan to begin implementing the techniques and thought processes presented throughout the tutorial. In the end, we hope that participants of this tutorial will understand that by integrating accessibility into design and evaluation processes, they can efficiently create products that work effectively for more people in more situations.

Instructors' Biographies

Shawn Henry leads education and outreach for the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)’s Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) (www.w3.org/WAI). Prior to joining W3C WAI, Shawn worked with international standards bodies, research centers, government agencies, non-profit organizations, education providers, and Fortune 500 companies to develop and implement strategies to optimize design for usability and accessibility.

Dr. Sheryl Burgstahler directs project DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology) at the University of Washington and collaborators with the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center. Sheryl has written six books and delivered presentations at international conferences on the inclusion of people with disabilities in education.

Mary Martinson, principal of Martinson Training and Consulting, has taught usability-related topics for the past 12 years and is currently focusing on conducting usability tests with people with disabilities.