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Re: Front End Developers and ATs

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From: Olaf Drümmer
Date: Aug 29, 2013 3:35AM

Hi Steve,

Am 29 Aug 2013 um 10:49 schrieb Steve Green < <EMAIL REMOVED> >:

> When I started I just called up some disability support groups and asked if they could put me in touch with some people who were willing to spend a few hours with me in exchange for a reasonable payment.

I would be very careful here…:

- seeing people with disabilities interact with IT is extremely useful to raise awareness (one immediately begins too understand why it makes sense to invest a reasonable amount of effort to make some electronic content or piece of software accessible);

- in order to learn about the best approach, the average user with disabilities is not the best point of contact, rather try to get in touch with experts specialising in user interaction for people with disabilities (and make sure they have a decent expertise across various types of disabilities, not just blindness or low vision / use of screen readers); the main reason is that most users (disabled or not) develop a very personal style of interacting with IT, easily arriving at idiosyncratic approaches (which work well for them but not necessarily for others); keep in mind that any two people can develop very different styles - just think of preferring keyboard over mouse or vice versa. For example, personally it drives me crazy to see users use the mouse where I would use a keyboard shortcut. But that does not mean it is a bad thing for those users - using the mouse might be more efficient for them, and I am in no position to tell them they are not doing the right thing. I can nevertheless (try to) insist that keyboard use must also always be possible (and they can rightfully insist mouse interaction, or trackpad or gesture based interaction, must always be possible).


Olaf