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Re: Usability vs. Accessibility

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From: Moore,Michael (Accessibility) (HHSC)
Date: Mar 23, 2016 9:34AM

The thing that I try to keep in mind is that to the user who cannot find the information, use the service or complete a transaction on you application it just doesn't matter whether it is a "usability" or an "accessibility" issue. As an accessibility coordinator I regularly receive calls from people without disabilities who cannot use our web services because of technical problems or "usability" issues. They call me because they cannot "access" the service. When someone cannot access a service because a "usability" problem or combination of usability problems prevents them from accessing the service, and when those problems prevent access for people with disabilities in a disproportionate manner, then the organization may be discriminating against people with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act if the service is being provided in the US. If the organization receives Federal funding for the program or service then they may also be violating section 504 of the rehabilitation act. 504 does not just apply to education.

Mike Moore
Accessibility Coordinator
Texas Health and Human Services Commission
Civil Rights Office
(512) 438-3431 (Office)

-----Original Message-----
From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On Behalf Of Birkir R. Gunnarsson
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2016 10:22 AM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Usability vs. Accessibility

Well said Tim.

The exciting thing about working in accessibility is when you truly feel you are making a website more usable for everybody.
Sometimes we get lucky enough to work with those who really want a great user experience for everyone, in which case there is less of a distinction.
But sometimes you work with people who want to do the minimum possible to comply with accessibility regulations (and, hey, that is not always a bad thing, it is a start and beats not caring at all), and then you have to be more careful about the distinction.

The QA teams usually catch usability issues on websites for the, and I don't like that phrase" (regular user), so the issues we discover are more subtle and specific to users with accessibilities I always report usability issues I come across when carrying out an accessibility audit, making sure I mark them as such.




On 3/23/16, Tim Harshbarger < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> I've reached the personal point where I think there really is only one
> difference between accessibility and usability. The difference being
> that, in accessibility, we focus on users that may have some type or
> degree of disability that impacts how they interact with user
> interfaces (be it web pages, apps, or devices.) Usability in general
> can also include people with disabilities. However, most people who
> practice general usability don't specialize on a particular group of users like we do.
>
> I think sometimes the two can appear to be different things. I think
> that is because most things you read about usability tend to focus on
> trying to create an optimal user interface, while we still find
> ourselves struggling with questions about whether or not something can
> be used. My hope is that, as our own profession matures, we are able
> to adopt techniques from usability that will help us make better
> decisions and make progress on the level of accessibility.
>
> Thanks,
> Tim
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On
> Behalf Of Greg Gamble
> Sent: Tuesday, March 22, 2016 4:33 PM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Usability vs. Accessibility
>
> Usability ... is the page usable, does it make sense?
> Accessibility ... can you access the information on the page, can you
> read it?
>
> A page can be usable, but not accessible. Everything works on the
> page, but you can access it ...
> A page can be accessible, but not usable. You can read everything on
> the page, but it doesn't make since ...
>
> That's my take ...
>
> Greg
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: WebAIM-Forum [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ] On
> Behalf Of Kelly Lupo
> Sent: Monday, March 21, 2016 9:55 AM
> To: WebAIM Discussion List
> Subject: [WebAIM] Usability vs. Accessibility
>
> I did not want to hijack the tabindex thread, so I figured I'd start a
> new one... It was mentioned at one point that there was more of a
> usability issue than an accessibility one in one of the examples.
>
> I need to explicitly define the two for an unrelated project, but I
> find that I am having a hard time doing so without confusing myself
> (let alone the person reading I imagine!). How do ya'll explain this
> difference to someone who has little to no experience in web accessibility?
>
> I had started with the analogy of:
>
> - Being directed to a 404 - 'page not found' or having makes the content
> inaccessible (thus also unusable),
> - Whereas a page in a language you do not speak, and does not provide
> pictures or a translation widget, renders the page unusable because
> you can
> access the page - it is just harder to access the content (IE: you
> need a
> translator of some kind).
>
>
> ...And then I got confused by reading other sources which seemed to
> say the opposite. Affirmation or dissent and correction would be much appreciated!
>
> Thank you in advance,
> Kelly
> > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> > > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> > > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> >


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