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Re: Usability vs. Accessibility

for

From: Whitney Quesenbery
Date: Mar 24, 2016 8:09PM

I agree with so much that has been said here.

But just as I urge UX teams to understand accessibility more by opening up
their research to a more inclusive view of "users," I also urge folks here
to think about what expertise in fields like interaction design,
information architecture, HCI, and user research (to name a few) can bring
to a better understanding of accessible UX.

We need teams that are inclusive - bringing together the important bodies
of knowledge that support excellent user experience.

On Wed, Mar 23, 2016 at 11:35 AM Moore,Michael (Accessibility) (HHSC) <
<EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:

> 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
> > > >
>
>
> --
> Work hard. Have fun. Make history.
> > > at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> > > > > >
--
*Whitney Quesenbery*
(lists) <EMAIL REMOVED>
(work) <EMAIL REMOVED>