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Re: Accessibility user testing

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From: Moore,Michael (Accessibility) (HHSC)
Date: Jul 19, 2016 7:33AM

Your example also shows why a small problem can create a really big barrier. I could see a development manager commenting on the report. Well 99% of the site is accessible. It's just the search box that is the problem and Google indexes our site so fixing the search is a low priority" Meanwhile because of the problem with the search people using screen readers can't get to the "accessible" part of the site.

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 L Snider
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2016 5:29 PM
To: WebAIM Discussion List < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Accessibility user testing

Hi Zack,

For your question about advice on barriers...I never provided advice to testers, because in the real world the user would maybe try a couple of things that they had done before as workarounds, but if they failed they couldn't use the site, and would need to go away from it. For my user testing and research study, I only gave tasks to testers, and recording what happened. I didn't want my biases or knowledge to get in the way. For me, I did it this way because it was then done the same way for every tester and I had no 'bias' in the process. I felt this was important in terms of the end results, so that they were 'real world', albeit in a testing realm.

I just wanted to add one thing that happened when I did a research study that involved user testing by people using different AT. I ran into a case where a screen reader user could not get on to the page due to a problematic search box that was at the top of the code and it meant the user could not keyboard anywhere on the page to complete the task. It was a mess, because that search box kept them out of the website as a whole (I used that site a lot to show people what not to do). So that person could not complete the task. You may encounter this, and it is a powerful weapon to show why inaccessible websites should not be in the world in 2016!

Cheers

Lisa
Lisa Snider
Accessibility Consultant
Everything Accessibility

On Mon, Jul 18, 2016 at 4:40 PM, Zack McCartney < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
wrote:

> Hi Dana,
>
> First off, thanks so much for your detailed reply and all the advice.
> And for the resources, too. This sort of test is totally outside my
> comfort zone, so I really appreciate the starting points :)
>
> I wanted to follow up on your point about providing assistance to the
> participant: do you have any advice for how to assist and instruct
> participants when the encounter barriers?
>
> I'm unsure about doing this well in usability testing in general, even
> more so with participants using a screenreader.
>
> Thanks again for all your help and welcoming me to the forum!
> Zack
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 18, 2016 at 11:06 AM Dana Douglas < <EMAIL REMOVED> >
> wrote:
>
> > Zack,
> >
> > Welcome! Including people with disabilities in a usability test is a
> great
> > way to evaluate a site's accessibility. Here are a few resources you
> > may find helpful (there are certainly others as well) :
> >
> > Slides from my 2015 UXPA presentation on the topic:
> >
> http://www.slideshare.net/UXPA/uxpa-2015-why-how-to-include-people-wit
> h-disabilities-pw-ds-in-your-usability-testsdouglas-and-davis-6252015-
> 49918852
> > A UXPA Magazine article by Mary Hunter Utt on the topic:
> > http://uxpamagazine.org/guerilla_tactics/
> > An article from Deque Systems on the topic:
> > http://www.deque.com/blog/incorporate-users-disabilities-ux-testing/
> >
> > In general, the test can be virutally the same as any other
> > usability
> test
> > (same tasks, methodology, etc.). You will want to make sure the web
> > conference tool you're using is accessible for screen reader users
> > (and other assistive technologies). Skype may be the best bet -
> > participants
> can
> > share their screen through Skype. The test should be as realistic as
> > possible. If users would not have any outside instructions or
> > information in the real world, you should not provide that
> > information during the usabilty test either. However, if that
> > presents a significant barrier (first of all, you know you have an
> > accessibility issue to fix!), but
> then
> > you can provide assistance to move on and gather additional feedback
> > on other aspects of the site.
> >
> > Good luck!
> >
> > Dana Douglas
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Zack McCartney [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
> > Sent: Friday, July 15, 2016 3:10 PM
> > To: <EMAIL REMOVED>
> > Subject: [WebAIM] Accessibility user testing
> >
> > Hi there!
> >
> > First off, hello all! This is my first post, excited to start
> > learning more about web accessibility.
> >
> > Anyway, I work at a web development agency and I've been tasked with
> > running a usability test on a web application we've built with a
> > participant using a screenreader. Our development team just made a
> > bunch
> of
> > updates to the site to move it closer to ADA (Americans with
> > Disabilities
> > Act) compliance, so we're trying to find out if our first pass
> > actually improved the site's accessibility and what work still needs to be done.
> >
> > The problem is: I've never run a usability test with a participant
> > using
> a
> > screenreader. I have basic experience running usability tests, so I
> > have
> an
> > ok handle on how to moderate a test session, but I want to learn the
> basics
> > of testing the user-friendliness of web accessibility features.
> >
> > Specifically:
> >
> > - Do y'all have any advice on how to test the usability of a site's
> > accessibility features?
> >
> >
> > - What adaptations, if any, should I think to make to my typical
> > usability test setup?
> > - The participant and I will be connecting over the phone, I'm
> hoping
> > over video call, with him sharing his screen. I have no idea
> > if this'll
> > work or if asking him to navigate through a video conferencing
> > app (Google
> > Hangouts) could complicate the test unnecessarily.
> >
> >
> > - Should I provide the participant instructions or can I (or rather,
> > typical of interacting with the web via screenreader) leave them
> > in
> the
> > dark, let them figure out the site on their own?
> > - For a typical usability test, I'd want to the participant to know
> > as little as possible about the site under test, as I want to
> > learn how
> > people figure out how to use a site on first encounter. But, I
> don't
> > know
> > if omitting usage instructions — part of our dev team's
> > accessibility work
> > — would prevent the user from even interacting with the site.
> > I
> want
> > them
> > to at the very least to be able to access the site, even if
> > it's still
> > tricky to use on screenreader.
> >
> >
> > Thanks!
> > Zack McCartney
> >
> > PS Sorry if my question shows my ignorance of web accessibility i.e.
> > anything sounds goofy or dumb. I'm totally new to the topic, trying
> > to
> get
> > up to speed. :)
> >
> >
> > > archives at http://webaim.org/discussion/archives
> >