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Re: Accessibility user testing

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From: Dana Douglas
Date: Jul 19, 2016 8:26AM

Hi Zack,

If a user encounters an issue during a usability test, of course you want to observe how they attempt to overcome that issue, but once you have learned what you need to learn, it is often best to move on to the next task so can continue evaluating other aspects of the site. For example, If you observe a screen reader user struggling with a form field that was not labeled properly, you can wait to see how they would attempt to overcome that issue, but there is no need to let them struggle for an extended period of time. By that point, you know what the issue is and that you need to fix it, so you can then move on to the next task. (Also, as Dave said, hopefully these types of issues have been uncovered through automated or manual inspection before the usability test.) Either way, in that scenario, I might help the user by confirming the information they should enter in a form field or directing them to a button or link on the page they could not find. At the same time, I would ask for feedback on what the user expected and how they typically deal with such issues. The bottom line is that you want to make the most of your time with the participant.

Dana


From: Zack McCartney [mailto: <EMAIL REMOVED> ]
Sent: Monday, July 18, 2016 5:40 PM
To: Dana Douglas < <EMAIL REMOVED> >; <EMAIL REMOVED>
Subject: Re: [WebAIM] Accessibility user testing

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> <mailto: <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-with-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