WebAIM - Web Accessibility In Mind

E-mail List Archives

Re: Tips on totally blind testing for the lowvision accessibility

for

From: Tim Harshbarger
Date: May 2, 2017 2:28PM

When possible, I try to use this as an opportunity. I am totally blind. I have also worked with colleagues who are blind.

Sometimes, I use my need for sighted assistance as a way to help train other people on accessibility. I might ask them a series of questions about a design diagram or walk them through how to test for color contrast. I get the help I need and the other person ends up more knowledgeable.

AT one point, I use to print out copies of the designs and I would take those copies (along with highlighter pens) to meetings with the project team. I would hand out the highlighters and the copies. I would have them walk through the design and interactions and have them use pen, pencil, and highlighters to mark up the designs. For example, I would walk them through finding and marking the headings on the page along with a heading level. I might have them outline or highlight sections where they could use landmarks. I think that ended up being quite educational for the project teams when we could do that.

I just mention it as an example of possibly how to turn a potential problem into an advantage--in case it might be useful.