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Re: Now that IBM will no longer be supporting HPR

for

From: Phil Teare
Date: Nov 14, 2006 4:10AM

Has anyone used The Usability Exchange <http://www.usabilityexchange.com/>;?

I love the concept. I'd just like to here some user experienes with it from
a developers perspective. If there's any of you out there in that position?

Cheers
Phil Teare

www.talklets.com



On 14/11/06, Joshue O Connor < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
>
> I realise that not everyone would have access to testing with people
> with disabilities and
> a developer has to do the best they can with the resources that they
> have at their disposal.
>
> If it is possible, please do test with people with disabilities (contact
> a local disability service, they
> would be glad to help if they can) or if possible go for a dedicated
> user testing facility, thought the later may not be an option.
>
> Josh
>
> Emma Duke-Williams wrote:
> > I'm not sure what "problems that may not surface otherwise" Shane's
> > talking about, but I find a screen reader useful for proof reading!
> > We've got Read/Write though across the campus, so that makes that aspect
> easy.
> >
> > Emma
> > On 11/13/06, Shane Anderson < <EMAIL REMOVED> > wrote:
> >> Hi Josh
> >>
> >> Sighted users who test with a screen reader should not do so as a
> >> replacement to AT user testing but rather in addition to AT user
> testing.
> >> Many developers who do have access to AT users for testing, also test
> with
> >> screen readers or other AT devices. I test with several other tools not
> just
> >> one accessibility evaluator. The reasoning is that you find different
> issues
> >> when you look at things from a different angle. When I listen to a web
> site
> >> with a screen reader (with the display turned off) I am able to
> recognize
> >> problems that may not surface otherwise. It can be very helpful.
> >>
> >> Shane
> >> WebAIM.org
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> I don't know how wise it is for designers and developers, who are not
> >>> normally screen reader users,
> >>> to do their own testing with demo versions. I would suggest that a
> >>> better approach for testing it to use real
> >>> users of the assistive technology (AT), in order to get a clear
> picture
> >>> of the accessibility and usability of what
> >>> you are testing. I would argue that it can be counterproductive to
> >>> develop a site and test it yourself when you are
> >>> not familiar with the AT that you are testing with. I would hazard a
> >>> guess that many users who are on this list
> >>> who are testing with demo versions of JAWS are spending most of their
> >>> time getting to grips with using the screen reader,
> >>> rather than testing how well their site performs.
> >>>
> >>> I realise this post may annoy some people, but its better to track
> down
> >>> some users of AT who are totally familiar with
> >>> their devices and then let them test the site.
> >>>
> >>> That way the results will not be skewed.
> >>>
> >>> My two cents
> >>>
> >>> Josh
> >>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>
>
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--
Phil Teare,
Lead Developer,
<a href="http://www.talklets.com">www.talklets.com</a>