Usability Testing for Accessibility

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About Linn & Heather

•  Types of impairments and assistive technologies

•  How to test for accessibility with automated and manual

accessibility evaluation tools

•  Preparing to test with users

•  How to test for accessibility with real users

•  Usability testing vs. accessibility testing

What you’re going to learn

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Types of impairments that can impact how people use your website

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Visual impairments Auditory impairments

Mobility impairments Cognitive impairments

Overview of Assistive Technology

•  Screen readers (JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, TalkBack)

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Image credit: http://westernblind.blogspot.ca/2011/06/cat-skills-zoomtext.html

•  Screen magnification (ZoomText, through the browser)

•  Speech recognition (Dragon NaturallySpeaking)

•  Eye-tracking, dynamic braille display, alternative keyboard, oversized trackball mouse, etc.

Making sure the product is accessible

•  Need to make sure what we design and build works for people with impairments and people using assistive technology

•  The way we do that is through testing:

- automated testing

- manual testing

- testing with users

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What to test with

•  Can’t be low fidelity/paper prototype

•  Must be compatible with assistive technology

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Ensuring test artifact is ready

•  Don’t want to waste time •  Code to WCAG 2.0 standards

•  Manual and automated accessibility evaluation tools •  Test it yourself

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HTML CodeSniffer

•  Browser extension •  Cut and paste code

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http://squizlabs.github.io/HTML_CodeSniffer/

HTML CodeSniffer

•  Results need appropriate interpretation

•  Tool will point to error on the screen, if available

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https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/web-developer/

Web Developer extension

•  Free for Firefox browser

•  Disable images, linearize the page, find duplicate ID’s, display ARIA roles, view heading structure, display image alt tags, etc.

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https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/fangs-screen-reader-emulator/

Fangs Screen Reader Emulator

•  Free for Firefox browser

•  Screen reader output, list of headings, list of links

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http://www.paciellogroup.com/resources/contrastanalyser/

Colour Contrast Analyser app

•  Free for Windows and Mac

•  Colour contrast ratio for level AA should be at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text

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Colour Contrast Analyser app

•  Ability to check colour contrast for different types of colour blindness

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Sim Daltonism

•  Free Colour blindness simulator app for Mac OS X

•  “Filters in real-time the area around the mouse pointer and displays the result – as seen by a color blind person – in a floating palette”

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https://michelf.ca/projects/sim-daltonism/

Sim Daltonism

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Sim Daltonism

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•  Best for large screens, dual displays or shrunken to a smaller window

Photoshop tools

•  View > Proof Setup > Colour Blindness

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Integrated colour blindness simulator

Greyscale

•  View your design in greyscale

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Automated test

Fix

Repeat

Test with users

Testing with users

•  Recruit some representative users

•  Ask users to perform representative tasks

•  Observe users successes and failures

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Things to consider

•  When to test

•  Plan the test

•  Sample sizes

•  Recruit

•  Incentives

•  Recording waivers

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Planning research

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Usability vs Accessibility testing

•  Methodology is the same

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•  Being mindful when facilitating

•  Tasks for screen reader to include everything

•  Adapt number of tasks

•  More specific recruiting

•  Using users set up – going into their home

Recruiting for accessibility testing with users •  Professional recruit

•  Personal networks

•  Challenging to find larger samples

•  Novice vs. expert users

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What to test on

•  Think about the device (laptop, mobile, desktop, tablet)

•  Type of assistive technology

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Personal set up

•  Set up is calibrated in specific ways

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Image credit: http://www.cccblog.org/2014/05/16/visions2025-interactions/

•  Avoid bringing a cast of 1000s

•  Recording can be a challenge •  Important to note the specifics of

the user’s set ups and settings

•  Speed of the screen reader

•  Advanced screen reader user’s can get up to 900-1200 words per minute

Technology versioning

•  Assistive technology can be quite finicky •  People don’t always upgrade to new versions

•  Intense learning curve

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Testing at a facility

•  Facility itself has to be accessible •  User’s tech set up needs to be portable •  Alternatively -allow time for the participant to

calibrate the technology

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Remote testing

•  Difficult to view user’s tech set up and how they use it

•  Software/applications needed to download must be accessible

•  Software/application must not interfere

•  Tech issues -> difficult to help find solutions

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Facilitation

•  Usual facilitation techniques: echo, boomerang, columbo

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•  Need to avoid using visual cues/clues •  Any supporting printed material needs to be large and

clearly legible •  When testing with screen readers, you may need to ask

users to slow down their speed (words per minute)

Analysing results

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•  Identifying quick wins

•  Being able to reproduce issues

•  Task completion

•  Communicating the results

Challenges

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•  Recruiting

•  Getting enough users with the same technology

•  Travel time going to people’s homes

•  Recording

•  Things not coded to standard meant upfront effort recruiting, planning was ‘wasted’

•  Forgetting to note down people’s set ups

•  Sometimes you can’t recreate the set ups

•  Wide range of technologies meant hard to identify patterns

Questions?

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Usability Matters 215 Spadina Ave, Toronto

www.usabilitymatters.com

info@usabilitymatters.com

Thank you

facebook.com/UsabilityMattersInc

@umatters

linkedin.com/company/usability-matters

Heather Moore 416 598 7770 ex 20

heather@usabilitymatters.com

Linn Vizard

416 598 7770 ex 19

linnea@usabilitymatters.com