Environmental Concerns: Making Your Usability Tests Accessible
taught by: Erica Braverman
Session Summary
You are ready to start usability research with participants who have disabilities! But how can you make sure that the study experience itself is accessible? Learn how to plan for accessibility at every step of the way.
Description
In this session, we will break apart the anatomy of various types of usability studies and look at where accessibility barriers can pop up at each stage (screeners, NDAs, remote testing environment, etc). We will also talk about some "soft skills" that researchers can apply to their studies to maximize participant comfort and accessibility. We will discuss how to evaluate digital testing tools for accessibility and how to build the time and space needed to do so into the study timeline. Finally, we will practice applying some of these concepts to our own testing projects.
Practical Skills
- Participants will be able to recognize some common accessibility barriers that can occur during usability testing.
- Participants will learn communication skills that will help them discuss disability and accessibility with participants and clients.
- Participants will be able to name key steps in evaluating testing tools for accessibility.