Incorporating Persons with Disabilities into Usability Research: A Practitioner's Handbook

Chris Hass, Senior Research Scientist, American Institutes for Research (AIR), USA

Madeleine Rothberg, Director of R&D, Media Access Group at WGBH, USA

Abstract

Human factors and usability research techniques such as lab-based usability tests, field studies, interviews, and focus groups are vital tools for supporting the design and development of accessible products. Conducting research activities with persons who have disabilities brings unique logistical, procedural and methodological challenges and rewards. This interactive session makes the case for research with disabled persons as an essential component of accessibility design, and will provide examples of practical lessons learned when the American Institutes for Research, and the WGBH National Center for Accessible Media began to study higher-education students with the following disabilities: blind, low vision, deaf, hard of hearing, mobility impaired, and learning disabled.

Introduction

We seek to foster discussion among research practitioners who are new to, or experienced with, incorporating persons with disabilities into research activities designed to support the development of accessible products. To frame the discussion, we will introduce a recent project that resulted in the development of the Accessibility for Learner Information Package (ACCLIP), a technical specification created by the IMS Global Learning Consortium Accessibility Working Group, with partial support from the U.S. Department of Education.

The ACCLIP specification provides a model for describing and recording user preferences for content, display and control of online learning interfaces. It is useful for a wide range of users including those with disabilities: depending on the user's choices, a learning system built according to the Accessibility for LIP specification will allow users with disabilities as well as users with situational challenges, such as a noisy environment, use of older hardware, or low bandwidth, to customize and personalize settings if the standard settings of a learning system are not ideal for them. Adoptable by small and large eLearning developers and content providers around the world, LIP serves all users by making learning materials easy to access from any and all "points of entry" (school, home, office, library, or via mobile devices) after an initial, one-time recording of user preferences.

To support the development of this technical specification, the American Institutes for Research and NCAM conducted human factors research activities with higher-education students with disabilities. These limiting conditions included: blind, low-vision, mobility impaired, deaf, hard of hearing, and learning disabled. The goal of these activities was to capture the students' views, practices, and customizations of the specialized technologies that facilitate their access to educational materials. Even though AIR is a seasoned behavioral sciences research corporation, and conducts upwards of 100 human factors and usability research activities a year, when we set out to formally include persons with disabilities into our studies, we found ourselves facing a significant number of logistical, procedural and methodological challenges and rewards. Ensuring the comfort, safety, and information needs of study participants who have disabilities involved gaining an in-depth understanding of their disabilities, instituting changes to our recruitment and testing procedures, developing relationships with disability experts and accessible facilities, and innovating our testing methodologies. In response, we were able to broaden our expertise, make decisive contributions to the ACCLIP development process, and pioneer new services that broaden our commercial appeal and support the continued advancement of human factors and accessibility knowledge.

We look forward to hearing from other practitioners about their challenges and successes including a diverse group of people with disabilities about their user tests.

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