Designing for Accessibility

Shreelekha Panda | UX Designer and Mentor

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Table of contents

We are going to cover an extensive list of methods, major focus of this session.

Let’s see where we are on this, and get on the same page.

Introduction

Research Etiquettes

What is Accessibility?

Research Methods

Let’s get to know each other.

I’ll share my personal list of Do’s and Don'ts with you for conducting research.

Hang on tight for some tips on getting started and some resources.

Analyzing Findings

Closing

So you have done the research, now what? Let’s make sense of the findings.

Introduction

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Just a Design enthusiast like you…

Currently working as a UX Designer at IBM in a client-facing role. Did my graduation from NIT Rourkela in Industrial Design. I love travelling, watching movies and listening to music.

What’s your story?

What is Accessibility?

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Defining Accessibility

Access + Ability - Being able to ‘reach’ or ‘access’

Accessible means a person with a disability is afforded the opportunity to acquire the same information, engage in the same interactions, and enjoy the same services as a person without a disability in an equally effective and equally integrated manner, with substantially equivalent ease of use.

- University of Kansas Medical Center

What do we mean by�‘Designing for Accessibility’?

Accessible design is a design process in which the needs of people with disabilities are specifically considered.

Now the question is why do we need to ‘Design for Accessibility’.

1.3 Billion

Or 1 in 6 people worldwide face significant disability.

- World Health Organization, 2022

42%

51.4

86.4%

People with disabilities think that web content accessibility has not changed over the previous year.

Errors per homepage on an average in an analysis of top 1,000,000 websites

Homepages have low contrast and 26% of images have missing alt text.

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EMPATHISE

DEFINE

IDEATE

PROTOTYPE

TEST

Research Etiquettes

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What else can you add?

• Have you ever spoken to people with special abilities?

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• Have you ever conducted an accessibility research?

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• Have you experienced/ heard anything that didn’t quite feel inclusive?

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• What were your takeaways on DOs/ DON’Ts?

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Research Methods

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Accessibility Research Methods

Best Methods to follow

�INTERVIEWs – 5 WHY's, Laddering

SURVEYS – Online, Telephonic, Questionnaires

CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY

BODYSTORMING

INTERVIEWS

Useful method for people with

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• Vision Impairment
• Motor Disabilities
• Cognitive Impairment (ADD, Dyslexia, Learning Disabilities)

Interview Best Practices

Take help of recruiting firms to get participants who want their voices heard.

Keep pen and paper handy. They might prefer writing, scribbling thoughts.

On the day of interview, greet them, make them comfortable, guide them to the seat.

Have someone who can translate (sign language / local language).

Let them know about the equipment around them, or the technology you'd use.

Tell them the interview isn't a test of their skills. Be kind and allow comfort breaks.

Have someone to take notes. Inform the participant as well.

If they feel uncomfortable, shift to topics to lighten the mood. Thank them in the end.

Questions?

Insights?�Stories?

Questions?

Insights?�Stories?

5 Why’s – Grocery Shopping Example �(3 Why’s illustrated)

Why did you not add tomatoes and lettuce in the salad?

I thought I shopped for it, but I forgot to pick the tomatoes and lettuce

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Why did you forget to pick the tomatoes & lettuce?

I checked the vegetable section but there were many fruits stocked instead of vegetables, I checked in the next section, but I failed to find it.

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Why do you think you failed?

I was looking for a signage but couldn’t find it.

Laddering

• Brainstorming technique to focus on root issues

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• Asks simple questions to get inside a user's head

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• Analyses benefits, features of a product and connects to target audience's values

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• For each area of a product, an A-C-V sequence forms a chain, or ladder

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• Series of ladders form a Hierarchical Value Map

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• Also effective to map negative connections with product/ brand

Laddering

“Why did you select those wedding invitations?”

I really liked the traditional design and the heavy card stock.

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“Why is the heavy card stock important to you?”

The heavy card stock makes the event seem more formal and substantial.

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"Why is it important that the wedding be more formal and substantial?"

My friends had fabulous weddings, I really want to do something on par with them.

Properties of a product that impacted the user's purchase decision.

Ways in which the attributes impact the  user. Each attribute may have one or more consequences for any given individual.

Each consequence is linked to a core value of the person’s life. These are the motivations driving the user's decision.

5 Why’s & Laddering

Laddering questions may seem repetitive and annoying, don't use for people with Cognitive disabilities

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Use to enhance other qualitative research methods, and to have a better understanding of user's values

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People with auditory disabilities might get frustrated with repeated questions

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People with speech disabilities might get frustrated with repeated questions

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Use to understand why they behave in a certain way in certain situations, and discover actionable data

Best Practices for 5 Why’s & Laddering

• Prepare some laddering question sets prior to starting the research

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• Estimate probable replies – include questions that move sideways and down the hierarchy

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• Prioritize the list of attributes before proceeding into consequences and values

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• Keep asking laddering questions until you uncover the root cause or you get actionable data. 

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• Do not only focus on what users "say", observe what they "do" as well.

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• Take breaks when the participants feel stuck or uncomfortable.

Questions?

Insights?�Stories?

Questions?

Insights?�Stories?

SURVEYS

Useful method for people with

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• Speech and hearing impairment (online/ questionnaire)

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• Motor disabilities (for arm – only telephonic).

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• Vision and cognitive impaired (telephonic or assisted surveys only)

Survey Best Practices

Use simple, short, clear words and small sentences. Avoid jargon. 

Typed-out or Online Questionnaires might not be for all– dyslexia, cerebral palsy, etc.

Give optional free text fields for them to type/write (or even draw) their responses

State the purpose in the beginning, indicate number of questions, use a progress bar

Don't jump between topics (to accommodate ADD). Ensure a relatable flow between the consecutive questions. 

Keep the survey's overall duration and length short to prevent survey-fatigue.

If they feel uncomfortable, shift to topics to lighten the mood. Thank them in the end.

Choose mode of survey depending on audience – questionnaire or online or telephone

Survey Best Practices

Provide alt text for images and videos.

Ask participant if they need help to read out or translate the form

Avoid posing questions in the negative so that the reader has to answer “yes” to confirm a negative.

Create online questionnaires on accessible platforms so that they can be read by screen readers

Clear color contrast between the text and background in the questionnaires. Avoid using only color to convey meaning

Exclude questions which can't be navigated by keyboard (drag-drop, sort, location ques)

In online format, ensure participant is aware of the tools, like chat, reading captions

While recruiting, ask participants if they need additional

tech-support

Observing and Interviewing Users in Their Context

Contextual Inquiry

Context

Partnership

Interpretation

Focus

When to use Contextual Inquiry?

• Ideally, during early discovery stages

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• To shape design choices such as requirements, personas, features, architecture, and content strategy.

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• Testing of proposed features/ prototypes

• For targeted design "tasks" - sign up form

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• Redesigning an ecommerce product page -Straightforward interfaces (don't require in-depth thought process)

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• When participants can't be interrupted at work, like surgeons – Direct observation works.

Types of Contextual Inquiry

Active

Users are asked questions during the session.

Users are observed during the session. Questions are asked or discussions are carried out after the tasks are completed or at the end of the session.

Users are observed as they aimlessly go about using a product, or browse an app.

Based on when questions are asked

Passive

Based on the type of tasks observed

Directed

Aimless

Users are given a specific task to carry out and the time taken to carry out the task(if they could) is noted down.

How is Contextual Inquiry relevant for accessibility?

• Best way to resolve the drawbacks of other qualitative-research methodologies such as surveys and interviews.
• These rely on the user’s ability to recall and explain a process. Certainly not ideal for those having problem remembering things.
• People tend to miss out lots of important details, like reasoning, motivation, while summarizing processes during interviews.
• Users (especially those with special needs) might feel like being tested, and tend to share only certain points they are proud of, filtering out areas where they fail to do a task.
• Users can easily talk about “what” they are doing, while they are doing it in their natural environments, and not in labs or virtual settings, where they might need some time to get comfortable.
• Best way to uncover things you wouldn’t anticipate, which have become invisible or habitual.
• Richer, more relevant information is gathered. Superstitions, interruptions, illogical processes and frustrations are uncovered.

Bodystorming

Walking a mile in their shoes

Have you ever played "Pretend-play" as a kid?

Bodystorming – Tips for you

• Instead of trying to visualize or imagine how a product might be used, here you act it out as though the product or process already exists, to better empathize with the users.
• Can be performed at any stage. Most effective during Research phase
• Have an explorer's mindset and be ready to unlearn all previous learnings.
• Have the user by your side and ask the contextual doubts 
• Not as effective as Qualitative research. Should not be replaced
• Not the best research method – might result in feelings of fear, apprehension and pity toward those with disabilities .

Bodystorming for Vision Impairment

• Good research method to empathize with people having vision impairments of various degrees
• Use glasses of different types – tinted, spotted glasses and those with partial or complete opaque covers

(From left to right) Diabetic Retinopathy, Macular Degeneration, Glaucoma, Cataract, Stroke

Bodystorming for Auditory Impairment

• Good research method for various degrees of hearing impairment 

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• Bodystorm by using ear plugs of various types – noise cancelling cotton ear plugs.

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• Or simply put on earphones/headphones with your favourite music on and go about doing your daily tasks and conversing with people

Bodystorming for Speech Impairment

• Low-cost (or zero cost!) research method to empathize with people having certain speech disorders

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• For enacting Aphasia, refrain from speaking! Try going about your daily routine or conversing with people without uttering a word.

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• Not suitable for other speech disorders like Stuttering. 

Bodystorming for Motor Impairment

• Only for certain types of motor disorders like arthritis, loss of arms/legs, deformities, cracks, fractures. 

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• Not for neurological motor disorders.

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• Not cost-effective most of the times.

Bodystorming for Cognitive Impairment

Not an Ideal research method!

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(Disorders like dyslexia, ADD, ASD, learning disability can't be played out!)

Questions?

Insights?�Stories?

Questions?

Insights?�Stories?

Analyzing Findings

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EMPATHY MAPS

• What is it?
• What template are you familiar with?
• Is it inclusive?

WHAT – HOW Empathy Mapping

While features may vary for specific disabilities, the solutions created should target pains, gains and overall experiences of all users – irrespective of their abilities.

The template has four sections placed like four petals of a flower, namely – OBSERVE, EXPRESS, ACTIVITIES, and WANTS. Each of these sections is divided into two parts, one asking the ‘what’ and the other asking the ‘why’. 

All-ability Empathy Building

Closing

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How to get started?

EMPATHISE.

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Yes, talk to people with different abilities. Get to know how they get things done.

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READ.

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As boring as it sounds, but get familiar with the guidelines, with the technology, build up your knowledge.

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APPLY.

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Don’t get stuck in Analysis-Paralysis. Go out in the real world and figure out what improvements can be done to famous websites or your own personal projects.

Resources

Bookmark these right away for your next project!

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• Strategies for Universal Design for Conducting Accessible Research

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• Strategies for Accommodations for Conducting Accessible Research

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• Sample Pre-screening Questions for Conducting Accessible Research

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• WCAG 2.0 Guidelines for Accessibility

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Thank you.

Have any questions? Reach out to me:

shreelekha199@gmail.com