Creating usable websites for people with learning disabilities
1. Exploring methods to test usability of web
interfaces for people with learning
disabilities
Peter Williams Painless Introduction to DH
UCL 2 March 2011
With thanks to Andy Minnion and Ian Rowlands
2. Plan of talk
★Background, context, aims etc.
★Study Part One: Eliciting the (usability)
issues
★ Methods; individual studies; findings
★Study Part Two: Comparing websites
★ Introducing ‘trade-off’ analysis
4. Introduction: definition of LD
“a state of arrested or incomplete development of mind”
Intellectual impairment
Social or adaptive dysfunction
Early onset (WHO, 2006)
Classified into ‘Mild’, ‘Moderate’, ‘Profound (and multiple)’
5. Background
‘The Road Ahead: Information for young people with learning
difficulties, their families and supporters at transition’
Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE)
6. Problem statement
Lack of appropriate information (Tarleton, 2004)
Much is inaccessible (Tarleton, 2004)
Even ‘accessible’ information hard to access (Davis et al, 2001; Minnion et
al, 2008)
ICT lauded as possible answer (Florian & Hegarty 2004)
But, little research on the most effective interfaces (Bohman, 2007)
7. Aims and scope
Aim
✦To determine which Web page interface factors facilitate
success in information retrieval by people with LD
Scope
Participants
Technology/platform
Focus (IR)
9. Stages/steps
PART ONE
Explore contextual factors
Develop usability set-tasks
Elicit the factors affecting information retrieval
Test methods of capturing user preferences (I’ll tell you about that later!)
PART TWO
Construct various different ‘accessible’ websites
Compare - performance and preference
Determine the optimum websites for different user groups
12. Factors affecting use of ICT: contextual
Massive enthusiasm
BUT
Competing agendas
Time constraints
Lack of learning materials
Lack of training / support
13. Factors affecting use of ICT: terminal
Issue elicited Resolution
Understanding of Single actions only
tasks
Idiosyncratic ‘Experimental’ v naturalistic
behaviour behaviour
Motivation •Set context
•Used meaningful material
•Emphasised engagement
14. Individual studies
Study one: Effectiveness of images (in game playing)
Study two: Navigation
Study three: Information retrieval
Study four: Capturing preference data (I’ll tell you later!)
Methods:
Observation
Think aloud protocol (where possible)
Informal interview
15. Study one: Understanding images
Aims:
examine understanding of images
test appropriateness and ease of use of
various games.
Participants:
Had moderate LD:
•Fair/good receptive language
•Poor or no literacy
18. Study two: Navigation
Aims:
To determine
Whether websites can be navigated effectively by
people with very low literacy skills
If usability tests can be effective with such a
community
Participants:
Again, had ‘moderate’ LD
19. Study two: Navigation
Procedure:
Hunt the treasure!
• (‘Find the man in the black hat...
• click!…’
• ‘Now find the box of treasure’
• ‘write down the letter on the
box…’)
20. Study two: Navigation
Results - Usability difficulties:
Iconography
Page-scrolling
Horizontal v vertical menu
Results - Methodological issues:
Role of the supporter
22. Study three: Information retrieval (IR)
Aims:
To examine navigation, scrolling and IR.
to elicit any methodological issues
Paricipants:
Mild LD
Tasks:
Where will you find information about money? (scroll)
How to you get the sound to play? (icon recognition)
Can you go back to the previous page? (navigation)
23. Study three: Information retrieval (IR)
Results
Audio / text issue
Text size v scrolling
Menu bar position
From the results we can ask ... for example:
✦ What is more important - large text or minimising
scrolling? Do images help?
25. Part two: comparing and optimising web interfaces
e- off
etrad
som is
one alys
’s l an
Pete
26. Part two: comparing and optimising web interfaces
Method (1):
First, imagine 3 mobile phones …
Which do you prefer?
Then whiz the results through a Conjoint Analysis
27. Part two: comparing and optimising web interfaces
Method (2):
Now imagine various web page designs:
Absence or presence of images
Menu position
Text size
And in addition to preferences, performance
29. Part two: comparing and optimising web interfaces
Example (Horizontal menu; with images; large text)
30. Part two: comparing and optimising web interfaces
Measures:
✦ Time on task
✦ Task success
✦ Preference evaluations
31. By the end of my study …
… I should be able to reveal the optimum website
interface!!
Thanks for listening!
32. References
Merson E, Hatton, C (2008) Estimating Future Need for Adult Social Care for People with Learning
Disabilities in England Project report, Centre for Disability Reserach, Lancaster University,
Lancaster.
Foundation for People with Learning Disabilities (2007) Statistics about people with learning
disabilities Available online at: http://www.learningdisabilities.org.uk/information/learning-
disabilities-statistics/
Disability Rights Commission (2006) Equal Treatment: Closing the Gap London: Disability Rights
Commission
Tarleton, B. (2004), The Road Ahead? Information for Young People with Learning Difficulties, Their
Families and Supporters at Transition, Norah Fry Research Centre, University of Bristol,
Bristol.
WHO (World Health Organisation) (2006)A Need Assessment of Health and Welfare among the
Disabled for Community Based Rehabilitation in Jeju Available online at: http://
www.wpro.who.int/internet/resources.ashx/HSE/occupational_health/jeju_CBR_2006_rep.pdf
