Presented at FITC Toronto 2018 Details at www.fitc.ca Presented by Andréa Crofts, League Overview Ever wonder how to recruit users with accessibility needs? And once you recruit them, how do you address the elephant in the room: their disability? In this talk, Andréa shares strategies for going beyond your homogenous participant pool. The end result? Inclusive products for all users, regardless of accessibility needs. Target Audience Designers and UX researchers, product managers, developers, digital creators of any experience level Six Things Audience Members Will Learn Why it’s important to test with humans across a spectrum of ability The art + science of recruiting participants with accessibility needs Factors and considerations for testing with the visually impaired community Tips for generative research Tips for evaluative research Easy wins to highlight your research efforts front and centre and invite product participation from all communities, including those with disabilities

1. (Re)mixed
Methods for
Accessible
Product Design
Andréa Crofts
Senior Product Designer, TWG

5. Source: The World Health Organization, Global Data on Visual Impairments [2010]
15%
Of the world’s population
has some form of disability.

6. Source: The World Health Organization [2010]
11%
70%
10%
9%
Colourblind Partially Blind Low Vision Blind
285Million People
are estimated to be visually
impaired, worldwide.
4.1%Of the world’s population

7. Usability + Empathy
Comin’
right up…
CHAPTER ONE
Inclusive Research
CHAPTER TWO
Quick Wins
CHAPTER FOUR
Inclusive Design
CHAPTER THREE

8. Usability + Empathy
CHAPTER ONE

9. “Accessibility is out of scope.
We don’t have the budget for it.
We just need to ship the product.
They’re not our target persona.
OVERHEARD AT TECH COMPANIES

12. Illustration Source: Igor Kozak on Dribbble

14. TWG has worked with
these companies to
research, design, build,
and audit digital products
for accessibility.

18. Article: "Living in the Dark," Toronto Life [2016]

23. The TapperThe Swiper
Defining Characteristic
• Comfortable with technology
Attributes
• Tend to be younger
• Tend to be more active and mobile
Directional Information Processing
• Procedural
• Linear, horizontal motions
• Reliant on voiceover
Defining Characteristic
• Somewhat or not very comfortable with
technology
Attributes
• Tend to be older
• Tend to be less active and mobile
Directional Information Processing
• Spatial information processing
• Using the surface area of the screen to navigate
BEHAVIOURAL PERSONAS

25. Inclusive Research
CHAPTER TWO

27. Empathize Define Ideate Prototype Test

29. Source: CNIB.ca
CNIB
A charitable organization dedicated to
assisting Canadians who are blind or
living with vision loss.
Canadian National Institute for the Blind
cnib.ca
TESTING CENTERS CONTACT
CNIB Community Hub
CNIB Toronto Office

30. Source: CHS.ca
CHS
The CHS advocates and provides
support for the hearing impaired
community in Canada.
Canadian Hearing Society
chs.ca
TESTING CENTERS CONTACT
CHS Toronto

31. Source: LDAC-ACTA.ca
LDAC
Provides leadership and support to
people with learning disabilities (LD)
and their communities.
Learning Disabilities Association of Canada
LDAO.ca
TESTING CENTERS CONTACT
LDA Ontario

32. Source: CDACanada.com
CDAC
Promotes human rights, accessibility
and inclusion for people with
communication disabilities.
Communication Disabilities Access Canada
cdacanada.com
TESTING CENTERS CONTACT
CDAC Toronto

33. Custom Screener
Survey Example
We are particularly interested in including people with
disabilities in [developing our products | this study].
1. Do you have a disability?
If yes, please briefly describe your disability and how it affects
your use of [product type—such as mobile phones, websites].
2. Do you use any assistive technologies, specialized
computer access software or hardware, or adaptive
strategies when you use [product type]? (if needed, can
provide examples: such as screen readers, voice input,
alternative keyboard or pointing device)

34. Requirements Gathering
Field Study / User Interview
Diary Study
Task Analysis
Journey Mapping
Design Review
User Stories
Clickable Prototype Testing
Persona Building
Paper Prototye Testing
Competitive Analysis
Card Sorting
In-Person Usability Study
Accessibility Evaluation
Remote Usability Study
Test Instructions, Help
Analytics Review
Survey
Search-Log Analysis
89%
74%
22%
92%
83%
82%
80%
80%
77%
68%
61%
48%
84%
62%
58%
51%
82%
76%
47%
Generative
Discover
Explore
Test
Listen
Evaluative
Source: Nielsen Norman, 2017

35. Requirements Gathering
Field Study / User Interview
In-Person Usability Study
Accessibility Evaluation
Remote Usability Study
89%
74%
84%
62%
58%
GenerativeDiscover
Test Evaluative
Source: Nielsen Norman, 2017

36. Conduct interviews on the phone
for less mobile participants.02
Ask about lifestyle, mobility,
assistive devices, and hobbies.03
Offer generous incentives. Many
participants are low-income.04
[1] Source: UI Access and TWG Primary Research
Create a custom screener
survey for this demographic.01 [1]
Generative
Research
USER INTERVIEW
FIELD STUDY
REQUIREMENTS

37. Observe the use of accessibility
features and micro-interactions.02
Allow ample time for transportation
drop-off and pick-up.03
Test early, and test often. An ideal
cadence is 5 test sessions per sprint.04
Usability tests are best conducted
in-person with the VI community.01
Evaluative
Research
USABILITY TESTING
CARD SORTING
ACCESSIBILITY AUDIT
Act as a guide, anticipating their
needs and describing the space.05

38. The role of the designer is
that of a thoughtful host,
anticipating the needs of
their guests.
Accessibility Researcher
Ray and Charles Eames
Prolific Designers of the Eames Chair

39. Inclusive Design
CHAPTER THREE

40. Empathize Define Ideate Prototype Test

41. Prototyping
for the Blind

42. Design an onboarding sequence
to give users the lay of the land.02
Leverage familiar out-of-the-box
UI patterns.03
Watch your contrast ratios. Test
for low vision & colour blindness.04
Maximize your efforts & learnings
by prototyping in code.01
Design
& Prototyping
VISUAL DESIGN
PROTOTYPING
DESIGN QA

43. • Colour contrast analyzer
• Colour blindness simulator
Tools for
Early Design
QA Testing

44. Source: Smashing Magazine [2016]
Left Hand Combined Right Hand
The Mobile
Thumb Zone

45. Source: Smashing Magazine [2016]
Natural
for the Visually Impaired
Natural
Stretching
Hard
Stretching
Landmark
The Mobile
Thumb Zone

46. Create VoiceOver test cases and
accessibility acceptance criteria.02
Have developers use their own
product using a screen reader.03
Collaborate together on
VoiceOver scripts throughout.04
Incorporate screen readers in
your QA testing process.01
QA Testing +
Development
ACCESSIBILITY AUDITS
QUALITY ASSURANCE
BUILD & IMPLEMENTATION

47. Quick Wins
CHAPTER FOUR

48. Source: xello.world [2018]

49. Source: xello.world, 2018

50. For sighted people, technology
makes life better.
For the visually impaired,
it makes life possible.
Merna H.
BLIND USER