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Accessibility for the Uninitiated

Expert user experience consultancy providing usability testing, eye tracking, testing with disabled users, accessibility reviews, and training services. Serving clients such as DTI, Economist.com, Houses of Parliament, Emirates Airline, RBS, ACAS, and more.

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Accessibility for the Uninitiated

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  1. Accessibility for the Uninitiated Presented by: September 2008

  2. Who we are Leading user experience consultancy Offices in Edinburgh & London Our services Usability testing Eye tracking Testing with disabled users Expert evaluations Accessibility reviews Focus groups Usability and accessibility training Clients: DTI, Economist.com, Houses of Parliament, Emirates Airline, RBS, ACAS & many more My background System Testing Web development Accessibility Consultant

  3. Who are the uninitiated? • For the past year we have been working with a major UK company. • Providing training on usability and accessibility • Intranet site administrators • Generally no awareness of usability or accessibility • Intranet page designs varied wildly • No standard adopted • Limited accessibility functionality in the CMS used.

  4. Background • Major UK Utility Supplier • 2,500+ Site administrators • Little or no usability or accessibility training • Very few with experience in website construction • Limited interest in site administration • Not their main role • Want to add/edit information then return to main job. • All users of existing intranet • All find the intranet a frustrating experience from a usability perspective.

  5. Main challenges • Content Management weaknesses • Little interest in usability and even less in accessibility: • After lunch session. “The Graveyard Shift”. • No clear understanding of what accessibility is. • Unable to grasp how disabled people use web • Blind people probably the easiest to imagine. • Had no experience of disabled people using assistive technology in their departments. • HR would not provide us with details of how many disabled users employed. • Little understanding of (or legal responsibility for) compliance. • Technical limitations – e.g. cannot install assistive software on locked down computers.

  6. Content Management System • Content management system has limitations:- • Produces invalid markup • Inline <FONT> tags and fixed sizes • Incorrectly nested headings (start at <h3>) • Use of table based layouts • Use of JavaScript based concertina menus • Damage limitation exercise • Identify which available structural elements not being used correctly • Link naming – eliminate ‘click here’ • Nested tables • Correctly nesting what headings are available

  7. Content Management Systems (in general) • Notorious for producing inaccessible markup. • As a result, can be impossible to implement accessible page content. • Training site administrators is ineffective if we do not train the developers who build and maintain the CMS. • In-house CMS tools often less accessible than off the shelf:- • Large number of developers • Inconsistency in design, functionality

  8. Disabilities • It is critical that users understand not only the disabilities affected but also:- • The differences in users needs • The different way that users navigate • Keyboard only • Alternative input devices • Less obvious effects of particular disabilities • Memory issues • Navigation restraints • Inaccessible accessibility

  9. Raising interest • Images of assistive technology • Demonstrations of assistive technology • JAWS screen reader in 40 minute mode • Screen magnification • Page customisations • Browser controls • Video footage of disabled users using the web. • More straightforward:- • Get participants to try and browse their pages without a mouse. • Anecdotes from disabled testing.

  10. Raising interest (2) • Hands on analysis of their own pages • Pointing out accessibility issues • Explaining how these issues affect disabled users • Mini-audit • Use tools such as Colour Contrast Analyser to show how site would look to colour blind users. • Provide video clips without sound and afterwards ask participants to provide details of what took place in the video. • Difficult without dialogue or transcript.

  11. Impact • Demonstration of a disabled user accessing the intranet generally has most impact • Most participants will not have witnessed disabled user accessing the web. • Many companies won’t disclose details of disabled staff. • JAWS in 40 minute mode • Use screen reader to access pages. • Responses are generally quite dramatic.

  12. Summary • Awareness of accessibility issues was low amongst content contributors. • Required to tailor the course to cover only what the could do using the CMS. • Acceptance that intranet sites won’t become fully accessible overnight. • Interactive demonstrations of assistive software very popular although not always technically practical.

  13. Thank You User Vision 55 North Castle Street Edinburgh EH2 3QA Tel: 0131 225 0859 Email: markpalmer@uservision.co.uk Web: www.uservision.co.uk

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