http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Design/Usability/Accessibility A listing of the most recently indexed works about Design and Usability and Accessibility in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Design/Usability/Accessibility http://tc.eserver.org/34622.html http://tc.eserver.org/34622.html Summary The issue with HP laptops that have a touch pad with a scroll zone contained it (as shown in image A) is that they do not provide a tactile cue for the user to help interpret what section of the touch pad the finger is positioned at. In the absence of a tactile cue, it is difficult for the user to determine whether the finger is on touch pad or the scroll zone without looking at it, resulting in the accidental scrolling on the screen when actually the user simply wants to move the cursor. The issue and multiple solutions are discussed ahead. http://tc.eserver.org/34617.html http://tc.eserver.org/34617.html The concept behind website operability is simple: Can everybody use the tools and mechanisms required to operate your website? Operability may seem easy, but it can be very challenging. Every control, every link, and every button on your site is a potential point of failure for operability. Without appropriate consideration for the disabled, you run the risk that disabled users will be unable to access your site. http://tc.eserver.org/34463.html http://tc.eserver.org/34463.html In recent user testing with a range of participants including Visually Impaired (VIP) and Blind users we found that the majority of problems were common across all groups. However the effect of poor usability is more severe for users with visual disabilities. Surprisingly all of the issues are very familiar and are easy to fix so we thought we’d revisit some of the basics of accessible web design. http://tc.eserver.org/33953.html http://tc.eserver.org/33953.html When people talk about both usability and accessibility, it is often to point out how they differ. Accessibility often gets pigeon-holed as simply making sure there are no barriers to access for screen readers or other assistive technology, without regard to usability, while usability usually targets everyone who uses a site or product, without considering people who have disabilities. In fact, the concept of usability often seems to exclude people with disabilities, as though just access is all they are entitled to. What about creating a good user experience for people with disabilities—going beyond making a Web site merely accessible to make it truly usable for them? http://tc.eserver.org/33114.html http://tc.eserver.org/33114.html It is most effective and efficient to incorporate accessibility from the very beginning of a project. When accessibility is only addressed late in product design, it can be very costly to make required design changes. Incorporating accessibility early in the project increases the potential positive design impact, and decreases the time and money required to design accessible products. This chapter provides information on setting usability goals, user analysis, workflow analysis and understanding accessibility issues. http://tc.eserver.org/32861.html http://tc.eserver.org/32861.html Web accessibility has so many benefits that I really do wonder why such a large number of Websites have such diabolically bad accessibility. One of the main benefits is increased usability, which, according to usability guru, Jakob Nielsen, can increase the sales/conversion rate of a Website by 100%, and traffic by 150%. http://tc.eserver.org/32865.html http://tc.eserver.org/32865.html Simply ensuring that your Website is accessible to screen reader users is, unfortunately, not enough to guarantee that these users can find what they're looking for in a reasonably quick and efficient manner. Even if your site is accessible to screen reader users, its usability could be so poor that they needn't have bothered stooping by in the first place. http://tc.eserver.org/32866.html http://tc.eserver.org/32866.html I have a few late model screen readers and I also have simple audio recording tools. I'll use them to get you closer to what these screen readers actually say. I'll start a collection of recordings so you can hear for yourself what these tools say. http://tc.eserver.org/32635.html http://tc.eserver.org/32635.html This article will explain some simple techniques which, if incorporated into the design of a website, will enhance its accessibility and usability for people who have a vision, hearing, physical, cognitive, or learning disability. http://tc.eserver.org/32485.html http://tc.eserver.org/32485.html Begins by showing us the core functionality of screen readers and how they interact with the desktop. In the second part it demonstrates how a blind user may use them to explore and understand web sites, how sites are “linearized”, and how using semantic markup to build sites supports accessible navigation and usability. http://tc.eserver.org/32486.html http://tc.eserver.org/32486.html Karo Caran and Victor Tsaran show how the screen magnifier ZoomText is used to make the computer desktop and web sites readable to people with reduced vision. http://tc.eserver.org/31766.html http://tc.eserver.org/31766.html Ron Mace, Ruth Lusher和我在1998年一起写作的一篇关于通用设计的文章我相信是这方面第一篇发表的参考文献。我们的目的是推广一个设计概念积极的方面，这个概念以前被与为有限的人群（残疾人士）消除拙劣的设计相联系。我们要强调的是这个概念为所有的人士设计这一积极的方面。 1992年，当第一期通用设计新闻邮件出版的时候，我们在网络上进行了一次对于可能存在的侵权的搜索，没有发现任何关于通用设计这一名词的参考文献。今天，当我写作这篇文章的时候，我的 Google搜索发现了“大约13，200，000”条参考文献。毫无疑问，通用设计这一概念取得了广泛的使用。然而，这个名词到底是什么意思？ http://tc.eserver.org/31633.html http://tc.eserver.org/31633.html Today, as I write this article, my Google search found “about 13,200,000” references. There is no denying that the concept of Universal Design has gained widespread use. But what does it really mean? http://tc.eserver.org/31571.html http://tc.eserver.org/31571.html The idea that environments can support human function is not new to designers. But, the perception that design can enable one’s abilities and participation in society is something relatively new from a consumer perspective. http://tc.eserver.org/31572.html http://tc.eserver.org/31572.html 对设计者来说，使环境能够符合人体的机能是老生常谈的事。但是从消费者的观点来看，设计能够增加个体的能力和其在社区参与的程度则是一个相对来说比较新的想法。在以技术驱动的全球经济中，生活的节奏使得可用性更加重要。低生产力，不便和错误的设计带来的损失往往是巨大的。全球人口老化是另外一个重要的驱动力，尤其是在消费产品的主要市场——发达国家。 http://tc.eserver.org/30765.html http://tc.eserver.org/30765.html Visually impaired people suffer from no faults of their own. This is quite worthy of consideration that a little more efforts toward adoption of certain features in your web site can help them retrieve information in the desired manner. Their ease of accessibility to your web site will not go unrewarded; they can well augment your business interests by turning into your most valuable customers. http://tc.eserver.org/29276.html http://tc.eserver.org/29276.html The unique requirements for motor impaired web users can often be overlooked or poorly implemented. Motor impairments can be caused by a stroke, Parkinson's disease, Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a physical disability or even a broken arm. This group of users essentially have limited or no ability to use a mouse. http://tc.eserver.org/27485.html http://tc.eserver.org/27485.html Setting legal standards for making websites 'accessible' to all won't help web designers, or users. http://tc.eserver.org/27415.html http://tc.eserver.org/27415.html Identifies web accessibility problems throughout the web generations, and summarises where we are now, and what we can expect for the future. http://tc.eserver.org/26626.html http://tc.eserver.org/26626.html A strict focus on accessibility as a scorecard item doesn't help users with disabilities. To help these users accomplish critical tasks, you must adopt a usability perspective. http://tc.eserver.org/26516.html http://tc.eserver.org/26516.html Learn all about user-centered design, the methods available to you, and how and when they should be employed. http://tc.eserver.org/25238.html http://tc.eserver.org/25238.html For this study, we recruited low-vision users with a variety of vision problems who need software to magnify computer text. Although we did not systematically recruit for specific vision problems, the fact that our users had different needs gave us one of the most critical insights in this study: The needs of low-vision users are too diverse for simple solutions to Web accessibility and usability. We show a few ways in which today’s Web sites are missing the needs of all low-vision users and provide guidelines for fixing those problems. However, the diversity of vision needs and the resulting adaptations that low-vision users require mean that there are no simple solutions to making Web sites work for everyone. In this article, therefore, you will not find many simple guidelines. Instead, we raise a critical issue and suggest a 'vision of the future' solution. http://tc.eserver.org/23594.html http://tc.eserver.org/23594.html Accessibility has come a long way. Not only most public places but even many private areas now claim to be 'accessible'. However, this term usually implies that a person in a wheelchair is able to get to the inside of a venue. This is not enough. If I am using a wheelchair, I would like to be completely autonomous and move around freely. I don’t want to have to go along a long dark corridor to use a service lift in order to get to another floor. Although I always appreciate it, I don’t want to have to count on the generosity of passersby to help me open a door or push my wheelchair up a slope. My only wish is to blend in with other people, and enjoy life as much as anyone else. http://tc.eserver.org/22967.html http://tc.eserver.org/22967.html Graphics are not directly accessible to people who are blind, yet graphics can be beneficial (in some cases necessary) to individuals with cognitive disabilities. Are these two disability types at odds with each other? How can Web developers reconcile the needs of these two very different audiences? Read more about the apparent conflicting interests in our feature article. http://tc.eserver.org/22949.html http://tc.eserver.org/22949.html Focus on your users, all of them. Learn from mistakes currently made on the Web. If a user can't fill out a form, they can't buy anything from your site. People turned away by unusable sites will probably try a competitor's site. Don't be the site that turned people away. Make your Web site as usable and accessible as possible. It's the business savvy thing to do. It's the right thing to do. If you don't, someone just might force you legally to do it or threaten to sue. http://tc.eserver.org/22830.html http://tc.eserver.org/22830.html Universal Usability requires that user interfaces accommodate users with a wide variety of expertise and knowledge. Moreover, individual users' needs and preferences change as they use a software system. Systems that guide the user through an evolutionary learning process or adapt the user interface to the user provide a solution to this challenge. This paper introduces the techniques, highlights several examples of systems that implement them and provides guidelines for practitioners who wish to develop adaptive and adaptable interfaces. http://tc.eserver.org/22802.html http://tc.eserver.org/22802.html A growing debate pits accessibility against usability. From our point of view, it’s like pitting peanut butter against jelly. This article helps you create a page that is both usable and accessible, saving readers the trouble of scrolling with a little help from JavaScript and the Document Object Model. http://tc.eserver.org/22752.html http://tc.eserver.org/22752.html An investigation of 1000 UK Web sites carried out on behalf of the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) reveals unacceptably poor (in fact woeful) accessibility. At least 81% of sites failed to meet the minimum accessibility standard, and this figure is likely to be much higher. http://tc.eserver.org/21010.html http://tc.eserver.org/21010.html The key difference between user interfaces for sighted users and blind users is not that between graphics and text; it's the difference between 2-D and 1-D. Optimal usability for users with disabilities requires new approaches and new user interfaces. http://tc.eserver.org/21014.html http://tc.eserver.org/21014.html With current Web design practices, users without disabilities experience three times higher usability than users who are blind or have low vision. Usability guidelines can substantially improve the matter by making websites and intranets support task performance for users with disabilities. http://tc.eserver.org/20367.html http://tc.eserver.org/20367.html Fahrner Image Replacement and its analogues aim to combine the benefits of high design with the requirements of accessibility. But how well do these methods really work? Accessibility expert Joe Clark digs up much-needed empirical data on how FIR works (and doesn’t) in leading screen readers. http://tc.eserver.org/20049.html http://tc.eserver.org/20049.html This document outlines approaches for preliminary review Web site accessibility, and for evaluation of conformance to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0. While it does not provide checkpoint-by-checkpoint testing techniques it does include general procedures and tips for evaluation during development of Web sites, and for monitoring of established Web sites. Other resources will be developed for in-depth compliance testing. The measures described here are intended to supplement an organization's existing procedures for content management and quality assurance on their Web sites. For information about why making Web sites accessible is important read the Introductions on the WAI Resources page. http://tc.eserver.org/19369.html http://tc.eserver.org/19369.html It's important for Web designers to have a basic understanding of the mechanics of human visual perception. To the extent that your pages are 'easy on the eyes,' readers will find your site more inviting and more readable. Conversely, pages that visually overstimulate a reader are not only more difficult to read, but much more likely to result in eyestrain, fatigue, even headaches (none of which is particularly popular among readers). http://tc.eserver.org/19263.html http://tc.eserver.org/19263.html This paper identifies challenges for a user–centered design process with respect to infusing accessible design practices into electronic and information technology product development. Initially, it emphasizes that when user–centered design is paramount and concurrent with accessible design, electronic and information technology can be accessible for all. Next, it provides an overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Section 508. Last, it provides basic accessible design heuristics that can be integrated into the design process. It concludes with recommendations for a paramount and concurrent user–centered design approach to product development. http://tc.eserver.org/19188.html http://tc.eserver.org/19188.html A wheelchair provides transportation for the disabled, independence and self-sufficiency to someone who would otherwise be completely dependent on others. But is functionality the only aspect of a wheelchair worth contemplation? Should we not evaluate the design aesthetic of wheelchairs to the same extent that we analyze the design of other useful and purposeful objects? http://tc.eserver.org/19191.html http://tc.eserver.org/19191.html I view my son's early school years in the 90s as a nightmare. I asked if my son could submit homework done on the computer due to his awful handwriting - weren't his ideas the key issue? - and 'NO!' was the reply. http://tc.eserver.org/19179.html http://tc.eserver.org/19179.html How is designing computer software and hardware for kids different from designing for adults? At the time of this writing, little formal research has been done on this topic. Most research done to date has focused on designing educational software, and evaluation is primarily of learning outcomes, not usability. However, usability is a prerequisite for learning. http://tc.eserver.org/19190.html http://tc.eserver.org/19190.html For 40 years I had taken no notice of the locations of ramps in public buildings, the height or number of stairs, or if pay phones had instructions in Braille. My, how things have changed for me since January when I took on the challenge of writing the Special Needs SIG's Conference Guide for People with Special Needs for the Society's 50th International Conference in Dallas. http://tc.eserver.org/19189.html http://tc.eserver.org/19189.html Gloria discusses her low-vision condition, the problems it poses in her life and work and the accommodation strategies she has developed. http://tc.eserver.org/19037.html http://tc.eserver.org/19037.html Frontend has recently completed the delivery of the first version (1.1) of the Irish National Disability Authority (NDA) IT Accessibility Guidelines. In the course of our work for the NDA over the last year we’ve talked to a wide variety groups and individuals who have an interest in accessibility and as a result of their input, our approach has shifted a little. Here’s what we found out. http://tc.eserver.org/19036.html http://tc.eserver.org/19036.html Once the information on a web page has been made, strictly speaking, accessible to assistive technologies, the question then becomes whether or not that site is 'easy-to-use' for people with impairments. It is not always enough to retrofit accessibility features to a pre-existing site that was designed without considering the needs of these users. http://tc.eserver.org/19049.html http://tc.eserver.org/19049.html Text-only websites are not suited to all users with impairments. Although they are often ideal for users who are blind and use a screen reader, accessibility goes far beyond this user group. http://tc.eserver.org/18740.html http://tc.eserver.org/18740.html SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) es un lenguaje de etiquetado que nos permite la descripción con XML de gráficos vectoriales en dos dimensiones. En este artículo se resume brevemente como los gráficos SVG pueden ser más accesibles siguiendo las directrices del W3C. http://tc.eserver.org/18604.html http://tc.eserver.org/18604.html This section of Designing a More Usable World is dedicated to cooperative efforts linked toward building a more usable Web for all. At the present time, there are a number of interlocking and interrelated efforts. http://tc.eserver.org/18598.html http://tc.eserver.org/18598.html People who could benefit from more universal designs include many both with and without disabilities. In some cases, people may experience difficulty in using products purely as a result of the environment or an unusual circumstance. Beneficiaries of universal design include: * People in a noisy shopping mall who cannot hear a kiosk * People who are driving their car who must operate their radio or phone without looking at it * People who left their glasses in their room * People who are getting older * People with disabilities * Almost anyone In order to design for the general population, it is important to understand the diversity, problems, tools, and abilities of its members. http://tc.eserver.org/18610.html http://tc.eserver.org/18610.html This document contains a comprehensive discussion about how to make print and electronic information available to people with visual impairments in a variety of accessible formats. Consumers who have limited vision or are totally blind have unique access needs. These needs depend on the amount of vision each person has for reading. Some people have usable vision, allowing them to read large print. Others choose to read braille on paper, while a third group prefers to use a computer with synthetic speech, or refreshable braille display, to read electronic documents. http://tc.eserver.org/18612.html http://tc.eserver.org/18612.html The W3C WAI Page Authoring Guidelines (Vanderheiden, et al, 1998a) contains nineteen general concepts that Web page authors should follow to make their pages more accessible and usable, not only to people with disabilities, but for newer page viewing technologies (mobile and voice), for electronic agents such as indexing robots, and etc. In this paper/presentation, we will talk about and demonstrate how scripts and style sheets can be implemented today, and still work on systems that do not support scripts and style sheets ('Transform gracefully'). We also talk about and demonstrate how the data in a table can be presented and navigated both via scripting and by an accompanying application ('Context and navigation'). http://tc.eserver.org/18605.html http://tc.eserver.org/18605.html A major project of the Trace Center is the development of an on-line design and evaluation tool to assist product developers in creating better and more usable products. The design tool will lead designers through a process that encourages them to ask questions about their design and provides them with information about aspects or features of their product that might pose access barriers. A listing of possible strategies and ideas they might use to address the accessibility issues or to make their product more generally usable is provided. Specific examples, audio and video clips, copies of reference documents and studies, and resources they can contact or refer to will all be included over time. http://tc.eserver.org/18607.html http://tc.eserver.org/18607.html The Product Design Ideas Browser is a reference tool that focuses on design strategies used to address the Telecom Act Accessibility Guidelines. Select an item from the list of Accessibility Guidelines in the navigation pane to find ideas and strategies that will be helpful in the design of more accessible and usable products. http://tc.eserver.org/18614.html http://tc.eserver.org/18614.html We examine some surprising reasons to explain why electronic book publishing will become a versatile medium comprising 10% of all consumer book sales in the U.S. by 2005, estimated by Anderson Consulting at $2.3 billion. The Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the Open Electronic Book Forum (OEBF) both pin this expectation on open standards--any book, anytime, anywhere, for anyone. Electronic books will succeed, we argue, in part because they provide communicative opportunities not available in traditional, static print media. But, they will also succeed because of developments in technology for blind readers which will benefit all readers regardless of ability or disability. As evidence we offer, among other points, Microsoft Corporation's licensing of technology developed to benefit blind people for use in Microsoft Reader and mainstream publishing applications. We demonstrate, further, that technology transfer from disability to mainstream use has solid historic precedent. http://tc.eserver.org/18599.html http://tc.eserver.org/18599.html There are over thirty million people in the U.S. with disabilities or functional limitations (of which a major cause is aging), and this number is increasing. An examination of the role of human factors in addressing this population is presented which would include both special designs for disability/aging and the incorporation of disability/aging into mainstream human factors research and education. Statistics regarding the size and characteristics of this population are presented, including the costs of disability. Examples demonstrating the economic and commercial feasibility of incorporating disability/aging considerations in mass market designs are provided along with a discussion of the benefits to non-disabled users. http://tc.eserver.org/18600.html http://tc.eserver.org/18600.html Essential to the ability of people to come up to universally designed products and know how to operate them is the existence of interface standards. Work is currently under way in a number of areas to ensure that people: 1. Know what to do to operate products they encounter; 2. Are able to connect any assistive technologies they may have with them to the products they encounter. http://tc.eserver.org/18611.html http://tc.eserver.org/18611.html Many individuals, especially those with visual, physical, and/or cognitive disabilities, have trouble navigating the content of data tables on the World Wide Web. These problems exist because most browsers do not allow keyboard navigation of the data tables, which is an essential technique used by many people with disabilities whether or not they use assistive technology (AT). http://tc.eserver.org/18456.html http://tc.eserver.org/18456.html Visual interfaces are inherently superior to auditory interfaces for many tasks. The Star Trek fantasy of speaking to your computer is not the most fruitful path to usable systems. http://tc.eserver.org/18444.html http://tc.eserver.org/18444.html Users with low education are users who have obtained limited level of education. These educationally disadvantaged people acquired and applied complex reasoning, but the lack of basic reading comprehension and communications skills hinder their success in education and skilled occupations. Low level of education effectively equals to functional illiteracy. Even though there is a significant increase in Internet use for individuals with elementary education (129%) from 1998 to 2000, only 9.1% of those with elementary education versus 75.5% with Bachelor's Degree or more uses the Internet [2]. More than one out of five adult Americans are functionally illiterate, and their ranks are swelling by about 2.3 million persons each year. Nearly 40 percent of minority youth and 30 percent of semiskilled and unskilled workers are illiterate [1]. It is hence necessary to address website accessibility issues pertaining to this group of users. http://tc.eserver.org/18448.html http://tc.eserver.org/18448.html Since the beginning of 'age of the Internet', the load time of Web pages has been the major concern among the designers and the users. Analysis of traffic patterns of the web sites has shown how the users get frustrated about slowness of the connection. WWW, which stands for 'World Wide Web', has been pronounced as 'World Wide Wait' by many users. Web designers often want to use graphics, animation, and even sound and video to represent or enhance web site content. However, these can generate longer waiting times unless the users have a high speed connection and research shows that web users don't like to wait. Tenth Georgia Tech GVU WWW Survey (1998) showed that slow ads, speed of the Internet and graphics are among the problems that the users complained most. http://tc.eserver.org/18443.html http://tc.eserver.org/18443.html The use of computers in everyday life, particularly the Internet, is growing at an astonishing rate. The idea of universal usability has been put forward to address the problems of building 'An Information Society for All'. Ben Shneiderman proposed three challenges to attain universal usability for Web-based and other services: technology variety, user diversity, and gaps in knowledge. While a variety of groups and organizations are working on hardware and software accessibility, how to design an easy-to-use interface that accommodates all user communities remains a major task. On the other hand, the population of older people is increasing at an extraordinary rate. People 45 years and older will soon make up more than half the adult population, and people 85 years and older are the fastest growing age group. While technology is rapidly being integrated into most aspects of life, changing the nature of work, the form and scope of personal communication, education, health care delivery, and home, older people are highly likely to be active users of technology. http://tc.eserver.org/18438.html http://tc.eserver.org/18438.html When we come to accessibility of web design, we will say that accessible web design is a sign of good web design. A lot of the information on the Web is not accessible to people with disabilities because of poor design. While many web site managers and developers accommodate various browser constraints, most of them do not realize that they are developing sites that people with disabilities have difficulty in navigating, or in many cases, cannot navigate at all. http://tc.eserver.org/18439.html http://tc.eserver.org/18439.html Color blindness is mostly neglected, even most of the people do not consider this as a serious problem. However, color blindness can be a problem that disrupts many tasks. http://tc.eserver.org/14238.html http://tc.eserver.org/14238.html Users with cognitive disabilities interact with technology in different forms. Designers need to understand the deficits of users with cognitive disabilities in order to design materials that are accessible to those users. This paper provides an overview and analysis of the current state of service to those with cognitive disabilities, and makes practical suggestions on design issues, as well as suggesting further areas for research. http://tc.eserver.org/14236.html http://tc.eserver.org/14236.html Even if technology is made more affordable and accessible, it still must be usable by a wide variety of people – experts and novices, abled and disabled – using a wide variety of hardware and software – old and new, text-based and audio/video. Universal usability has thus become another related, but distinct area of research. This web site seeks to identify some of the major issues faced by hardware and software designers who wish to build with universal usability in mind. The Table of Contents to the left contains a list of papers on topics related to universal usability organized into two groups. The first group, User Communities, identifies some of the groups of people who require special considerations when designing hardware and software. The second group, Hardware and Software, looks at the problem from the other direction and identifies hardware and software solutions to usability issues that effect a number of groups. All of the papers were written as resources to provide guidelines for practitioners. http://tc.eserver.org/13133.html http://tc.eserver.org/13133.html We describe the challenges of understanding and setting usability requirements for a web site containing a form. We define 'usability requirements.' Ideally, usability requirements should be defined early in a project. In practice, we often find that the first opportunity we have is when we are asked to undertake an evaluation. Collecting the users' opinions of the requirements as part of the evaluation can often prompt the organization into investigating the users, leading to a better set of requirements and, eventually, a better web site.