‘It all sounds very interesting, but we’re just too busy!’: exploring why ‘gatekeepers’ decline access to potential research participants with learning disabilities

A growing body of literature addresses why potential research participants decline to take part in research which could improve their and others’ lives. However, a neglected field of study concerns reasons why ‘gatekeepers’ – professional or informal supporters through whom access is negotiated – refrain from offering the people they support the chance to consider participation. This paper draws on the author’s recruitment experiences in a project examining the impact of mobile technology on the lives of people with learning disabilities; his previous projects with similar cohorts, and existing literature to explore factors that contribute to gatekeeper non-compliance. A framework-analysis of fieldnotes, interview data and other documents elicited three main interconnected factors: Protection of vulnerable people and of self; Institutional factors such as policies and practices; Research factors, such as a failure to see any beneficial outcomes. Tentative suggestions are made to help improve recruitment, although initial non-responses conspire against most potential measures (such as to liaise frequently with gatekeepers). The paper concludes by opining that the most effective policy is to make sure the research itself aims to improve the lives of participants, their peers, and the wider community – and that this is clearly outlined in any approach to gatekeepers

DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY (ICT) SKILLS AMONG STUDENTS WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES (SLD) IN MALAYSIA AND UKRAINE

This study aims to develop Information and Communication Technology (ICT)’s skills for Students with Learning Disabilities (SLD) in Malaysia and Ukraine. Methodology used in this study is based on the Universal Learning Design implementation which involved three phases: Preparation, Integration and Assessment. The Preparation and Integration Phases are the stages for designing ICT activities and practicing digital skills. While the Assessment Phase is the phase to determine the usability of ICT for SLD. The findings of the study show that the Preparation and Integration Phases study are the most effective types of activities for digital skills development. It is obtained from the opinion of the experts in ICT related to learning content ranging from simple to complex with a defuzzification value of 0.939. The results of the Assessment Phase show that SLD can develop their ICT’s skills by using videos related to real situations. It also provides SLD with activities that can build a communication network between them and public and private institutions. All these activities were provided to stimulate and motivate them to work hard to achieve the desired goals

The state of web accessibility for people with cognitive disabilities: a rapid evidence assessment

Increased digitisation of day-to-day activities was occurring prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic only accelerated the virtual shift, making web accessibility an urgent issue, especially for marginalised populations. Despite decades of work to develop, refine, and implement web accessibility standards, people with cognitive disabilities regularly experience many barriers to web accessibility. To inform ongoing work to improve web accessibility for people with cognitive disabilities, a systematic review was conducted. The main question guiding this review is: what are the state-of-the-art of interventions that support web accessibility for citizens, 9 years of age and up, living with cognitive impairment? A set of 50 search strings were entered into three academic databases: SCOPUS, ProQuest, and Web of Science. Systematic screening procedures narrowed the search returns to a total of 45 included papers. A data analysis revealed themes associated with the lived experiences of people with cognitive disabilities, tools for improving web accessibility, and methodological best practices for involving people with cognitive disabilities in research. These findings have immediate implications for ongoing research and the development of meaningful solutions to the problem of web accessibility for people with cognitive disabilities.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Modelling the information seeking and searching behaviour of users with impairments: Are existing models applicable?

Purpose A substantial number of models have been developed over the years, with the purpose of describing the information seeking and searching of people in various user groups and contexts. Several models have been frequently applied in user studies, but are rarely included in research on participants with impairments. Models are purposeful when developing theories. Consequently, it might be valuable to apply models when studying this user group, as well. The purpose of this study was to explore whether existing models are applicable in describing the online information seeking and searching of users with impairments, with an overall aim to increase the use of models in studies involving impairments. Design/methodology/approach Six models were selected according to the following criteria: the model should address information seeking or searching, include the interaction between users and systems whilst incorporate assistive technology. Two user groups were selected from each of the categories cognitive, sensory and motor impairments, namely dyslexia, autism, blindness, deafness, paralysation and Parkinson’s. The models were then analysed based on known barriers reported for these cohorts. Findings All the selected models had potential to be applied in user studies involving impairments. While three of the models had the highest potential to be used in the current form, the other three models were applicable either through minor revisions or by combining models. Originality/value This study contributes with a new perspective on the use of models in information seeking and searching research on users with impairments

Effect of web page menu orientation on retrieving information by people with learning disabilities

The Internet facilitates the provision of accessible infor- mation to people with learning disabilities. However, problems with navigation and retrieval represent a barrier for this cohort. This article addresses one aspect of page design, testing whether a horizontal or vertical contents arrangement facilitates faster access to content for people with learning disabilities. Participants were timed as they looked for one-word \u201cdummy\u201d menu entries appearing in various locations along a horizontal or vertical grid. The words corresponded to images shown at random in a word-search type activity. Results were analyzed using mixed effects models. Results showed that mean search times increased as the posi- tion shifted from left to right and from top to bottom. Thus, participants undertook the test as if it were a reading exercise, despite the images appearing in the center of the page and the words appearing at random positions. The research also suggests that a horizontal menu may be more effective than a vertical one, with the most important links placed on the left. The propensity to imbibe information \u201cserially\u201d (word-for-word) rather than to skim or look \u201cglobally\u201d has important website design implications

Supporting people with acquired brain injury to use a reminding app; narrow-deep vs. broad-shallow user interfaces

People with memory impairments following an acquired brain injury stand to benefit from smartphone apps as memory aids. Due, in part, to usability issues they use smartphone-based reminding less than the general population. Evidence suggests this group may benefit from user interface (UI) designs with more screens with less information per screen (narrow-deep UI) rather than fewer screens with more information per screen (broad-shallow UI). This study compared the difference in speed, accuracy, guidance needed, and task load for 32 people with acquired brain injury when setting reminders using narrow-deep and broad-shallow UI. They were also given cognitive assessments (measuring selective attention, executive functioning, and overall executive and memory ability) and interviewed about their UI preference. There was a significant difference in accuracy; participants were less accurate (they made two more errors on average for every three reminders set) using a broad-shallow compared to narrow-deep UI. The reason for this difference was that participants omitted more information when using broad-shallow UI. There were no differences in speed, guidance required, and overall task-load. Participants with better selective attention and more experience with smartphones benefited the most from narrow-deep UI compared to broad-shallow UI. Most participants preferred one UI over the other. Those who preferred narrow-deep found it easier to use, that they missed less information and liked having one piece of information at a time. Those who preferred broad-shallow found it easier to review the information and felt less likely to lose track. The findings can inform that implementation of UI choices to make apps more accessible for those with cognitive impairments

Digital text presentation and navigation to support people with dyslexia

Dyslexia is a reading disability that is characterised by difficulties of reading, decoding and spelling. In order make online materials accessible for people with dyslexia, developers should make on-screen presentation of text adaptable. There is very little research that has empirically tested which text presentations and web navigation are helpful or acceptable to people with dyslexia. Therefore two studies are conducted on the aspect of text presentation, Study 1 focused on the effects of typefaces and font size while Study 2 focused on the effects of line spacing and line length. Study 3 focused on the effects on menu organisation and visibility on web navigation. All three studies compared English native speaking adults with and without dyslexia on their eye gaze behaviour, performance, preferences and opinions. For the text presentation studies, the dyslexic participants were grouped into more specific categories, mild and moderately dyslexic, based on the results of a well-established checklist for identifying dyslexia. Eye gaze tracking was measured in all studies. Findings from the studies on text presentation show that all participants had fewer fixations with small font size, shortest fixation durations with dyslexia-optimised typefaces, and fewer and shorter fixations with longer line length. Participants preferred sans serif typeface and wider line spacing. There were different levels of comfort with dyslexia-optimised typefaces for non-dyslexic and dyslexic participants. Findings from the study on web navigation show that fragmented menus with visible sub-menus had fewer fixations, while dynamic sub-menus had fewer revisits and fewer fixations. However unified menus were rated as easier to use, to remember and to learn. Participants with dyslexia show poor performance in both text presentation and web navigation studies. Key contribution of this programme of research is to the methodology of studies to investigate text presentation on screen and web navigation effects for people with dyslexia