A Persona-based Extension for Massive Open Online Courses in Accessible Design

AbstractIn this paper, we present a new participatory design for learning, developed in the context of a transnational initiative for creating Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on Accessible Design for ICT. The core idea is creating an additional learning benefit by means of immersive learning experience. This is achieved by simulating scenarios, in which the participants in the MOOC course are prompted to take on the role of accessible media author, and user, vice versa. The approach is based on the concept of “personas”, a user centered design methodology that illustrates practical needs by portraying realistic personal profiles of hypothetical characters

A Case for Making Web Accessibility Guidelines Accessible: Older Adult Content Creators and Web Accessibility Planning

This paper presents our experiences supporting web accessibility planning among a group of older adult online content creators. We highlight challenges we encountered meeting the web accessibility informational needs of our partners and helping this group of creators become aware and put in place measures to address accessibility issues. Our reflections highlight opportunities for future efforts to improve web accessibility support for everyday content creators and support for helping those less familiar with web accessibility options

Elicitação de Requisitos para Adaptação de Diretrizes de Acessibilidade de Conteúdo Web ao Uso de Tablets por Idosos

A população idosa está aumentando ano a ano, bem como o uso de dispositivos móveis, como tablets, por esse público. Isso aumenta a importância do estudo da acessibilidade de interfaces para o público idoso, em especial das interfaces nativas desses dispositivos. Técnicas de avaliação de acessibilidade ainda não atendem por completo esse cenário. Nosso grupo de pesquisa vem propondo adaptar as recomendações WCAG para que atendam especificidades desse público. Este artigo apresenta resultados de testes de usabilidade realizados para elucidar problemas referentes a esse cenário e derivar requisitos para a proposição de adaptações no WCAG. Testes de usabilidade baseados em think aloud e retrospective think aloud, e questionários pós-teste permitiram encontrar requisitos complementares aos já indicados na literatura correlata. Os resultados coletados serão usados em adaptações e validações das recomendações WCAG 2.0 e validadas em trabalhos futuros

Florch: challenges on developing a new social network accessible for senescent users

Brazilian senescent population can grow three times the actual number in the next 20 years [18], being over 88 million people in 2035. This senescent growing number brings new challenges on quality of life for Brazilian society. How to promote digital inclusion to this profile of user is still a challenge in the literature. We believe that a social network focused on senescent users can enhance the digital inclusion for them. However, it's essential that the social network be designed for senescent users. This study aims to create a project with this characteristics. We analyzed a successful social network (WhatsApp) in order to propose a new one (Florch) for senescent users. We developed a high fidelity prototype of Florch and tested it. Our findings show usability and accessibility problems faced on the project's development. In addition, a Hierarchical Task Analysis of our social network showed that it has less and simpler tasks than the successful social network (WhatsApp).Siena IdeaCAPESFAPES

Sähköisen asiointipalvelun saavutettavuus ja käyttäjäkokemus ikäihmisten näkökulmasta : Tarkastelussa Suomi.fi:n käyttöliittymä

Tutkimuksen tavoitteena oli selvittää, millainen on sähköisen asiointipalvelun Suomi.fi:n saavutettavuus ja käyttäjäkokemus ikäihmisten näkökulmasta. Suomi.fi on sähköinen asiointipalvelu, joka kokoaa useat julkisen hallinnon sähköiset palvelut yhden portaalin alle. Koska julkisen hallinnon palveluita tarvitsee lähes jokainen kansalainen jossain vaiheessa elämäänsä, palvelujen sähköistyessä on tärkeää ottaa huomioon myös erityisryhmät. Tällainen ryhmä on esimerkiksi ikäihmiset, joilla on ikääntymisen mukanaan tuomia erityistarpeita. Tutkimuksessa selvitettiin ensin, millaisia saavutettavuusongelmia Suomi.fi-asiointipalvelussa on ikäihmisten näkökulmasta. Menetelmänä käytettiin automaattista ja manuaalista saavutettavuuden arviointia. Koska saavutettavuus on iso osa käyttäjäkokemusta, otettiin saavutettavuus huomioon yleisellä tasolla myös käyttäjäkokemuksen arvioinnissa. Tutkimuksen toisessa osassa selvitettiin asiointipalvelun käyttäjäkokemusta. Menetelmänä käytettiin kyselytutkimusta ja haastattelua. Käyttäjäkokemuksesta tarkasteltiin käytettävyyttä, käyttäjän tunteita, visuaalisuutta, käytön vaikutusta ja yleistä käsitystä asiointipalvelusta. Saavutettavuuden arvioinnissa Suomi.fi-asiointipalvelun käyttöliittymästä löytyi muutamia pieniä, yksittäisiä saavutettavuusongelmia, jotka liittyivät näköön ja kognitiivisiin taitoihin vaikuttaviin toimintarajoitteisiin. Saavutettavuusongelmat vaikuttivat kuitenkin huolimattomuusvirheiltä eikä niiden uskottu sellaisenaan vaikuttavan käyttäjäkokemuksen. Käyttäjäkokemuksen arviointi osoitti, että Suomi.fi-asiointipalvelun käyttäjäkokemus on ikäihmisten näkökulmasta enimmäkseen positiivinen. Vaikka ikäihmiset pitivät käytettävyyttä aluksi hankalana, uskoivat he ajan kanssa oppivansa käyttämään asiointipalvelua. Käytön aikana tunnettiin enimmäkseen positiivisia tunteita, ja asiointipalvelun käyttöliittymän visuaalisuutta pidettiin erityisen miellyttävänä. Käytön vaikutuksen tarkastelu osoitti, että ikäihmiset pitivät asiointipalvelua luotettavana, mutta suurin osa ei kokenut suurta halua käyttää sitä uudestaan. Yleinen käsitys asiointipalvelusta oli tyydyttävä. Koska ikäihmisillä on monenlaisia toimintarajoitteita, erityisen tärkeää on huolehtia sähköisten palveluiden saavutettavuudesta. Saavutettavuuden lisäksi muita tärkeitä seikkoja onnistuneen käyttäjäkokemuksen takaamiseksi ovat esimerkiksi käyttöliittymän selkeys, palvelun luotettavuus, visuaalisuus ja toimintojen johdonmukaisuus

Industry attitudes and behaviour towards web accessibility in general and age-related change in particular and the validation of a virtual third-age simulator for web accessibility training for students and professionals

While the need for web accessibility for people with disabilities is widely accepted, the same visibility does not apply to the accessibility needs of older adults. This research initially explored developer behaviour in terms of how they presented accessibility on their websites as well as their own accessibility practices in terms of presentation of accessibility statements, the mention of accessibility as a selling point to potential clients and homepage accessibility of company websites. Following from this starting point the research focused in on web accessibility for ageing in particular. A questionnaire was developed to explore the differences between developer views of general accessibility and accessibility for older people. The questionnaire findings indicated that ageing is not seen as an accessibility issue by a majority of developers. Awareness of ageing accessibility documentation was also very low, highlighting the need for raising awareness of accessibility practices for ageing. Current age-related documentation developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative was then examined and critiqued. The findings show a tension between the machine-centric Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) and the needs of older people. Examination of guidelines when compared to research-derived findings reveal that the Assistive Technology (AT) centric structure of the documentation does not appropriately highlight accessibility practices in a context that matches the observed behaviour of older people. The documentation also fails to appropriately address the psycho-social ramifications of how older people choose to interact with technology as well as how they identify themselves in relation to any conditions they have which may be considered disabling. The need for a novel, engaging and awareness-raising tool resulted in the development of what is essentially a "Virtual third-age simulator". This ageing simulator is the first to combine multiple impairments in an active simulation and uses eye-tracking technology to increase the fidelity of conditions resulting in partial sightedness. It also allows for developers to view their own web content in addition to the lessons provided using the simulations presented in the software. The simulator was then validated in terms of its ability to raise awareness as well as its ability to affect web industry professionals' intentions towards accessible practices that benefit older people

Improving accessibility for people with dementia: web content and research

The Internet can provide a means of communication, searching for information, support groups and entertainment, amongst other services, and as a technology, can help to promote independence for people with dementia. However, the effectiveness of this technology relies on the users’ ability to use it. Web content, websites and online services need to be designed to meet the abilities and needs of people with dementia, and thus the difficulties that these users encounter must be explored and understood.The primary aim of this thesis is to investigate web content accessibility for People with Dementia and develop recommendations for improving current guidelines based on accessibility needs. The secondary aim is to support people with dementia having a voice within research through development of accessible ethical processes.Qualitative data were collected with a scoping study using questionnaires about everyday technology use (people with dementia and older adults without dementia); and in-depth interviews to explore difficulties and web accessibility issues. A document analysis was conducted on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (ISO/IEC40500:2012) for inclusion of the needs of people with dementia followed by review of Web Usability Guidance (ISO9241-151:2008) to consider how gaps relating to the unmet accessibility needs for people with dementia could be met. The scoping study found that both people with dementia and older adults without dementia use everyday ICT to access the Web. Both groups described difficulties with web interface interactions, which refined the research scope to web content accessibility. The interview data with people with dementia (n=16) and older adults without dementia (n=9) were analysed using Grounded Theory techniques. It was found that both user groups experienced the same types of difficulties using the Web, but that dementia symptoms could exacerbate the difficulties from usability issues (older adults without dementia) into accessibility issues for people with dementia. Navigation was a key issue for both groups, with a range of web content design elements contributing to accessibility issues with navigation for people with dementia. The document analysis found that the accessibility guidance did not address all the accessibility issues encountered by people with dementia. However, the usability guidance did address many of the accessibility issues for web content navigation experienced by people with dementia. The research provides recommendations for improvements to web content accessibility guidelines including content from usability guidelines, and amendments to current guidelines and success criteria. A new ethical recruitment/consent process was developed and tested as part of the research process and is recommended for use in future research to support engagement of people with dementia.</div