UI-Design driven model-based testing

Testing interactive systems is notoriously difficult. Not only do we need to ensure that the functionality of the developed system is correct with respect to the requirements and specifications, we also need to ensure that the user interface to the system is correct (enables a user to access the functionality correctly) and is usable. These different requirements of interactive system testing are not easily combined within a single testing strategy. We investigate the use of models of interactive systems, which have been derived from design artefacts, as the basis for generating tests for an implemented system. We give a model-based method for testing interactive systems which has low overhead in terms of the models required and which enables testing of UI and system functionality from the perspective of user interaction

Identifying Attrition Phases in Survey Data: Applicability and Assessment Study

Background: Although Web-based questionnaires are an efficient, increasingly popular mode of data collection, their utility is often challenged by high participant dropout. Researchers can gain insight into potential causes of high participant dropout by analyzing the dropout patterns. Objective: This study proposed the application of and assessed the use of user-specified and existing hypothesis testing methods in a novel setting—survey dropout data—to identify phases of higher or lower survey dropout. Methods: First, we proposed the application of user-specified thresholds to identify abrupt differences in the dropout rate. Second, we proposed the application of 2 existing hypothesis testing methods to detect significant differences in participant dropout. We assessed these methods through a simulation study and through application to a case study, featuring a questionnaire addressing decision-making surrounding cancer screening. Results: The user-specified method set to a low threshold performed best at accurately detecting phases of high attrition in both the simulation study and test case application, although all proposed methods were too sensitive. Conclusions: The user-specified method set to a low threshold correctly identified the attrition phases. Hypothesis testing methods, although sensitive at times, were unable to accurately identify the attrition phases. These results strengthen the case for further development of and research surrounding the science of attrition

How the web continues to fail people with disabilities

The digital divide is most often understood as that between the IT haves and have-nots. However, if there is one minority group that can be, and often is excluded from the world wide web, even if they have a computer, it is disabled people. The Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Act 2001 (SENDA) extended the provisions within the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 regarding the provision of services to the education sector. Yet accessible web design, dependent on professional coding standards, adherence to guidelines, and user testing, remains rare on the web. This paper examines the background to professional coding standards, and adherence to guidelines, in an attempt to find out why the web continues to fail people with disabilities. It begins by examining the progress of the transition in the 1990s from old style HTML to strict XHTML. It applauds the vision behind that transition, charts its progress identifying the principle constituencies that it involves – and how well each has played its part. It then focuses on the further problem of the requirement for user testing to iron out anomalies not covered by standards and guidelines. It concludes that validating XHTML code is desirable, but that user testing also needs to be undertaken. It identifies the complex and heterogeneous network of interrelated concerns through which the needs of disabled web users remain unheeded. To support its argument, the paper details the results of two studies – 1) of the homepages of 778 public bodies and blue chip companies, which found only 8% of homepages validated against any declared Document Type Declarations (DTD), and 2) a wider research project on employment websites which also included disabled user testing and a number of focus groups and interviews with disabled users and web development companies

Penerapan Metode Pengujian White-box, Black-box dan User Acceptance Testing (UAT) pada website laser.umm.ac.id.

Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM) developed an application providing efficient search tools and sorting options to help users find the books or information needed quickly, namely the laser.umm.ac.id application or OPAC | Online Public Access Catalog. In this study, software testing techniques were used to evaluate the entire system prototype consisting of white box testing, black box testing, and user acceptance testing (UAT). The purpose of the research is to find out bugs and errors that occur in internal and external systems or structural and functional testing. The testing stages begin with white-box basis path testing by testing the source code / program code of the Advance OPAC search feature on the website, then next with black-box decision table testing by testing the search form on the advance OPAC and the last stage is testing with user acceptance testing (UAT) by distributing questionnaires to students. In white box testing, it is obtained that the source code has a low degree of complexity, meaning that the system shows that this application can run well without any errors. In Black box testing from the sample obtained the test results show a pass where the expected result matches the actual result. In the UAT test which uses a questionnaire with a Likert scale of 5 scales, the respondents agree above 75,3% (116 respondents) that the OPAC | Online Public Access Catalog system is able to facilitate the use and usefulness of finding library materials / information

Understanding the user - why, what and how?

Explains the need, importance, purposes and scope of user studies, discusses procedure for conducting sound user studies together with associated problems of research like selection of problem, formulation of hypothesis, design of study, sampling strategy, data collection methods, scaling techniques, pilot study, processing and analysis of data, testing of hypothesis, interpretation, drawing inferences, communication and dissemination of results and finally concludes by highlighting methodological flaws and gaps in user studies

Designing for designers: Towards the development of accessible ICT products and services using the VERITAS framework

Among key design practices which contribute to the development of inclusive ICT products and services is user testing with people with disabilities. Traditionally, this involves partial or minimal user testing through the usage of standard heuristics, employing external assisting devices, and the direct feedback of impaired users. However, efficiency could be improved if designers could readily analyse the needs of their target audience. The VERITAS framework simulates and systematically analyses how users with various impairments interact with the use of ICT products and services. Findings show that the VERITAS framework is useful to designers, offering an intuitive approach to inclusive design.The work presented in this article forms part of VERITAS, which is funded by the European Commission's 7th Framework Programme (FP7) (grant agreement # 247765 FP7-ICT-2009.7.2)

A simple and general test for white noise

This article considers testing that a time series is uncorrelated when it possibly exhibits some form of dependence. Contrary to the currently employed tests that require selecting arbitrary user-chosen numbers to compute the associated tests statistics, we consider a test statistic that is very simple to use because it does not require any user chosen number and because its asymptotic null distribution is standard under general weak dependent conditions, and hence, asymptotic critical values are readily available. We consider the case of testing that the raw data is white noise, and also consider the case of applying the test to the residuals of an ARMA model. Finally, we also study finite sample performance