Colette Nicolle

Inclusive design guidelines for HCI

Part I: Introduction 1. Why Inclusive Design Guidelines? Part II: General Issues in the Design Process 2. Training, Verification and Evaluation of Guidelines 3. Accessibility and Usability Requirements for ITCs for Disabled and Elderly People: A Functional Classification Approach 4. On the Validity of Design Guidelines and the Role of Standardisation 5. Markets and Regulations Part III: Tools for Accessing and Using Guidelines 6. Managing Accessibilty Guidelines During User Interface Design 7. Managing HCI Guidelines with Hypertext on the WWW 8. Bobby: A Validation Tool for Disability Access on the WWW Part 4: Existing Guidelines 9. Nordic Guidlines for Computer Accessibility 10. Guidelines for Web Accessibility 11. Userfit: User Centred Design in Assistive Technology 12. The ISO Approach to the Development of Ergonomics Standards for Accessibility Part 5: Guidelines for Specific Application Areas 13. Guidelines for Telecommunications 14. Public Access Terminals 15. Accessible Systems for Transport 16. Guidelines for the Development of Home Automation Products 17. User Friendly Software for Computer-Based Instruction and Learning Materials Part 6: The Future 18. Telecommunications- Accessibility and Future Directions

Making the Internet accessible for people with cognitive and communication Impairments

This paper provides an overview of the work of the European Union (EU) World Wide Augmentative and Alternative Communication (WWAAC) project, which aims to make the electronic highway more accessible to people with cognitive and communication impairments, in particular those persons using symbols instead of text to communicate. Many of these users will also be users of alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) devices. The appropriateness of guidelines from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) are discussed, with the finding that few specific guidelines are available to make Web sites truly accessible and usable for these user groups. We propose that additional guidelines are required in order to facilitate access to Web pages for AAC users. Requirements capture and preliminary evaluation activities within the project have led to the development of draft guidelines that will be refined and validated as the project reaches its final evaluation phase. These draft guidelines are discussed along with other developments needed in this area.

Introducing computers and the Internet to older users: findings from the Care OnLine project

This paper reports the findings from a two-year pilot project called Care OnLine (COL). The COL project has introduced computers and the Internet into the homes of 50 elderly and vulnerable volunteers and provided shared Internet access at five shared schemes housing older people across the Market Harbrorough district of Leicestershire. A specific web portal was designed that was geared towards older and vulnerable people and provided information about the different services available to them, as well as links to a variety of websites. All the volunteers were provided with training in using computers and the Internet, and were interviewed regarding their experiences. Findings related to their attitudes towards, and experiences of, computers and the Internet are reported. The impact of having access to computers and the Internet on the volunteers’ lives and some lessons learnt from providing such a scheme are also discussed.

Rethinking universal accessibility: a broader approach considering the digital gap

The universal accessibility concept is usually formulated in terms that ignore the socioeconomic and sociopolitical contexts. Therefore, it has impact only on a small fraction of the global population of people with disabilities. This issue raises the need for a comprehensive approach that takes into account issues related to literacy, availability of technology, digital literacy, the use of minority languages, etc.

The Application of USERfit Methodology to Teach Usability Guidelines

Adequate teaching of usability should be based on laboratory experiences taken from real life, to allow the student to acquire good practical abilities. The application of previously compiled design guidelines is a straightforward way to learn from others’ experiences, to discover misunderstandings and to avoid oddities and biases in design activity. Our experience shows that USERfit provides a good context to the use of design guidelines in practical exercises and facilitates comprehension of the concept of usability and a good pre-professional experience in the use of design guidelines.

A Study of User Needs for the ‘Techno Kitchen’

A project, Transitions in Kitchen Living (TiKL) has been conducted to study kitchen histories and current use by older people. A multidisciplinary team developed a common interview methodology to collect people’s personal kitchen histories and their views on their current kitchen. Now and in the future ambient assistance and applied electronic technology might provide additional functionality to make kitchens easier to use for all ages. This paper relates some of these technical developments to user needs identified in the TiKL project and reports on the results of a survey to obtain older people’s views on them.

Let's Spend Some Time Together: Exploring the Out-of-Box Experience of Technology for Older Adults

Designing technology for older people has traditionally focused on compensating for the decline in abilities that occurs with ageing. The research described in this paper followed a more holistic approach, focusing on the broader user experience of technology in the home environment. Specifically, this research was concerned with the very first interactions with a new product known as the Out-of-Box Experience OoBE: how older people acquire their technology, how they unpack it, and how they set it up. This paper describes two exploratory studies that used a design ethnography approach to build a rich picture of the OoBE of new technology for older adults. The findings indicate that older people experience varying benefits from the involvement of other people during the OoBE of new technology. Lastly, the paper discusses the value of social interaction in this context and offer recommendations on the design of the OoBE of technology to engage older adults.

Cultural probes and levels of creativity

Cultural probes are a design research method, which has gained prominence for being particularly suited to conducting research on sensitive topics and in personal contexts. This paper reports the methodological process of designing and deploying cultural probes to investigate the meaning of independence for older adults. We describe the rationale behind the development of individual elements of the probe kits, as well as a follow-up qualitative interview. Our discussion focuses on our experience of using this technique, with a view to informing appropriate and empowering research methodologies for older people.

IDCnet: Inclusive Design Curriculum Network – First Results

This paper presents the preliminary results of the IDCnet Thematic Network in regard to the development of curriculum recommendations for Higher Education institutions in the area of ICT that include Design for All. These recommendations are based upon discussion with relevant actors in industry and academia to identify core knowledge sets and skills.

An AAC-Enabled Internet: From User Requirements to Guidelines

Ensuring that WWW pages are accessible and usable for people with complex communication needs provides a particular challenge for WWW page designers. Despite advances in commercially available assistive technologies, people using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) comment on continuing difficulty and frustration in physical access to technology and subsequent reliance on non-disabled partners (Clarke et al., 2001; 2002).