Gregg C. Vanderheiden

Tests for Screening Product Designs Prior to User Testing by People with Functional Limitations

A set of inexpensive to implement usability ‘screening tests’ are proposed which would be administered by designers on their colleagues or acquaintances. Test subjects, who have no prior knowledge of a product, conduct every day use tasks while having their sensory, physical and cognitive capabilities limited through various techniques. The tests have been assembled to provide minimum set which cover a wide range of functional limitation experiences. For each test the concept, usability questions, and suggested procedure and materials are given. A hierarchy of test priorities is suggested. The tests should be conducted by experts who are aware of the safety and ethics issues concerning inducing sensory, physical, and cognitive limitations. The set of tests incorporate new, existing, and exploratory ideas A number of outstanding research issues are introduced, which are discussed briefly.

Reducing Sample Sizes When User Testing with People Who Have, and Who are Simulating Disabilities - Experiences with Blindness and Public Information Kiosks

Researchers have suggested running fewer subjects to reduce costs of usability testing of mainstream products (Virzi 1990, 1992, Nielsen and Landauer, 1993, Lewis, 1994). It has been demonstrated that, depending on the average probability of subjects revealing problems (p), most of the problems inherent in an interface will be found in the first few subjects, and adding more subjects gives little return on investment. As part of an investigation aimed at reducing costs in user testing of people with disabilities, a user test was conducted to compare the differences between a group of 15 blind, and 15 blindfolded (sighted) subjects using a touchscreen public information kiosk that was intended for use by people who cannot see. The number and type of problems found by each group were compared, and it was found that the results between each group were mostly similar: the value of p was within 3% (blind p=0.31; blindfolded p=0.34); each group found 46 of a total 53 problems (and therefore did not find 7 problems that the other group found, 6 of which were low frequency problems); 80% of the problems were found by the first 6, and the first 5 subjects of the blind and blindfolded groups respectively; the number of problems found in four evaluation categories were also similar. The need for further study in this area, in terms of tests using different disability types and other types of subjective and objective measures, and possibilities for using mixed subject pools of people who have and people who are simulating disabilities, are discussed.

Voting Reform can Include Everyone: Average Citizens, the Aging Population, and People with Disabilities

“If people with disabilities voted at the same rate as the non-disabled, 7 million more votes would have been cast in the last presidential election” (National Organization on Disability, October 1999). When interface technologies and/or the voting process as a whole are not flexible enough to meet the needs of those with temporary or permanent disabilities, obtained through aging or otherwise, citizens may experience various problems which may affect or prevent their vote. The authors will be demonstrating a proposed cross-disability accessible interface approach for electronic voting machines. The approach uses private speech output and a simple 3-button interface to supplement a touchscreen or selection wheel.

Development of Accessible Kiosk User Interface Solutions for the Public Sector: A Panel Summary

This panel discussed the challenges of developing an accessible kiosk through a multi-disciplinary and organization team. Speakers from each organization presented the challenges and solutions achieved from their viewpoints, industry, academic researchers, and the museum. During the development of the kiosk content and navigation design, the collaborative efforts of the kiosk development team resulted in adopting a new User Centered Design (UCD) process that is somewhat unique to the museum industry. Findings from the usability study conducted on the kiosks and applications for the EZ Access navigation technique were also presented. A demonstration of the prototype Smithsonian kiosk and other kiosks with accessible interfaces was included during this session.

Cross-Disability Access to Widely Varying Electronic Product Types Using a Simple Interface Set:

A set interface three simple interface features can be applied to virtually any mass-market electronic device, giving access to people with disabilities: people who cannot see, have difficulty seeing, cannot read, cannot hear, have difficulty hearing, have difficulty physically manipulating controls, and people who have difficulty remembering product processes can use one or more of the interface features to get information from, and control the device. This demonstration will show the three interface features applied on a number of products.