Providing better scaffolding - how BS8878 affects people designing inclusive user experiences

Providing better scaffolding - how BS8878 affects people designing inclusive user experiences
Prof Jonathan Hassell
Director, Hassell Inclusion ltd.
Chair, BSI IST/45
UK-UPA Call to action: Designing inclusive user experiences
16th September 2011

IST/45 view: what accessibility really should be…
all about disabled people
aim shouldn’t be accessibility… or even usability… but a great user experience for disabled and elderly people
whether they can get the right value out of what you create
exactly what you aim for, for every other audience
you don’t want to exclude 10m+ people from using your products…
so why don’t more organisations do it?

How does BS8878 help?
presents the business-case for accessibility and digital inclusion
gives advice for how to embed accessibility strategically within an organisation
shows a process which identifies the key decisions which are taken in a web product’s lifecycle which impact accessibility
recommends an informed way of making these decisions…
and a way of documenting all of this to ensure best practice
Organizational Web Accessibility Policy
WebProduct Accessibility Policy
WebProduct Accessibility Statement

The accessibility of your web productsis in all these people’s hands…
SnrMgrs
Legal
Finance
Marketing
Strategy
Project Mgrs
Product Mgrs
Developers
Designers
Research & Testers
Writers

Embedding motivation
Need to motivate each group…
Or just use a business case for the top level and set policy top to bottom…
check out OneVoice business cases…
SnrMgrs
Legal
Finance
Marketing
Strategy
Project Mgrs
Product Mgrs
Developers
Designers
Research & Testers
Writers

Embedding responsibility
Work out whose responsibility accessibility should ultimately be…
Make sure they delegate (and monitor results) well
Make sure those delegated to are trained in their responsibilities
SnrMgrs
Legal
Finance
Marketing
Strategy
Project Mgrs
Product Mgrs
Developers
Designers
Research & Testers
Writers

Embedding through strategic policies
SnrMgrs
Legal
Finance
Marketing
Strategy
create an Organizational Web Accessibility Policy to strategically embed accessibility into the organization’s business as usual
including where accessibility is embedded in:
web procurement policy
web technology policy
marketing guidelines
web production standards (e.g. compliance with WCAG, browser support, AT support)
Project Mgrs
Product Mgrs
Developers
Designers
Testers
Writers

Harmonising accessibility with user-centred/inclusive design processes
relating web accessibility to wider human-centred and inclusive design practices
and bringing in concepts of user-personalised approaches…
From: ISO/FDIS 9241-210
Human-centred design for interactive systems

Yes,there are16steps(sorry…)

An informed way of making good decisions
every decision taken could affect whether the product will include or exclude disabled and elderly people
so every decision should be:
recognised as a decision
have all options and implications considered
made based on justifiable reasoning
noted in the Web Product’s Accessibility Policy for transparency
at every step of the process

BS8878 Product process - 1st stage: doing the right research & thought before you start…

2. Define its target audiences
can you predict/control who will use it?
e.g. an Intranet
or an extranet
or will be used by a range of audiences?
is it designed for a particular audience?

4. Note any platform or technology preferences& restrictions
for example:
lack of ability to download & install plug-ins or browser updates
IT policy restrictions in offices, colleges preventing use of browser preferences, installation of assistive technologies
strong platform preferences due to worries of cost/complexity/security
will impact on technology choice, platform choice, reliance on ATs to mediate website experiences
cf. rich-media technologies like Flash and ‘alternative versions’
accessibility isn’t about luddite-ism; it is about understanding what your audience really need…

BS8878 Product process - 2nd stage: making strategic choices based on that research

7. Consider the degree of user-experience the product will aim to provide
degrees:
technically accessible
usable
satisfying/enjoyable
an example for online Pacman:
Technically accessible = can control Pacman using a switch
Usable = have a chance of winning as the ghosts adapt to the speed of interaction of my switch
Satisfying = have the right level of challenge (not too easy or too hard)
define the aim for each combination of user group and user goal
BS8878 doesn’t tell you what level you should pick, just lets you know what the options are, and asks you to choose a level you feel you can justify

9. Consider the delivery platforms you will support(and their accessibility implications)
which platforms are you going to support, and what degree of accessibility will you aim to achieve?
useful research to have:
are you in control of which platforms your users will use your product on?
no, if it’s available publicly via a browser
yes, if it’s an intranet or only available as an app
are your users likely to have a preference on the platforms on which to use your product?
options for degree of accessibility to aim for across different platforms?
one accessible product for desktop, hope standards will make it work on other platforms
as (1) but with UI tweaks (device detection) and accessibility testing on other platforms
versions optimised for each platform, including appropriate UI and functionality subset, fully tested

BS8878 Product process -3rd stage: production, launch and maintenance

Quality of data
User testing
Remote testing
User reviews / interviews
Expert walkthrough
Heuristics
Testing with assistive technologies
Automated testing
14.Assure the product’s accessibility through production
creating an accessibility test plan
which testing methods will be used…
at what points of the production process…
sticking to the plan
finding out whether you are achieving your target degree of UX
when the ideal isn’t possible…
Cost

15. Communicate accessibility decisions at launch
working out which compromises you can launch with… and which you can’t…
achieving the minimal viable product and managing accessibility risk
communicating all those decisions & compromises to your audiences…
in an easily found accessibility statement on your website
which your audiences can understand…
Confusing help text: A number of sites accessed by participants provided help pages which were so technical that they were practically useless. Mention of plugins and cookies resulted in complete confusion by the users and apprehension about whether they were able to follow the instructions given.

Summary: in a team/organisation that follows BS8878
you’ll be expected to take accessibility seriously by product managers
you’ll be in a team where each member knows what accessibility expects from them
they’ll ask you to follow a user-centred design process(like I guess you want anyway)
they’ll ask you for/give you real-world user-research to help good decision making
you’ll be empowered to make decisions re accessibility, as long as you can justify them, and write them down
you’ll have the freedom to create product variations where users’ needs diverge
you’ll have a place to find best practice help for accessible design beyond the web
you’ll be asked to test products for accessibility, alongside usability, to the level the budget will allow (and they’ll be aware of the limited benefits of cheap options)
you’ll be freed from the impossibility of doing everything you could possibly do for v1.0, as long as you tell your audience why and when they’ll get what they need

Innovation
Embedding
Standards
Strategy & research
www.hassellinclusion.com

Standards for the next generation of accessibility - BS8878
Jonathan HassellChair, BSI IST/45Head of Usability & Accessibility, BBC Future Media
BTAT Technical Swapshop
11th February 2011
e: jonathan@hassellinclusion.comt: @jonhassellw: www.hassellinclusion.com

Providing better scaffolding - how BS8878 affects people designing inclusive user experiences

by Jonathan Hassell on Sep 15, 2011

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Providing better scaffolding - how BS8878 affects people designing inclusive user experiences Presentation Transcript