There’s a lot to consider if you’re going to do accessibility research effectively and respectfully. Using examples from previous user research and accessibility studies she’s conducted throughout her career, Rebecca will share lessons learned and guidance to consider when planning and executing remote usability testing with participants with disabilities, including the four specific disability categories: visual, motor, hearing and cognitive. Rebecca Topps is a user experience researcher who specializes in accessibility research and is passionate about creating usable and inclusive experiences for everyone. Over the past two years, Rebecca has been researching methods to easily embed accessibility into user experience and research teams. She has worked with a variety of companies and organizations including, AbilityNet, Barclays, BBC, Department for Work and Pensions and, more recently, as a contractor at Atlassian. Originally from England, she’s currently based in Sydney, Australia.

1. Planning and conducting
remote usability studies for
accessibility
Rebecca Topps

2. Leading a remote
accessibility research
study at Atlassian

3. What we will
cover today
01: Digital accessibility
02: Participant recruitment
03: Assistive technology and adjustments
04: Remote research tools
05: Pre research study call
06: Involving your team and sharing findings
07: Learnings and including accessibility

4. Digital accessibility means making an online product,
service, technology or software usable by everyone
regardless of who they are or how they access the web.

5. 1 in 5
people
United Kingdom: Around 11.2 Million people
1 in 4
people
United States:
Around 61 Million
people
1 in 5
people
Australia:
Over 4.4 million
people
More than 1 billion people worldwide have a long term disability
References:
- UK: Gov.UK
- US: CDC
- Australia: Australian Network on disability

6. Auditory
• Hard of hearing
• Deafness
• Deaf-blindness
Diverse abilities and barriers
Physical / Mobility
• Arthritis
• Repetitive stress
injury
• Fibromyalgia
• Amputation
Visual
• Blindness
• Low vision
• Colour blindness
• Deaf-blindness
Cognitive, learning,
and neurological
• Autism
• ADHD
• Learning disabilities
• Mental health
• Memory impairments

7. Microsoft
Inclusive design
guidelines
— https://www.microsoft.com/design/inclusive/

8. “Find ways to engage
more people with disabilities,
earlier in the process, in a
more meaningful way.”
— Derek Featherstone

9. Identify any major accessibility issues first:
Start with standards reviews or audits, accessibility
QA testing or design walkthroughs

10. 1
Is your product ready?
Have you completed a
technical audit first and
fixed the major
accessibility issues?
2
Accessibility knowledge
Do your staff have a key
understanding of
disabilities, user needs and
assistive technologies?
2 3
Research operations
If you have a legal or
research operations team
at your company, ensure
you discuss the research
with them before starting
3

11. Any questions so far?

12. Participant
Recruitment
Ensure your consent process is accessible
Make sure your consent form is accessible for all
users and when using assistive technology.

Plan for additional costs
For some participants you might need to pay for
support, live captioning or an interpreter.
"
# Allow for longer recruitment time
With any usability study, the more specific the
participant requirements, the longer it takes to
recruit.
$
Will you use and external recruiter or
recruit people yourself?

13. Working with an external recruiter
Have they previously
recruited people with
disabilities? What is their
level of understanding?
" %
Check that their
recruitment methods,
process and preparation
are inclusive
&
Give as much detail as
possible regarding
different disabilities and
assistive technology

14. Alternative methods of finding participants
Organisations and
library programs
Build your own
accessibility panel
Advertise on
social media
Reach out to your
current network

15. “We've found that
generally people with
disabilities are more
willing to participate in
studies, particularly if it is
in support of making a
product more
accessible…”
— UIAccess
(http://uiaccess.com/accessucd)

16. Remember participants with hidden
disabilities, or who may not self identify
“…unless I tell them, people do
not know that I have a
disability.”
hiddendisabilitiesstore.com

17. Any questions?

18. Understanding
users assistive
technology,
devices and
adjustments
Think about how you will test your product
If you are not researching with a live website
consider using a test environment and
preparing it for the study.
'
Each individual setup is unique
AT has different versions, and is likely to be
set up with the participants own shortcuts.
(
Find out the participants AT experience
Individuals will have different experience and
expertise levels with assistive technology, novice
too advanced.
)
* Learn about assistive technology
Be aware of the different assistive technologies
available, and potential user adjustments.

19. Assistive devices and technologies
Auditory
• Hearing aid
• Noise cancelling
technology/device
• Speech: Text-to-speech
synthesis
Physical / Mobility
• Voice recognition
(e.g. Dragon)
• Eye tracking
• Head pointer
• Switch control
Visual
• Screenreader (NVDA)
• Braille keyboard
• Screen magnification
• ZoomText
Cognitive, learning,
and neurological
• Screenreader
• Text-to-speech
synthesis (Natural
Reader)

20. Adjustments
Auditory
• Interpreter
• Lip reading
• Transcripts and
captions of audio
Physical / Mobility
• Keyboard only
• Ergonomic designed
keyboard or mouse
• Keyboard shortcut
extension (Vimium)
Visual
• Resizing text
• Custom settings
• Customise colours
• Audio descriptions
Cognitive, learning,
and neurological
• Video captions
• Resizing text
• Customise colours
• Grammar and spelling
tools - Grammarly

21. Screenreader Ben’s Twitter: @bmustillrose

22. Braille keyboard
A Braille keyboard is a specialist input
device that allows the user to type and
enter text or instructions for the
computer in Braille.
It reads the screen text and presents it to
the user via a refreshable Braille display.
The video on the shows a Bluetooth
powered Braille keyboard that can
connect to a computer, smartphone or
tablet.

23. Keyboard only and Voice recognition
— W3C: Web Accessibility Perspective videos - https://www.w3.org/WAI/perspective-videos/

24. Communicating with an interpreter remotely
• Participants may have their own preferred
interpreter
• Remember that each country has their
own sign language
• Explain any confidentiality agreements to
the interpreter prior to the main research
study
• Address the participant directly
• Speak clearly and try not to cover your
mouth
• Pause for the interpreter to interpret
what you said and for the client to respond

25. Microsoft respecting
focus booklet
— PDF Booklet: https://
msdesignstorage.blob.core.windows.net/
microsoftdesign/inclusive/
InclusiveDesign_RespectingFocus.pdf

26. Any questions?

27. Remote
research tools Consider using video conferencing software
If possible, consider running your study using
video conferencing software such as Zoom.
+
Think about how you will
research with different devices
If you want to research with mobile or tablet,
think about what you want to capture.
,
- Make sure your research tool is accessible
Decide if you want to use a remote research
tool and ensure it is accessible for all users.

28. The majority of remote UX research tools are not fully accessible, for the end participant
and the researchers creating the study.
Remote research tools
FableUserZoom

29. Adjust the remote video software for each participant:
Ask each participant what they are currently using to
communicate with family and friends online

30. Any questions?

31. Pre-research
study call Preferred communication
Ask your participant how they prefer to
communicate and adjust to their individual
needs.

Assistive technology and needs
Ask about preferred devices, assistive
technology and any adjustments.

0 Introduce yourself and the study
Tell the participant about yourself first and
explain what you will be chatting about.
Check the participants set up
Check everything is working okay and if
required, ask to practice sharing their screen
and audio during the pre-call.
1

32. Pre-study calls with new participants give you the
opportunity to introduce yourself and reassure the
participant prior to the main research session

33. Tailor your communication according to
each individual participant and needs
Offer the option for non-
verbal communication,
speaking via typing in chat
2 3
Offer breaks during the main
study, especially for sessions
longer than 30 mins.
4
Offer the option for the camera
to be switched off during the
pre-session and main study.
5
Consider different ways
you can send your study
tasks remotely - Email,
Word, Chat or verbally

34. Communication
• Speak to a person with a disability as you would
speak to anyone else. Speak in an age-appropriate
tone and treat adults as adults.
• If a person with a disability is accompanied by
another person, such as a carer, you should still speak
directly to the person with disability.
• Put the person first, not their disability. For
example, use the term ‘a person with disability’
rather than ‘a disabled person’.
• Try to avoid negative phrases such as ‘suffers from’.
Use the phrase ‘people who use a wheelchair’ rather
than ‘wheelchair bound’.
— http://nda.ie/nda-files/-Ask-Me-Guidelines-for-Effective-
Consultation-with-People-with-Disabilities1.pdf

35. Ask about assistive technology, adjustments
and accessibility improvements
Are there any
accommodations we could
provide, or changes, prior to
the main study?
" 
Do you use any assistive tech,
specialised computer access
software or hardware on your
devices & with our product?
What is your experience of
using our product when using
your AT/Adjustments? Any
accessibility improvements?
$#
Do you make any
adjustments, or adaptive
strategies when using your
computer?

36. Any questions?

37. Considerations during
the usability study
• Inform users when you are going to let observers into
the meeting.
• Ensure observers mute their microphone and switch
off their camera
• Allow for extra time between each session
• Label your scenarios and task separately
• Remember to ask participants if they would like a
break during the session
• Try to frame your questions about the technology
and product, e.g. “what could we do to make this
accessible and work correctly?”

38. Involving your
team and
sharing findings
Only report the participants disability if
required and if they have given permission
When writing the research report, try to only
state the functional impairment category,
assistive technology and/or adjustments.
6
Use Mural and/or a Slack channel for
observers & collaborative notes
Use a collaborative tool for anyone observing
to take notes. A slack channel can also be
used for any observer questions.
7
Share short video clips of the study
If possible, share short clips of the sessions
with your team throughout the research -
ensure to protect your participants identity.
"
8 Remote observers
Invite your team to observe the usability
sessions - ensure you ask the participant first.

39. Focus on the user impact and accessibility barriers:
Share quotes and video clips with your team

40. Reporting the
accessibility issues
Use the same method or tool as your team to
report the issues
Prioritise issues into high, medium and low
Use participant feedback and official
accessibility guidelines, e.g. WCAG 2.2
Include screenshots and video clips
Explain the issue, how it impacts the user
and provide recommendations
9
9
9
9
9

41. Any questions?

42. Ensure that the remote
research tool you use is
accessible, or ideally use the
participants preferred video
conferencing tool.
3 4
Respect that each individual
participant communication
preferences, needs and setup
is unique.
6
Invite your team to observe the
sessions; track any accessibility
issues, and share video clips
internally (with users permission)
5
Conduct a pre-research study
meeting or call beforehand
to meet the participant and
ensure they are okay with the
setup.
Identify and fix any major
accessibility issues first
before conducting the
usability studies.
1 2
Learn more about accessibility;
the different assistive
technologies available, and
potential user needs.

43. Recruit for
accessibility
For every 10 people
you recruit, include 1-2
people with diverse
access needs.
Be an advocate
for accessibility
Talk openly about digital
accessibility in your
team and company.
Consider starting an
A11y slack channel.
Use online training
and resources
Take advantage of free
accessibility training and
resources available
online, and share with
your team.
How to start considering accessibility
in work and with your team
Try using
keyboard only
Cover your trackpad
and try to tab through
your digital consent
form, or product, using
keyboard only.

44. Twitter: @beckytopps
LinkedIn: …/in/rebeccatopps/
Medium: @beckytopps
Email: btopps@hotmail.co.uk