Accessibility is typically approached as a technical activity addressed in code rather than as a facet of user experience, addressed through strategy and design. As user experience practitioners and product developers, we ideate, design, and build, and then perform an accessibility review on the finished product. This approach is effective for surfacing issues that may cause difficulties for people with disabilities, and can be particularly effective when the review includes an expert analysis of the impact of issues and guidance on how to go about their repair. There are always changes to be made at the code level that will improve the user experience for people with disabilities. Adding user research with people with disabilities to the process has many benefits. We can increase the value of review and repair efforts by including perspectives from the people most affected by the issues. And through user research activities that include people with disabilities, we can learn valuable lessons about how decisions in the strategy and design phases affect accessible user experience. In this way we build general accessibility awareness and knowledge on the product development team to inform future efforts and thereby reduce issues in future products. Presented as part of UXPA Boston's 2015 conference, May 15, 2015, with Laura Brelsford and David Sloan: http://conference.uxpaboston.org

1. Involving People with Disabilities in
User Research to Guide
Accessibility Activities
Sarah Horton and David Sloan, The Paciello Group
Laura Brelsford, MBTA

2. Poll: Which mode of transit did you
use to get to UXPA Boston?
• T or Bus: 25
• Car or Taxi: 10
• Walk: 4
• Swim: 0
• Teleport: 0
• None of the above: 2

3. Screenshot of compliance audit with
red “Fail” notations

4. Meme: Munch “The Screen” saying,
You’re telling me I have 433 alt texts
to fix?

5. Poll: How active are you in engaging
in user research activities?
• Very: 19
• Somewhat: 14
• Not very: 3
• Not at all: 3

6. How active are you in engaging in
user research activities with older
adults or people with disabilities• Very: 4
• Somewhat: 7
• Not very: 19
• Not at all: 14

7. Bell Curve

8. By concentrating solely on the bulge at the
center of the bell curve we are more likely
to confirm what we already know than
learn something new and surprising.
Tim Brown, Change By Design

9. David Sloan on user research with
older adults (video)

10. Accessibility Maturity Continuum
• Identify
• Prioritize
• Inject
• Integrate

11. Phase 1: Identify

12. Identify and repair accessibility
issues based on standards
compliance

13. Example of accessibility audit
spreadsheet

14. Example of success criteria failuresError message not
announced by screen
readers
Form labels not
programmatically
associated with inputs

15. Example of accessibility issues
overview

16. Insights
• Frequency and distribution of issues
• Estimate of impact and effort of issues
• Potential design and code changes to repair
issues

17. Poll: In your experience, what
role/team has the most responsibility
for accessibility?• Strategy: 12
• Design: 13
• Development: 11
• Quality assurance: 1
• No one is responsible for accessibility: 5

18. Case Study: MBTA

19. BCIL Lawsuit Filed—2002
• Boston Center for Independent Living & 11
named plaintiffs filed class-action suit
• Over 100 affidavits submitted by customers with
disabilities
• Law Firm of Nutter, McClellen & Fish hired to
litigate case for 4 years

20. The Motivation—Bus Service
“…a customer with a disability has a 20.5%
chance not being able to board the bus for
which he/she is waiting.”
—2005 Delta Services Study

21. Station Name Elevator # 2003 2004 2005
State Street 802/803 98.31% 95.21% 85.80%
Porter Square 818/820 93.72% 91.05% 85.41%
Downtown
Crossing
892 93.45% 92.35% 45.74%
Park Street 808/804 89.00% 87.39% 44.44%
Harvard Square 821 92.94% 95.09% 28.01%
The Motivation—Elevator Reliability

22. MBTA/BCIL Settlement Agreement
“This agreement is based on a shared vision between plaintiffs and the
MBTA to make the MBTA a model transit system accessible to all.
There is a mutual commitment and desire to comply not only with the
letter but also the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act, with the
complete understanding that all people with disabilities must have
every opportunity to be fully participating members of our community
and that fundamental to this opportunity is the right and ability to use
public transportation in an equal, effective, and dignified manner.”
(April 2006)

23. Overview of Commitments
• Bus Operations
• Bus Maintenance
• Bus Purchase & Rehab
• Emergencies
• Performance Monitoring
• Service Planning
• Vehicle Engineering
• Subway Operations
• Stop Announcements
• Station Platforms
• Elevators
• Maintenance
• Replacements & Redundants
• Access to Vehicles & Stations
• Customer Assistance
• Complaints
• Personnel Training
• Management
• Did NOT cover RIDE, CR or Ferry
Service

24. Progress to Date
• Creation of SWA
• New Elevator Maintenance
contract
• 99.5% reliability
• New elevators at key locations
• Accessibility-focused training for
employees
• New low-floor buses
• Reduction in platform gaps
• Design & Construction reviews
• Internal access monitoring
• Improved communication with
disability community

25. Shift to IT/Web Access
• Customer frustration
• Inaccessible .pdfs, trip planning
• The Paciello Group findings
• Funding solution
• Progress to date

26. Poll: Have you used mbta.com?
• Yes: 31
• No: 3
• Not sure: 1

27. Poll: What do you primarily use
mbta.com for?
• Trip planning: 30
• Learn about public meetings: 0
• Service alerts: 11
• File complaints/commendations: 0
• None of the above: 0

28. Phase 2: Prioritize

29. Prioritize evaluation and repair
activities based on real-world impact

30. Logistics
• 9 people over 2 days
• Sessions lasting ½ to 1 hour
• Boston Center for Independent Living (BCIL)
and the MBTA Office for System-Wide
Accessibility

31. Perspectives
• Low vision
• Large monitor, ZoomText, large type, high-contrast mode
• Blind
• JAWS, VoiceOver
• Deaf
• Captions
• Limited mobility and dexterity
• Dragon

32. Topics
• Issues people encounter when working with
the MBTA website
• Suggested areas of focus for improving
accessibility

33. Tasks for test plan
• Check a Schedule
• Plan a Trip
• Sign up for T-Alerts
• Add Value to CharlieCard
• Purchase Rail Pass
• Find out information about the Green Line Extension
Project
• Find out about MBTA and Accessibility

34. Several people commented that there is a lot going on with
the site, which can make it difficult to use for everyone, but
especially for people with vision impairments. One
participant does not use the site because it’s too busy, and
“things jump around.” Another can’t use her preferred
mode of large text because the site is not designed to be
flexible, and adapt to large fonts—when she enlarges the
font, things get “jumbled.” Another prefers to look at the
print preview of the itinerary page because it is less
cluttered than the main page.

35. Screenshot of train schedule

36. Complex tables are difficult to track when magnified

37. Printed versions should support large print

38. Online information should match what’s available in print

39. The right column is a bad location for critical information

40. Text entry is more difficult than selecting from a menu

41. Screenshot of page with colored panels

42. Layouts with grouped elements work well magnified

43. Insights
• Real issues encountered by people with
disabilities
• Accessibility issues not surfaced in standards
review

44. Moving toward the Phase 4: Integrate

45. Boston South Station lobby

46. Travel can be difficult due to uncertainties and a lack of
control. Travel can be made much more difficult by
unexpected and unknown changes to schedules or services.
MBTA has the opportunity to reduce the negative effect of
changes by implementing a notification system that provides
up-to-the-minute details in a format that is accessible for
everyone, before they travel and while they are in transit.
The T-Alert service is a good start, but there is more to be
done to fully utilize digital technologies to keep all travelers
apprised of details that affect their journey.

47. Thank you, from MBTA and The
Paciello Group
lbrelsford@mbta.com shorton@paciellogroup.com
@gradualclearing
dsloan@paciellogroup.com
@sloandr