Do you and your team know how to test for accessibility? These slides are from a recent workshop we were invited to present at #A11yTO's recent Meetup. It covers learnings from conducting accessibility testing with users, as well as some tools and tips for automated testing. Discover some of principles and design considerations geared toward making web experiences accessible, and how to conduct an accessibility focused usability test.

1. Usability Testing for
Accessibility

2. 2
About Linn & Heather

3. • Types of impairments and assistive technologies
• How to test for accessibility with automated and manual
accessibility evaluation tools
• Preparing to test with users
• How to test for accessibility with real users
• Usability testing vs. accessibility testing
What you’re going to learn
3

4. Types of impairments that can impact how
people use your website
4
Visual impairments Auditory impairments
Mobility impairments Cognitive impairments

5. Overview of Assistive Technology
• Screen readers (JAWS, NVDA,
VoiceOver, TalkBack)
5
Image credit: http://westernblind.blogspot.ca/
2011/06/cat-skills-zoomtext.html
• Screen magnification (ZoomText,
through the browser)
• Speech recognition (Dragon
NaturallySpeaking)
• Eye-tracking, dynamic braille
display, alternative keyboard,
oversized trackball mouse, etc.

6. Making sure the product is accessible
• Need to make sure what we design and build works for people
with impairments and people using assistive technology
• The way we do that is through testing:
- automated testing
- manual testing
- testing with users
6

7. What to test with
• Can’t be low fidelity/paper prototype
• Must be compatible with assistive technology
7

8. Ensuring test artifact is ready
• Don’t want to waste time
• Code to WCAG 2.0 standards
• Manual and automated accessibility evaluation tools
• Test it yourself
8

9. HTML CodeSniffer
• Browser extension
• Cut and paste code
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http://squizlabs.github.io/HTML_CodeSniffer/

10. HTML CodeSniffer
• Results need appropriate
interpretation
• Tool will point to error on the
screen, if available
10

11. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/web-developer/
Web Developer extension
• Free for Firefox browser
• Disable images, linearize the page, find duplicate ID’s, display
ARIA roles, view heading structure, display image alt tags, etc.
11

12. https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/fangs-screen-
reader-emulator/
Fangs Screen Reader Emulator
• Free for Firefox browser
• Screen reader output, list of headings, list of links
12

13. http://www.paciellogroup.com/resources/contrastanalyser/
Colour Contrast Analyser app
• Free for Windows and Mac
• Colour contrast ratio for
level AA should be at least
4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1
for large text
13

14. Colour Contrast Analyser app
• Ability to check colour
contrast for different types
of colour blindness
14

15. Sim Daltonism
• Free Colour blindness simulator app for Mac OS X
• “Filters in real-time the area around the mouse pointer and
displays the result – as seen by a color blind person – in a floating
palette”
15
https://michelf.ca/projects/sim-daltonism/

16. Sim Daltonism
16

17. Sim Daltonism
17
• Best for large screens,
dual displays or shrunken
to a smaller window

18. Photoshop tools
• View > Proof Setup > Colour Blindness
18
Integrated colour blindness simulator

19. Greyscale
• View your design in greyscale
19

20. 20
Automated test
Fix
Repeat
Test with users

21. Testing with users
• Recruit some representative users
• Ask users to perform representative tasks
• Observe users successes and failures
21

22. Things to consider
• When to test
• Plan the test
• Sample sizes
• Recruit
• Incentives
• Recording waivers
22

23. Planning research
23

24. Usability vs Accessibility testing
• Methodology is the same
24
• Being mindful when facilitating
• Tasks for screen reader to include everything
• Adapt number of tasks
• More specific recruiting
• Using users set up – going into their home

25. Recruiting for accessibility testing
with users
• Professional recruit
• Personal networks
• Challenging to find larger samples
• Novice vs. expert users
25

26. What to test on
• Think about the device (laptop, mobile, desktop, tablet)
• Type of assistive technology
26

27. Personal set up
• Set up is calibrated in specific
ways
27
Image credit: http://www.cccblog.org/2014/05/16/vis
ions2025-interactions/
• Avoid bringing a cast of 1000s
• Recording can be a challenge
• Important to note the specifics of
the user’s set ups and settings
• Speed of the screen reader
• Advanced screen reader user’s can
get up to 900-1200 words per
minute

28. Technology versioning
• Assistive technology can be quite finicky
• People don’t always upgrade to new versions
• Intense learning curve
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29. Testing at a facility
• Facility itself has to be accessible
• User’s tech set up needs to be portable
• Alternatively -allow time for the participant to
calibrate the technology
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30. Remote testing
• Difficult to view user’s tech set up and how they use it
• Software/applications needed to download must be accessible
• Software/application must not interfere
• Tech issues -> difficult to help find solutions
30

31. Facilitation
• Usual facilitation techniques: echo, boomerang, columbo
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• Need to avoid using visual cues/clues
• Any supporting printed material needs to be large and
clearly legible
• When testing with screen readers, you may need to ask
users to slow down their speed (words per minute)

32. Analysing results
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• Identifying quick wins
• Being able to reproduce issues
• Task completion
• Communicating the results

33. Challenges
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• Recruiting
• Getting enough users with the same technology
• Travel time going to people’s homes
• Recording
• Things not coded to standard meant upfront effort recruiting,
planning was ‘wasted’
• Forgetting to note down people’s set ups
• Sometimes you can’t recreate the set ups
• Wide range of technologies meant hard to identify patterns

34. Questions?
34

35. Usability Matters
215 Spadina Ave, Toronto
www.usabilitymatters.com
info@usabilitymatters.com
Thank you
facebook.com/UsabilityMattersInc
@umatters
linkedin.com/company/usability-matters
Heather Moore
416 598 7770 ex 20
heather@usabilitymatters.com
Linn Vizard
416 598 7770 ex 19
linnea@usabilitymatters.com