Understanding Accessibility – Videos of users using Assistive Technology
Powerful realistic
Category: motor
In Boagworld podcast episode 130, I discovered that in order to help test web accessibility, Paul Boag wears glasses (that he doesn’t need) and gloves and attempts to navigate through a site. Excellent idea!
In order to better understand [the elderly’s] experience I have bought a pair to ski gloves and some reading glasses (I don’t need reading glasses). Every now and again, I surf the site I am designing wearing both the glasses and gloves. The glasses make the screen hard to read while the gloves hamper my use of the mouse and the keyboard. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to select something from a drop down menu wearing ski gloves!
Improving accessibility for motor impaired users is a great article from WebCredible.com.
Topics include:
- Provide the largest possible area for links
- Use a focus state for links
- Provide a visible ‘skip to content’ link
- Have users opt in for audio
- What not to do
Dennis explains some types of disabilites and different kinds of tools used to help access the web.
Download Web Axe Episode 25 (About Impairments and Assistive Technology)
Disability Types:
Alternative Devices:
- How People with Disabilities Use the Web (W3C)
- How do disabled people use computers? (Joe Clark)
- Adaptive Technology Resource Center (Univ of Toronto)
- Assistive Technology