Working with Diverse Populations

4/24/14HCC 729, Human Centered Design

Updates

• Grades: – weekly checkpoints back after class– Write-ups back tomorrow– I owe everyone pizza (on the final day)

• Next week– Shaun at CHI 2014 conference in Canada, eh– Dr. Lutters will present on design + collaboration

Two weeks

• Final class! (w/ pizza and gluten-friendly food)

• Some final mini-lectures

• Presenting project videos– I’m happy to give feedback before then– 20-200 word “what you learned”

Inspirations and mini-lectures

• Manik• Jefreena• Michiko

Designing for diverse populations

Who are our diverse populations?

• People in wheelchair, visual impairments, hearing impairments

• Culture – thinking? language• Learning style• Ages: little kids, elderly, young adults• Ability: technical ability, language, physical

ability, cognitive• Access to technology, infrastructure• Socioeconomic status

Who do we design for?

• Ourselves• For “extremes”

What tools can we use for understanding diverse users?

• Study them– Ethnography– Think aloud: different perspectives, language– UARs

• Personas and scenarios• Use cases• Rolestorming, brainstorming, • Contextual inquiry• Focus groups / surveys• Diary studies / design probes• Eye tracking

– Draw attention

http://uxmag.com/articles/book-excerpt-a-web-for-everyone

Some vocab

• Accessibility – designing technology in a way so that it may be used by people with disabilities

• Universal design or universal usability – designing to reach the widest number of possible users

• Disability -- ???

World Health Organization ICFInternational Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health

http://www.who.int/classifications/icf/en/

The case for accessibility

Why make technology accessible?• Good for business– Reach a large audience

• Support social inclusion– Participation from a diverse group,

• Follow the law– Access to information is a basic human right

• Accessible design is good design

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

• Wide-ranging legislation to make American Society more accessible to people with disabilities.

• Applies primarily, but not exclusively, to "disabled" individuals. An individual is "disabled" if one or more are true:– He or she has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or

more of his/her major life activities;– He or she has a record of such an impairment; or– He or she is regarded as having such an impairment.

• “Let the shameful law of exclusion finally come tumbling down” --address by George Bush at the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (July 26, 1990)

• More about signing ceremony and political climate in 1990– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ieH8FE9Dhw

http://askjan.org/links/adasummary.htm

ADA: Americans with Disabilities Act

• Employment (Title I) Business must provide reasonable accommodations to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in all aspects of employment. …

• Public Services (Title II) Public services, which include state and local government instrumentalities, the National Railroad Passenger Corporation, and other commuter authorities, cannot deny services to people with disabilities participation in programs or activities which are available to people without disabilities.

• Public Accommodations (Title III) All new construction and modifications must be accessible to individuals with disabilities. For existing facilities, barriers to services must be removed if readily achievable.

• Telecommunications (Title IV) Telecommunications companies offering telephone service to the general public must have telephone relay service to individuals who use telecommunication devices for the deaf

• Miscellaneous (Title V) Includes a provision prohibiting either (a) coercing or threatening or (b) retaliating against the disabled or those attempting to aid people with disabilities in asserting their ADA rights.

Legal Cases• 1996 ADA complaint against San José

– Use of PDF inaccessible to city commissioner – Web sites are a “service” and thus subject to the ADA– Led to S. J. Web Page Disability Access Standard

• 1999 Natn’l Fed. of the Blind against AOL– Based on the interpretation of the Web as a place of public

accommodation (ADA)– Settled out of court– 2000: AOL agreed to make its browser accessible

• Others (http://www.webaim.org/coordination/law/us/ada)

Rehabilitation Act: Section 508• Requires access to the Federal government's electronic and information

technology. – Covers all types of electronic and information technology in the Federal

sector and is not limited to assistive technologies used by people with disabilities.

– Applies to all Federal agencies when they develop, procure, maintain, or use such technology. Federal agencies must ensure that this technology is accessible to employees and the public to the extent it does not pose an "undue burden.”

• Frequently amended to keep up with the current trends and changes in information technology

http://www.access-board.gov/

Assistive Technology Act ‘04• Ensures the continued existence of a major source of funding for assistive

technology• Created uniformity of services across Tech Act Projects

– Device reutilization, equipment loan, alternative financing projects, product demonstrations, and protection and advocacy services

• 2 populations– Students receiving transition services– Adults with disabilities– AT Act of 2004, 29 U.S.C. § 301 et seq.

http://www.nichcy.org/Laws/Other/Pages/AssistiveTechnologyAct.aspx

How to make technology accessible?

Who are we making it accessible for?

Don’t forget your user analysis…

Slides adapted from Michele Burton

Categories of Impairments

• Cognitive (Learning Disability)• Mobility (Physical)• Hearing• Speech• Visual

Categories of Impairments

• Cognitive (memory or learning)• Mobility (Physical)• Hearing• Speech• Visual

Design for Cognitive Impairments

• Short term memory storage: 7+- 2– Don’t rely on your user to remember large

amounts of information, or complex steps• Distraction / Task Decomposition– Consider users who have difficulty focusing• Make tasks shorter, simplify designs

• Socialization– Some children with autism may not be

comfortable looking at faces

Categories of Impairments

• Cognitive (memory or learning)• Mobility (Physical)• Hearing• Speech• Visual

Design for Mobility Impairments

• Keyboard accessibility– Users can access and activate

everything on the page with solely the keyboard

• Speech recognition compatibility– Proper code structure is a must

• Provide ample time for tasks• Provide shortcuts– “Skip Navigation” links

Categories of Impairments

• Cognitive (Learning Disability)• Mobility (Physical)• Hearing• Speech• Visual

Design for Hearing Impairments

• Use structured pages• Use headings and subheadings• Use bulleted lists

• Write clearly• Keep language short, simple, and to the point• Write in active voice• Avoid jargon and/or provide definitions

• Provide alternatives to audio• Text, captions, or even sign language interpreters• TTY-enabled customer service lines

Categories of Impairments

• Cognitive (Learning Disability)• Mobility (Physical)• Hearing• Speech• Visual

Design for Speech Impairments

• Provide alternatives to speech– Chat rooms and email as well as

telephone numbers for customer service (at the same level of service)

• Provide cues to get people started–May be able to speak, but have difficulty

constructing freeform text

Categories of Impairments

• Cognitive (Learning Disability)• Mobility (Physical)• Hearing• Speech• Visual

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Design for Visual Impairments

• Use text instead of images of text– Use CSS!!! (Logos are exceptions)

• Don’t trap the mouse cursor– Embedded DIV areas

• Keyboard accessibility– Don’t override keystrokes– Users can access and activate

everything on the page with solely the keyboard

Design for Visual Impairments

O Have alternatives to colorO Required fields in redO * denotes required fields

O Provide sufficient color contrast

Design for Visual Impairments

• Keyboard accessibility– Don’t override keystrokes– Users can access and activate

everything on the page with solely the keyboard

• Delineate sections with HTML code– HTML5 sections, headings, etc.

• Provide ample time for tasks• Provide shortcuts

WCAG: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines

• Perceivable– Provide text alternatives for non-text content and provide captions and alternatives for

audio and video content.– Make content adaptable; and make it available to assistive technologies.– Use sufficient contrast to make things easy to see and hear.

• Operable– Help users find content and make everything keyboard accessible.– Give users enough time to read and use content.– Do not use content that causes seizures.

• Understandable– Make text and content understandable, and readable– Make content operate in predictable ways. and help users avoid and correct mistakes.

• Robust– Maximize compatibility with current and future technologies.

http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag.php

Extensions to WCAG

• WCAG 2 http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG20/• ARIA http://www.w3.org/WAI/intro/aria

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World Wide Access:

• how to make web pages accessible to people with disabilities– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MO2gpA91fR

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• Test your website for accessibility• http://wave.webaim.org/

Examples of AT use

• Louise, cerebral palsy– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtAHzRu1OF0

• Ben, head pointer– http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9NsV39nq8U

• University of Washington DO-IT – http://www.washington.edu/doit/Video/

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Verifying accessibility

• User testing is the best way

• Heuristic evaluation can help– http://webaim.org/intro/#principles– http://webaim.org/standards/wcag/checklist

• Simulating disability– http://vischeck.com/– http://firevox.clcworld.net/– http://www.chromevox.com/– http://webanywhere.cs.washington.edu/ 44

Accessibility personas activity

• Break into pairs• Make a persona for a user with accessibility

needs when viewing Amazon.com– Who they are– Why they use amazon– Some problem that they have– What they do about it

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