2.2 Conduct Remote Usability Research With Accessibility in Mind

It’s critical to not only create products for people with disabilities, but with them.

We don’t create truly human-centered products without engaging with the people who’ll be using them. Disability advocates have a saying about this: “Nothing about us, without us.”

User researchers play a key role in ensuring a product’s accessibility. Research is the primary way product teams will gain an understanding of how people with disabilities interact with products, and ways to improve their experiences.

Determine Your Scope

First, determine the scope of your study. 

• What questions are you trying to answer? 
• Do those questions lend themselves to a generative or evaluative  study?
• Are there specific types of disabilities you want to better understand the experience of? 
• Will your study focus solely on people with disabilities, or will they be included as part of a broader study?
• What kinds of assistive technology would you want to include in your study, if any? 

Recruit Participants With Disabilities

If you don’t have a roster that includes people with disabilities, try contacting advocacy and community organizations for help. These organizations’ missions are to support people with disabilities and improve their lives, and they’re often very willing to help you find participants. Some have established programs to help organizations interested in conducting user research with people with disabilities:

• American Foundation for the Blind
• American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
• Blinded Veterans Association
• Perkins Access
• Vista Center

Other options for finding participants include:

• Ask your coworkers: some of them may have lived experience with disabilities and would be willing to participate 
• Contract with a company like Fable that specializes in recruiting participants with disabilities

As you recruit participants, remember that your screener questions should include asking about participants’ use of assistive technology:  - what type(s) they use, how long they’ve been using it, how comfortable they are using it, and if they’ll be using it during the study.

Remember Participants Aren’t Experts or Community Representatives

Remember that no participant is fully representative of a disability community. Everyone experiences their disabilities in a different way. Like any other demographic group, it’s important to do research with multiple people to better understand the scope of possibility.

And participants aren’t experts in using technology—assistive or otherwise—just because they’re disabled. Like anyone else, some people with disabilities have advanced technology skills, while others are beginners.

Meet Participants’ Needs

Meet your participants where they’re at. You can accomplish this by planning ahead:

• Reserve more time for each session. Accessing prototypes and speaking through experiences may take longer for people with disabilities, especially those using screen readers due to the nature of the technology and the participant’s comfort level using the technology. If a usability study with a non-disabled participant takes 45 minutes, consider doubling the time.
• Get familiar with their assistive technology before the session. If you don’t have access to it, watch videos of people using it online. Here is a guide to research with screen reader users.
• Give participants options for how to access your prototype: chat, email, or by reading the URL aloud to them. (Use a link shortener to create a URL that’s easier to dictate.)
• Make sure that your prototype is accessible to your participant.
• Make sure participants understand what they can expect in a session.
• Pay your participants, even if you can’t complete the session due to technical issues.

How We Know We’re Doing This

How We Know We’re Coming up Short