Summary
Did you know that the SUS creates biases in your research, affecting one in five people? That’s right! People with disabilities, especially those who use assistive technology, are not considered by most of the questions in the SUS. As a designer for the public sector, this could lead to you making design decisions that don’t take into account 20 percent of the visitors to your website.
Key Insights
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Inclusive design practices enhance product usability for everyone.
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Assistive technologies include screen readers, screen magnifiers, and alternative navigation tools.
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Screen reader users face unique challenges that often lead to lower usability scores.
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Traditional usability research methods may not effectively capture the experiences of assistive technology users.
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Custom configurations of assistive technologies are essential for their effective use.
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Accessibility and usability are interconnected; improving one often enhances the other.
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The Accessible Usability Scale offers a more suitable measurement tool for assistive tech usability.
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Collaborative research with assistive technology users leads to better product outcomes.
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Normative data shows significant usability gaps for screen reader users compared to other categories.
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Continual data collection is necessary to benchmark accessibility improvements.
Notable Quotes
"Accessibility and usability for people with disabilities is something that I've always been passionate about."
"As a screen reader user, I need to navigate by heading levels to quickly skim a web page."
"The best way to avoid confusion during research is to break tasks into small chunks."
"The Accessible Usability Scale is an invitation for teams to critically evaluate usability with assistive tech users."
"The System Usability Scale does not effectively capture the real-world experiences of assistive technology users."
"It's surprising that screen reader users score significantly lower on usability scales than expected."
"Customization of assistive technologies is a necessity; out-of-the-box settings usually don't reflect personal needs."
"Tasks often take longer if assistive tech users are unfamiliar with testing environments."
"We're excited to support research and improvements that bridge usability for assistive technology users."
"Feel free to evaluate or modify the Accessible Usability Scale; we welcome collaborative efforts."
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