Celina Bebenek, UX Research Intern.
07.06.2022
INTRODUCTION
WHO estimates that 2.2 billion people across the globe are visually impaired
(which represents 27% of the population).Thus, designers and developers should consider their needs when creating
digital productsThis applies to Europeana as well as the organisation is devoted to producing
accessible solutions to everyone
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Confusion with the languages
Upon choosing a language (in this case Spanish) the content is displayed sometimes in Spanish and sometimes in English.
Important because many visually diverse users may have difficulty with translating the text (eg. because they use a screen reader which does not translate the text)
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In general users praised the content in pdfs.
However, they pointed out that it is more difficult to them to zoom the text in if the two pages appear at one page simultaneously.
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COLOURS
Some colours seem too similar and it is difficult for users to distinguish between them
‘’the antique white, cream, honey jues, these colours look the same for me’’
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ALT TEXT
Very good and clear images.
However, there may be a need to add some description to them describing not only name and date of creation but also the hair, skin colour, ethnicity and race of the person depicted.
This is important because the name of the character tells very little to a visually diverse user
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ITEM PAGE
Users felt certain discomfort and stress that the description of the item is below the picture and not above.
‘’It will be more approachable and less stressful if you add the short introduction at the beginning so that the user know that they found a thing’’
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RECOMMENDATIONS
To include dark mode extension that is tailored to the website
To avoid spaces that contain too much white- this can actually be painful for users having photophobia.
To take into the account that the visually diverse users will zoom in the page while researching content
Use less pdf’s when publishing content as it is more difficult to zoom it in
Try to use small blocks of text when writing articles
Don’t put two blocks of text on the same page
Add description of the each picture describing hair, skin colour, ethnicity, race
To look through translations to make sure that all of the content is consistently translated (maybe a topic for the new internship?).
GENERAL RECOMMENDATIONS
To look for solutions that allow users to magnify the content on the website better
To make sure to write articles in small blocks of text, with many highlights and lists. This will make the text easier to read for visually diverse users who find reading articles more tiring than visually typical users.
CONCLUSION
The user research allowed us to gain a better understanding of the users' needs, journeys, and experiences when using the website. As a result, some unconventional solutions could be proposed.