Research on visually diverse users
- Prabhakar Gautam (Unlicensed)
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 products
This applies to Europeana as well as the organisation is devoted to producing accessible solutions to everyone
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
Is Europeana accessible for visually diverse users?
When a visually diverse user visits Europeana, what is their user journey like?
How does Europeana meet the needs of visually diverse users?How can Europeana be more accessible for visually diverse users?
METHODOLOGY
UX Research- different methods used to examine an individual’s experience of a digital product.
Qualitative results: they do not deal with quantity (numbers) but rather with qualities or characteristics.
My research method: interview combined with usability testing Smaller but representative sample.
RESEARCH PLAN
In-depth interview
Purpose: to see what users need, motivations and aspirationsUsability testing
Purpose: to test the accessibility of the website.
Consisted of Imaginative scenarios related to navigating on the website.Follow up questions
Purpose: to allow participants to evaluate their experience and add additional remarks.
STUDY
60 minute remote conversations with the users (via skype and zoom). Meetings were recorded All of the interviews were held on computer as it was difficult for visually diverse users to operate on mobile phones. They prefer to use phone for communication purposes instead.
USERS
8 visually diverse users with the various levels of the disability (eg. Glaucoma, Photophobia, Short Sightedness, Partial Blindness). Affiliated with arts & culture, high level of computer literacy.
The problem: the visually diverse user needs to find a way to use the website better, to have the best user experience possible. For that they need to have the website tailored to their needs since they spend lot’s of time during day on exploring the web. They need digital products that are easy to use and which won’t cause them too much effort to understand.
TOOLS USED BY VISUALLY DIVERSE PEOPLE
High contrast mode extension is used by the visually diverse users to see the content better. It is advisable to use by users with photophobia who feel physical pain when they look too much on the white spaces.
Screen Reader: To read the text on the website
Screen Magnifying Tools: To enlarge the content of the website
RESULTS- USER’S JOURNEY
Visually diverse users prefer to zoom page to look at the desired content.
User Opens the Article Page
User Zooms-In Using the Mouse
User reads the article by scrolling constantly
ISSUES FOUND
Difficulty in searching in the dark mode because some dark mode extensions are not tailored to the website. As a result the website logo and search function blended to the background.
Difficulties in language function for non native English speakers. Some parts of the website are translated inconsistently which makes people who do not speak English fluently confused.
Some content in pdf format is difficult to zoom in
Colours section can be confusing for some users since some names are too similar to each other
Although the images are described as very good, some alt text may be needed, especially to describe the details of the human portraits.
The item page does not contain enough descriptions of an item
HIGH CONTRAST EXTENSIONS
LANGUAGE
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)
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.
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’’
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
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’’
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.