Promoting inclusive and accessible design in usability testing

Abstract

Drawing on an analysis of a usability teaching case with users who are deaf and who communicate using American Sign Language, we argue that there is a need for industry and the academy to refocus on more accessible testing practices, situated more decidedly within the social, cultural, and historical contexts of users. We offer guidelines for more inclusive practices for testing with users who are deaf prompting designers, developers, and students to think about systems of behavior, such as audism, cultural appropriation, and technological paternalism that undermine accessibility in their design and practices. More broadly, we propose ways in which instructors of technical communication can leverage usability tools and research methods to help students better understand their users for any artifact they design and create.

Toward TPC-UX: UX Topics in TPC Journals 2013–2022

“…Broadly, the emphasis on accessibility in TPC-UX scholarship can be thought of as approaches to content conveyance that are attuned to the embodied complexities of embodied users. Moreover, the keyword category accessibility overlaps with several of the previously discussed categories—e.g., health and medicine (Jones et al, 2017), theory driven (Hutter & Lawrence, 2018; Sonka et al, 2021), and multimodality (Oppegaard & Rabby, 2022). The emphasis on accessibility across these domains supports the idea of a TPC-UX practitioner functioning as a user advocate.…”

Accessible and Inclusive Cyber Security: A Nuanced and Complex Challenge

“…The cross-cutting theme here is that security considerations have to be maintained, so we should add: (7) what are the security requirements of the user’s actions? Design for social accessibility: Shinohara et al [ 88 ] propose three design tenets in the accessibility space, which apply equally here: (1) incorporate target users, both with and without disabilities during the design process ([ 38 , 60 , 81 ]), (2) address functional and social factors simultaneously [ 118 ] and (3) include tools to bring social factors in accessible design to the forefront during the design process [ 9 , 13 ]. Provide alternatives: The WCAG guideline already mandates an alternative to authentication.…”

“…Design for social accessibility: Shinohara et al [ 88 ] propose three design tenets in the accessibility space, which apply equally here: (1) incorporate target users, both with and without disabilities during the design process ([ 38 , 60 , 81 ]), (2) address functional and social factors simultaneously [ 118 ] and (3) include tools to bring social factors in accessible design to the forefront during the design process [ 9 , 13 ].…”

Chapter 6: Technical Communication Reimagined Through a Socio-Technical Problem-Solving Lens

“…Two examples foregrounding questions of cross-generation TPC were Rhonda Stanton's (2017) challenge of agebased stereotypes in the workplace and N. Lamar Reinsch and Jonathan Gardner's (2014) study of communication abilities as a factor in promotion for baby boomers and Gen-Xers. Articles by Liz Hutter and Hutter Lawrence (2018) as well as Sushil offered insights from the deaf community and from disability studies to suggest how researchers and practitioners can improve usability testing and participatory design.…”