This page presents instructions for a joint study between RIAM (Reciprocal Interoperability between the Accessible and Mobile Webs) and SAMBA (A semi-automatic method for measuring barriers of accessibility) projects.
In this study, you will be asked to evaluate a Web page for both its accessibility for disabled people and mobile-friendliness. In summary, you will be given a list of barriers and a Web page to investigate and you are asked to see if those barriers exist on the given page.
You are asked to evaluate each barrier with respect to users that are blind, that have low vision, that are motor impaired, and those who use a mobile device. For each barrier and user group, please check whether that barrier exists. If it does not exist then give 0 or leave blank, but if it exists please specify the severity based on three point scale (1=minor, 2=significant, 3=critical) and also explain the rationale for your rating. Please avoid just to say yes or no as we are also quite interested in identifying the severity of a barrier. If a page contains several instances of the same barrier type (e.g., several clickable images with no text) and same user group, then enter the severity rating by referring to the worst-case scenario and explicitly indicating which case or specific element you are referring to.
A barrier is minor if it is detected by the user, but there are simple ways to overcome it or to avoid it; it is easy to remember it, to learn how to avoid or get around it; it is significant when it heavily affects the task execution. To overcome the barrier the user has to back-up, follow a trial-and-error strategy, guess the proper action, repeat an action several times; the user may incur in errors. In many cases it is not possible to avoid the barrier; even if it can be avoided, this requires a substantial knowledge and/or memory (to recall that there is the barrier and on how to avoid it). Finally it is critical when users give up, or they cannot reach their goals. This can happen after users have spent considerable time and effort to try to overcome the barrier, perhaps with many errors. There are no alternative ways (known to the users) that can be followed to achieve the goals.
In the evaluation process, you can use any evaluation tool or technique you like but please state them in the post-evaluation questionnaire.
If you have filled in electronic versions, please email them to Yeliz Yesilada or Giorgio Brajnik. If you have used hard copies, please either fax or post them to Yeliz Yesilada or Giorgio Brajnik, and email to notify that you posted or faxed them:
Yeliz Yesilada
School of Computer Science, Human Centred Web Lab (LF1),
The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL
Email: yeliz.yesilada@manchester.ac.uk
Fax: +44 (0) 845 139 5599
Giorgio Brajnik
Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica
University of Udine, via delle Scienze 206
33100 Udine, Italy
Email: giorgio@dimi.uniud.it