Testing the effects of web usability criteria for vision impaired users

Leporini B, Paternò F

Accessibility  Usability  Blind users  Screen readers  Guidelines  User testing 

In this paper we show how it is possible to increase usability for vision-impaired users accessing Web applications. To this end, we have developed a number of criteria that allow designers to obtain usable Web sites for users who navigate through screen readers or other similar devices. We present the results of user testing performed to estimate the impact of our criteria on the Web interactions of vision-impaired users. The results indicate that their application can increase Web site usability for such subjects. Indeed, application of the presented criteria improved Web site usability both quantitatively and qualitatively, by reducing the navigation time and making the test Web site easier to use for blind/low vision users.

Source: ACM TRANSACTIONS ON COMPUTER-HUMAN INTERACTION, pp. 1-27