1. Accessibility and Usability Working together at MIT Katherine Wahl – Usability Consultant Stephani Roberts – Accessibility Consultant

2. In Case of Emergency

3. What we’re covering today Definitions The beginning The rationale Our model Benefits Challenges Tools The future Survey

4. What is Usability?.

5. Usability "[Usability refers to] the extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use." - ISO 9241-11

6. Examples

7. Accessibility People think of legal guidelines and checklists Vs.

8. Accessibility Accessibility allows people with disabilities to interact with the same technologies as non-disabled people. It also improves usability for all. Vs.

9. Accessibility “... compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act was among the top issues confronting online education over the next two to three years (Rowland, Maringer, Siegel & Webaim, 2010).”

10. The beginning Both part of the IT Department at MIT Close proximity and collaboration

11. The beginning Usability and Accessibility teams were already working together Both disciplines focus on the user Teams shared same business model Both within the customer support branch

12. Do Usability and Accessibility belong together?

13. YES!

14. It’s all about the user Focusing on users, not products We’re not just checking off checkboxes Making products accessible in a usable way

15. It’s efficient Efficient use of staff resources More “eyes” on projects One stop shopping for customers Fewer meetings for clients and team As consultants we’re able to take on many projects i.e we’re not hands on Consultant role = greater objectivity

16. How we work together Integrated communication Presentations to raise awareness Coordinated timelines Combined reports Sharing tools & cross training

17. How we work together Requirements gathering & Spec creation Prototyping, Design, UI Design Coding Alpha/Beta Release, QA, Docs & Training

18. How we work together Requirements gathering & Spec creation Technology Research User research

19. How we work together Requirements gathering & Spec creation Technology Research User research Prototyping, Design, UI Design Design reviews Prototyping Prototype reviews

20. How we work together Requirements gathering & Spec creation Technology Research User research Prototyping, Design, UI Design Design reviews Prototyping Prototype reviews Coding Code Reviews Screen reader reviews Expert Reviews Heuristic Reviews

21. How we work together Requirements gathering & Spec creation Technology Research User research Prototyping, Design, UI Design Design reviews Prototyping Prototype reviews Coding Code Reviews Screen reader reviews Expert Reviews Heuristic Reviews Alpha/Beta Release, QA, Docs & Training Traditional usability testing

22. Benefits Better customer service Strong advocacy for the user Saves time – parallel work Coordinated recommendations Prioritization of key issues

23. Challenges Getting to a project early for greatest impact People who think they “know their users” Or “people with disabilities don’t use this” Zealots Combined reporting

24. Tools Some cross-training ◦ POUR guiding principles ◦ Usability Body of Knowledge ◦ EASI and Knowbility online webinars ◦ Library of reference materials Sharing tools ◦ Colour Contrast Analyser ◦ WAVE toolbar ◦ Firefox web developer toolbar ◦ Fangs Screen Reader Text Emulator

25. The future Greater complexity User expectations Online learning Mobile apps User expectations Mobile Apps Online applications and services

26. Leadership facilitates change Establish institute policies Create processes incorporating accessibility & usability Reward early adopters Spotlight the positive Don’t give up

27. Usability and Accessibility can be measures of excellence!

28. Survey We’d love to know what’s happening on other campuses related to usability and accessibility. Help us find out by taking our survey: http://surveymonkey.com/s/educause_survey

29. Questions ?

30. Resource List Reference/tools ◦ POUR guiding principles http://webaim.org/articles/pour/#principles http://webaim.org/articles/pour/#principles ◦ Usability Body of Knowledge http://www.usabilitybok.org/ http://www.usabilitybok.org/ ◦ Colour Contrast Analyser http://www.paciellogroup.com/resources/contrast-analyser.html http://www.paciellogroup.com/resources/contrast-analyser.html ◦ WAVE toolbar http://wave.webaim.org/toolbar http://wave.webaim.org/toolbar ◦ Firefox web developer toolbar Laws ◦ Section 508 http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?fuseAction=stds http://www.section508.gov/index.cfm?fuseAction=stds ◦ Section 504 http://learningdisabilities.about.com/od/disabilitylaws/p/Section504. htm ◦ WCAG 2.0 http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG/