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Senior Thesis website usability (self.Blind)
submitted by senior_thesis_
**EDIT:** I have taken the link to the websites down. I have received the feedback I needed. If you are interested in checking them out anyway, send me a PM!
Hello! I am working on my senior thesis in which I study the differences in experience between screen reader users who are visually impaired and non-visually impaired people with regards to web navigation.
I have started to collect data from the second group (the group that doesn't require the use of a screen reader) and I am going to start collecting data on screen reader users soon.
However, before I do that, I need to make sure that the websites I have constructed are actually usable for people with screen readers.
I have 5 different websites, each presenting a different type of navigation. I would love it if you guys could go through the websites following the on-screen instructions and PM me with any problems you encounter. I have tested the sites on my computer, but I only have access to the Apple Voice Over software, so I wanted to make sure that the websites were accessible for different screen readers that I don't have access to.
If you have an extra 30 minutes or so of your time, any feedback on these websites would be greatly appreciated.
Finally, if you have any questions about the thesis in general, or you wish to participate, please don't hesitate to reach out to me via private message here on Reddit. I would be happy to give my phone number and personal email so we could talk more about this.
Thank you so much!
Hello! I am working on my senior thesis in which I study the differences in experience between screen reader users who are visually impaired and non-visually impaired people with regards to web navigation.
I have started to collect data from the second group (the group that doesn't require the use of a screen reader) and I am going to start collecting data on screen reader users soon.
However, before I do that, I need to make sure that the websites I have constructed are actually usable for people with screen readers.
I have 5 different websites, each presenting a different type of navigation. I would love it if you guys could go through the websites following the on-screen instructions and PM me with any problems you encounter. I have tested the sites on my computer, but I only have access to the Apple Voice Over software, so I wanted to make sure that the websites were accessible for different screen readers that I don't have access to.
If you have an extra 30 minutes or so of your time, any feedback on these websites would be greatly appreciated.
Finally, if you have any questions about the thesis in general, or you wish to participate, please don't hesitate to reach out to me via private message here on Reddit. I would be happy to give my phone number and personal email so we could talk more about this.
Thank you so much!
LanceThunder 3 points 5y ago
i can't really help you but wanted to give you a pat on the back for choosing an excellent topic for your thesis. this sort of accessibility is both rewarding and challenging. its also a skill set that is growing in demand right now. hope it goes well for you.
senior_thesis_ [OP] 1 points 5y ago
Thank you! This is an undergrad thesis for technical communications. My university requires a subfeild focus area so I chose computer science and human/computer interaction as mine. I’m excited to work on this and see where it takes me.
estj136 2 points 5y ago
Would love to help if I can, I am also primarily a mac user though. I was formerly primarily a windows user so, I know how to use it.
Feel free to reach out to ask and contact.
Feel free to reach out to ask and contact.
senior_thesis_ [OP] 1 points 5y ago
To be perfectly honest Mac users are good too. Anyone who has more experience with me is beneficial.
estj136 1 points 5y ago
Tthat’s great I use the iphone and mac. If you want contact just ask.
senior_thesis_ [OP] 1 points 5y ago
I just sent you a private message!
EndlessReverberation 1 points 5y ago
Hi,
I test web accessibility for a university and I am also a screen reader user.
My observations are below; I'm sorry if these come off as a little brusk; I only had a few moments, during a break, to look at the site and write out my first thoughts.
You should make it clear that the user is looking for the “Found me” link. A screen reader user might not realize this link is at the bottom of the profile page; When I first found the proper profile page I did not read the contents of the page because I assumed I had found what I was looking for.
You should either not use the word “button” or change the web elements you’re talking about into buttons, instead of links. When using a screen reader, you can hit the “B” key to jump to each button on a web page; however, the elements you refer to as “buttons” show up as links, not buttons, so a screen reader user may hit “B” to go to the “buttons” in question, only to realize there are no buttons on the page.
To me, the process of having to click the “previous” and “next” links 13 times for “Website A - Version 2” is needlessly tedious, and does not represent many, if any, real-world situations; I got tired of hitting “next” very quickly and just started changing the number at the end of your URL, which I found to be the only reasonable method of completing the task; I do not expect too many users to use my method of reverse-engineering your URL, but I think many will get tired of hitting the “next” link.
For “Website C” it looks like you have both the “Male” and “Female” labels associated with the first radio button, and no label for the second button. The same issue is present with the “USA Canada Australia” question.
These are just my own observations, accessibility is not always black and white, some things are a matter of opinion, so do whatever you think is best with my observations.
Good luck with your study,
I test web accessibility for a university and I am also a screen reader user.
My observations are below; I'm sorry if these come off as a little brusk; I only had a few moments, during a break, to look at the site and write out my first thoughts.
You should make it clear that the user is looking for the “Found me” link. A screen reader user might not realize this link is at the bottom of the profile page; When I first found the proper profile page I did not read the contents of the page because I assumed I had found what I was looking for.
You should either not use the word “button” or change the web elements you’re talking about into buttons, instead of links. When using a screen reader, you can hit the “B” key to jump to each button on a web page; however, the elements you refer to as “buttons” show up as links, not buttons, so a screen reader user may hit “B” to go to the “buttons” in question, only to realize there are no buttons on the page.
To me, the process of having to click the “previous” and “next” links 13 times for “Website A - Version 2” is needlessly tedious, and does not represent many, if any, real-world situations; I got tired of hitting “next” very quickly and just started changing the number at the end of your URL, which I found to be the only reasonable method of completing the task; I do not expect too many users to use my method of reverse-engineering your URL, but I think many will get tired of hitting the “next” link.
For “Website C” it looks like you have both the “Male” and “Female” labels associated with the first radio button, and no label for the second button. The same issue is present with the “USA Canada Australia” question.
These are just my own observations, accessibility is not always black and white, some things are a matter of opinion, so do whatever you think is best with my observations.
Good luck with your study,
senior_thesis_ [OP] 1 points 5y ago
I've gone through and made some of the changes you suggested! I wanted to thank you again for helping out with this. I really appreciate it.
EndlessReverberation 1 points 5y ago
No problem, I'm happy to help. I think your project is interesting and you have done a good job, over all, creating the web sites for it; nothing I pointed out was a huge issue. Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.
senior_thesis_ [OP] 1 points 5y ago
This was exactly what I was looking for!
And I’m sorry about the tediousness of A1. It was designed that way as a part of the study.
I was unaware of the difference between buttons and links in screen readers so that will definitely help.
I was mostly worried about the links and the form inputs from a screen reader users perspective so you have answered a lot of my questions.
And I’m sorry about the tediousness of A1. It was designed that way as a part of the study.
I was unaware of the difference between buttons and links in screen readers so that will definitely help.
I was mostly worried about the links and the form inputs from a screen reader users perspective so you have answered a lot of my questions.
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