HCID2012 City University 12 April 2012

User Experience for the acquired disabilities

UX Consultant | Foolproof Accessibility Chair | UK UPA

Caleb Tang

@calebtang

1 bil People in the world currently living with a disability – 2011 WHO World report on disability

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Disability is real They exist in different forms They can be visible or hidden They can be permanent, corrective or temporary They can be born, acquired or developmental

§  Vision § Hearing § Motor § Cognitive

Many people with disabilities do not consider themselves disabled

h"p://www.flickr.com/photos/djou/1265264550/  

Medical vs. Social model of disability

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Medical Model

Social Model

Many people with disabilities are not born disabled

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§ Disabilities can be acquired through injury, accident, illness or genetic inheritance

§ Disabilities are not homogeneous, they: • may not have the same condition, • may not communicate the same way, • may not use the same tools, • may have different preference

Model of grief - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

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Denial   Acceptance  Anger   Bargaining   Depression  

“This is not real” “its not that serious”

Stage 1: Denial

“Why me?” “This is not fair!!!”

Stage 2: Anger

“OK, maybe this is temporary” “I’ll seek a second opinion”

Stage 3: Bargaining

“I’m doomed L” “I’m hopeless”

Stage 4: Depression

“OK, I’ll get on with it” “It’s not the end of the world”

Stage 5: Acceptance

Sudden vs. Gradual change

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§  Sudden change •  Takes longer to learn •  Comparing to the mental model during the abled days •  Frustrated, angry, lack of patience, feeling hopeless etc

§ Gradual change •  Unaware of the gradual development of disability •  Start preparing and learning new ways to live •  Trying to do as much as possible while they can •  Swing between “abled” and “disabled”

Born vs. Acquired disability learning model

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§  People who were born disabled may: •  Go through formal training and education •  Be well connected with the community

§ While people with an acquired disability may: •  Go through stages of grief •  Take a long time before they are ready to learn new

ways to live •  Find learning challenging depending on age,

motivation and personality

Give  up  on  life  

Learn  to  be  independent  

Rely  on  others  

What does that mean to UX? §  Disability is not homogeneous §  People with disabilities have emotions too §  Disabled is not what people with disability call

themselves

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Labelling: Accessibility or Preferences

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Accessibility §  Not everyone with a disability

considers themselves disabled §  They may not be aware or even

associate themselves with the features

Preferences §  Everyone has a preference §  You don’t have to be disabled to use

accessibility features §  Users are more likely to try out the

feature

Placement: Visible or hidden

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Visible by default §  Users are more likely to use it if its

readily available §  It helps educate users that such

functionality exists §  People with no disabilities may find it

suits their preference

Hidden under accessibility page §  Users have to find it §  Users may not aware it exists §  It is technically accessible but not

usable

Marketing: Primary or accessibility feature

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§  Siri is marketed as a primary feature but it is actually a tool developed for people with disabilities

BS8878: Step 7 - Degree of user experience

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§ What is BS8878? •  British standard to outline a framework for web

accessibility when designing or commissioning web products.

•  16 step process in creating accessible web products

§  Step 7: Consider the degree of user-experience the web product will aim to provide •  Technically accessible •  Usable •  Satisfying or enjoyable

BS8878: Step 7 - Degree of user experience

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Technically  accessible  

Usable   SaMsfying  or  enjoyable  

Blog: Personas – Inclusive requirements

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Start including disability experiences in your personas http://www.foolproof.co.uk/personas-inclusive-requirements/

Questions? Thank you

@calebtang