Interactive Design Test: With Assoc. for the Blind& Visually Impaired: Fall 2019

Report by KCAD Professor Bill Fischer

3 blind users and 2 students sitting around a table having a laugh together.

Project Overview

This session was aimed at obtaining feedback from Blind users on two websites. Charis Austin at ABVI Grand Rapids was kind enough to arrange the session, whuch lasted about 2 hours. Three KCAD students also attended

Projects Tested

Epicsite.org (a Wordpress site built with the DIVI theme and plug-in)

KCAD Digital Learning Center (a Google Site)

Assistive Tools Used

  • A brail keyboard
  • The JAWS screenreader
  • Th NVDA Screen Reader
  • Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Chrome web Browsers

Environment

  • The group totaled 7 people, 3 blind, 3 student and 1 faculty (me).
  • We met in a small conference room at ABVI.
  • The testers brought their own equipment.

Take Aways

General

  • The users all spent the first few minutes with each site using the rotor feature to navigate by headings and links. This gave them an overview of the site build structure and the content.
  • The users expected to and did use multiple screen readers and browsers in order to find the best working combination for each site.

The Wordpress Site (epicsite.org)

  • The hamburger menu made the navigation system inaccessible via screen readers.
  • Pages were more easily navigated than the Google Sites across multiple browsers.
  • Video and image alt tags were effective.
  • The accordian and tabs widgets were not usable with any of the assistive technology

The Google Site (kcaddlc.org)

  • The navigation was open, across the top, and was accessible. But, it was so full of links that it took a very long time to browse.
  • The site worked far better with assistive technologies when the Chrome Browser was used
  • Video and Image alt tags were effective
  • There were no special widgets in this site