What is accessibility and assistive technology testing?
Assistive technology tools are used by some people with disabilities or accessibility needs to help them use a computer, browse a website, or use a mobile phone or tablet. Websites, digital services and apps need to be tested to make sure they are compatible with a range of assistive tools.
At Research Helper, our mission is to make digital experiences better for everyone. We do this by helping companies and organisations to create fully accessible services. Therefore, we often do research with people that use assistive technologies to help them access digital services. We include people with all kinds of different physical and cognitive abilities and lived experiences, for example:
- Sight impairment
- Hearing impairment
- Different physical abilities
- Dyslexia
- Asperger's
- Autism
- ADHD
What happens in an accessibility and assistive technology testing research session?
We usually try to include people with disabilities who may have experienced problems with digital accessibility and those who use assistive technology in every piece of research we do. This helps to ensure that we capture a full range of feedback and experiences and can assess how accessible a digital service is.
The research session works in much the same way as any other research. If your research is taking place face-to-face, we will ask you to bring your assistive tech into our research facility and will use this to test the service. If your research session is taking place remotely (or online), you can join the session through the web link sent by our research team and use your own computer, tablet, or mobile device as normal. We will ask you to screen-share your session so the researcher can see how you use and engage with the digital service.
Examples of assistive technology tools include:
- Screen reader
- Screen magnifier
- Speech recognition
- Keyboard-only system
- Specially designed mouse or other input device
If you use any assistive technology and would be interested in taking part in paid research, we’d really love you to become a Research Helper.
Want to take part in paid research?
Sign up to become a Research Helper and we’ll send you information about upcoming paid research projects. You can also apply to take part in one of our current research projects.
Want to find out more? We offer a range of research methods to help organisations understand how to improve their services. Other examples of paid research you can take part in are online surveys, focus groups, and usability research.
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