Accessibility and Usability
Panel Members
Robert Baker (moderator)
Section 508 Coordinator
Accessibility Resource Center
Social Security Administration
Baltimore, MD 21235
Phone: (410) 966-7602
Email: robert.baker@ssa.gov
Elizabeth D. Murphy, Ph.D.
Group Leader, Human Factors & Usability Group
Statistical Research Division
U. S. Census Bureau
Washington, DC 20233
Phone: 301.763.4858
FAX: 301.753.8399
e-mail: elizabeth.d.murphy@census.gov
Justin Dopke
Usability Specialists
SSA Usability Center
Social Security Administration
Baltimore, MD 21235
Phone: (410) 966-2278
Email: justin.dopke@ssa.gov
Lana Lowry
Human Factors Scientist
National Institute of Standards and Technology
* 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8940
* Gaithersburg MD 20899-8940
* Voice: 301-975-4995, FAX: 301-975-5287
Summary
The panel members discussed the importance of including all your users in the design process - including people with disabilities. The range of design activities which project teams should include people with disabilities include contextual inquiry (interviewing users at their job location), requirements discussions, and usability testing of prototypes. The key to usability is designing to ensure that the actual users can productively complete tasks. Testing products with potential users can provide significant insight as to whether the product will be usable - before development is started - saving significant time and effort after the product is released.
Draft Usability Language for Contracts (provide by Betty Murphy)
The contractor shall include detailed consideration of usability and accessibility in the proposed solution. Based on best practices, the contractor shall propose a method of designing a user interface that will be usable by and accessible to the target users of the delivered electronic system. Methods of testing for usability and accessibility shall be described in detail. Quantitative metrics shall be proposed as indicators that usability and accessibility goals have been achieved. The cost proposal shall specify the resources needed to deliver a fully usable and accessible system.
NIST References (Provided by Lana Lowry)
Common Industry Specification for Usability - Requirements (CISU-R)
Defining usability requirements to make an effective contribution to design and development
Defining usability criteria that can be empirically validated
http://zing.ncsl.nist.gov/iusr/documents/whatistheCISUR.html
Common usability reporting format for sharing usability data with consumer organizations ANSI/INCITS 354-2001: Common Industry Format (CIF) for Usability Test Reports became a Standard December 2001
http://zing.ncsl.nist.gov/iusr/
Voting System standards and test methods for usability and accessibility (with Election Assistance Commission)