“It could be better. It could be much worse”: Understanding Accessibility in User Experience Practice with Implications for Industry and Education

IF 2.5 Q3 COMPUTER SCIENCE, INTERDISCIPLINARY APPLICATIONS

ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing Pub Date : 2022-12-15 DOI:10.1145/3575662

C. Putnam, E. Rose, Craig M. Macdonald

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引用次数: 4

Abstract

While accessibility is acknowledged as a crucial component in design, many technologies remain inaccessible for people with disabilities. As part of a study to better understand UX practice to inform pedagogy, we analyzed 58 interview sessions that included 65 senior user experience (UX) professionals and asked them “How do you consider accessibility in your work?” Using transitivity analysis from critical discourse analysis, our findings provide insight into the disparate practices of individuals and organizations. Key findings include the growing role of design systems to structurally address accessibility and the range of organizational strategies, including dedicated teams. We also found that the categories of accessibility consideration were somewhat superficial and largely focused on vision-related challenges. Additionally, our findings support previous work that many practitioners did not feel their formal education adequately prepared them to address accessibility. We conclude with implications for education and industry, namely, the importance of implementing and teaching design systems in human-computer interaction and computer-science programs.

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“它可以更好。情况可能会更糟”:理解用户体验实践中的可访问性及其对行业和教育的影响

虽然无障碍被认为是设计中的一个关键组成部分，但残疾人仍然无法使用许多技术。作为一项研究的一部分，为了更好地理解用户体验实践，为教学提供信息，我们分析了58个访谈环节，其中包括65名高级用户体验(UX)专业人士，并询问他们“您如何看待工作中的可访问性?”利用批判性话语分析中的及物性分析，我们的发现为个人和组织的不同实践提供了见解。主要发现包括设计系统在结构上解决可访问性和组织策略范围(包括专门的团队)方面日益增长的作用。我们还发现可访问性考虑的类别有些肤浅，并且主要集中在与视觉相关的挑战上。此外，我们的发现支持了之前的工作，即许多从业者认为他们的正规教育没有为他们解决无障碍问题做好充分的准备。我们总结了对教育和工业的启示，即在人机交互和计算机科学程序中实施和教学设计系统的重要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing COMPUTER SCIENCE, INTERDISCIPLINARY APPLICATIONS-

CiteScore

6.20

自引率

8.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Computer and information technologies have re-designed the way modern society operates. Their widespread use poses both opportunities and challenges for people who experience various disabilities including age-related disabilities. That is, while there are new avenues to assist individuals with disabilities and provide tools and resources to alleviate the traditional barriers encountered by these individuals, in many cases the technology itself presents barriers to use. ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS) is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal that publishes refereed articles addressing issues of computing that seek to address barriers to access, either creating new solutions or providing for the more inclusive design of technology to provide access for individuals with diverse abilities. The journal provides a technical forum for disseminating innovative research that covers either applications of computing and information technologies to provide assistive systems or inclusive technologies for individuals with disabilities. Some examples are web accessibility for those with visual impairments and blindness as well as web search explorations for those with limited cognitive abilities, technologies to address stroke rehabilitation or dementia care, language support systems deaf signers or those with limited language abilities, and input systems for individuals with limited ability to control traditional mouse and keyboard systems. The journal is of particular interest to SIGACCESS members and delegates to its affiliated conference (i.e., ASSETS) as well as other international accessibility conferences. It serves as a forum for discussions and information exchange between researchers, clinicians, and educators; including rehabilitation personnel who administer assistive technologies; and policy makers concerned with equitable access to information technologies.