Analysis of Usability Practices in a Project of a Free Assistive Technology System

The development process of free information systems has been explored in several studies, pointing out problems about the low usability of these systems. However, there is little knowledge about the insertion of usability issues into the development process of these systems when it comes to Assistive Technology resources. Those systems have particularities regarding the way users are involved, since they serve specific users (e.g., visually disabled users). This paper presents an investigation about the development process of a free information system, the NVDA (NonVisual Desktop) screen reade. The study analyzed the inclusion of of usability and accessibility practices in activities of the process applied in its development. Thus, observed practices were grouped according to ISO/IEC 12207 standards. The study demonstrated that several principles of User Centered Design could be indirectly detected in the process, considering the particularities of a free software project.