Subject: [leadership] seeking participants to answer questions by March 17
I received the message below this morning, and am hoping some of you all can help this student ASAP. Please respond to [email protected]. To Whom It May Concern, My name is Jefreena Packianathan and I am a student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. For my senior project, I am researching and identifying the difficulties and challenges experienced by blind screen-reader users when accessing social networking websites such as Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, or even Twitter. I am looking to conduct about 10-15 interviews (approx. 30 minutes each) and have them all completed by March 17, 2011. If you, or anyone you know, are interested in participating, please contact me at [email protected] or (301) 351 - 3979 <tel:%28301%29%20351%20-%203979> as soon as possible. All interviews can be conducted over the phone or on Skype (whichever is preferred). I have attached the interview questions if you would like to review them. This protocol has been approved by the UMBC Institutional Research Board (Y09RK12088). Thank you in advance, Jefreena Packianathan [email protected] | (301) 351 - 3979 <tel:%28301%29%20351%20-%203979> University of Maryland, Baltimore County USER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS USER BACKGROUND 1. What is your name? (to be kept anonymous) 2. What is your age? 3. Are you currently in school, employed, retired, etc? 4. Describe your living environment. a. Do you live at home with family or are you more independent? b. Are you the only one visually impaired? 5. Describe your social environment. a. If I may ask, are you close with your family? b. Are you part of any clubs, associations, social groups, etc? c. How often do you go out to mingle with friends and acquaintances, or participate with the above-mentioned groups? 6. Where do you find most of your support? For example, friends, family, school, club, etc.? 7. Would you consider yourself and introvert or an extrovert? 8. Describe your average day, or week schedule. USER & TECHNOLOGY 9. Do you have easy access to a computer? 10. How often do you use a computer? 11. What are some common tasks that you would perform on a computer? For example, Play a game, draft a letter, write music, etc. 12. Describe your feelings towards the mouse and the keyboard of a computer. Would you prefer one over the other, or are you indifferent towards each? 13. How often have a sighted person assist you as you use a computer? 14. How often do you browse the internet? 15. What are some common tasks that you would perform on the internet? For example, email, message boards, getting information, etc. 16. Do you use a specific browser, or browser application? 17. Do you use any other type of technology in your daily life, such as a cell phone, or mp3 player? 18. Do you use a screen reader for any of these technologies? 19. If so, a. What type of screen reader(s) do you use? b. How long have you used a screen reader? c. Why did you choose to use this particular screen reader? d. Do you customize your screen reader? e. Have you ever encountered any problems while using your screen reader? f. If I may ask, would you consider your screen reader affordable? 20. Have you used any other type of product to assist you to use a computer, browse the internet, or use any other technologies? 21. What are your thoughts on websites that provide a "Text-Only", "Mobile", or "Screen-reader" version of the content? USER & SOCIAL NETWORKING WEBSITES 22. Have you attempted to create an account on a social networking website before? 23. If not, why have you chosen not to create an account on a social networking website, or has the though just never occurred to you? 24. Why did you decide to create an account on a social networking website? 25. Do you have friends that have an account? a. Did someone recommend that you join? b. Have you recommended online social networking to anyone else? 26. Did you complete the process of creating an account? 27. If not, a. What were you reasons for not completing the process? b. Did you find any difficulty creating the account? c. Would you have any suggestions for improvement for the account creation process? d. Would you consider attempting to create an account later on? 28. Do you currently still maintain the account? 29. If not, a. Did you find any difficulty creating the account? b. What were your reasons for not maintaining an account? c. Would you have any suggestions for improvement for the account creation process? d. Did you encounter any problems or concerns while using the website? 30. If so, a. Did you find any difficulty creating the account? b. Why do you choose to keep the account? c. What are some features of social networking websites that you utilize, such as chat, message boards, etc? d. What have you learned while using social networking websites specifically, that you had previously not known? e. Do you think that online social networking online has affected your life in any way? f. On which website do you have an account? List all if there are numerous. g. Are there any specific reasons you chose this website over others? h. How often do you access the account? i. Have you encountered any problems or concerns while using the website? CHALLENGES 31. Can you identify a few examples in which [insert problem/issue here] has occurred? 32. How often does this occur? 33. How much of an impact does it have on your ability to compete a task? 34. Is this a major or minor concern? Do you have any suggestions as to what you would chang
_______________________________________________ ATI (Adaptive Technology Inc.) A special interest affiliate of the Missouri Council of the Blind http://moblind.org/membership/affiliates/adaptive_technology
