hi Andreas
On 30/10/2007, Andreas Boehmer [Addictive Media]
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
I am working on a website that targets people with many different
disabilities. So that will include users with visual, mental, hearing or
physical impairments.
The website has got quite a large amount of content, so in a normal
situation I would conduct a card sort to get feedback from all target
groups
as to how to structure the information. But I am wrecking my brain at the
moment how to best put this into practice with the group of users I have.
Using normal index cards for the card sort probably won't be a good idea
in
particular for some of the visually disabled users. Also normally I would
let the users create new cards/categories by writing on the index cards,
but
this could be a problem with some of the physically disabled users.
Maybe somebody has got a different suggestion on how to achieve this?
Thanks heaps.
Andreas.
I think you probably need to work with individual groups in a way that is
appropriate for them, rather than trying to find one way to do it all. For
example, unless you transpose labels into braille (for the blind users who
read Braille) you'll probably need to read out the cards and write down the
answers. Obviously this wouldn't be appropriate for the deaf users.
For the deaf participants, this actually requires other considerations. I
would ask them to read the cards and write the labels themselves. But you
really need to engage an interpreter if you're planning on working with deaf
participants. And I want to stress here that it's really essential that if
you're including deaf users in card sorting activities (which focuses on
content and navigation labelling etc.) you remember that Auslan and English
are two unique languages. most likely English will be their second language.
So in essence this is an ESL consideration as well. Please don't rely on lip
reading (I don't mean to infer that you would Andreas). I have to say
personally I find that really very offensive and dismissive of the
participants needs. And on a technical point, you will not know how much
information the participant has clearly understood e.g. when briefing/
giving instructions for the session. This goes for providing a written
explanation as well.
Users with physical disabilities may require other support, such as writing,
but this will depend on the individual and the assistive technology they're
using.
Given your work you're probably already aware of this, but I thought it
might be useful info for others on the list.
I understand your concerns about your time and effort, but for the sake of
data integrity, if you have to establish different ways of working with each
profile to get accurate results, then there really isn't a choice.
Have a look at this online card sorting tool, I don't really think it's
going to help you much in this situation, but it is a good tool and there
may be something you can use it for, even if it makes recording participant
responses easier for you.
http://www.optimalsort.com/pages/default.html
All the best! It sounds like a really interesting project...
lisa
--
Lisa Herrod
Web Usability: User Experience Research, Consulting and Training
Business: http://www.Scenarioseven.com.au
Blog: http://www.Scenariogirl.com
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