User Testing

In some ways, testing a site with real people is the highest level of validation you can apply. Testing is not a simple exercise, though, and must be carefully planned and carried out in order to make it of reliable value.

We are able to recruit participants both with and without disabilities for formal accessibility testing and usability studies. Participants having disabilities are visited in their home or workplace and carry out the study using their own environment and assistive technology; this is important for two reasons.

First, recruiting participants with disabilities is not always straightforward, and it makes their participation much easier if they do not have to worry about travelling to a venue for the study.

Secondly, assistive technology comes in a wide variety of different sorts and has endless configuration options; carrying out the study in this way makes the results far more meaningful than if it were to be carried out in a usability lab.

Each study is videotaped in full, provided the participant gives their consent, and this helps immensely in analysing the results. A study will typically take from one to three hours to complete.

We produce two reports at the end of the study; a short preliminary report and a longer full report. In addition, we can supply audio or video material to supplement the report, carry out presentations of findings, or create an online version of the report for long-term reference.