Re: CHANGE PROPOSAL: Table Summary

Hi Ian,

> I should first say that it is
> well-established that asking questions in usability studies leads to
> results that are dramatically biased towards a supportive answer

I agree with that. In formal usability tests, if a facilitator is
asked for help, he or she should say that the goal is for the
participant to try to solve the problems on their own. A facilitator
should to stay neutral in words and body language. And they should be
careful not to ask leading questions that may skew the participant's
responses.

But surveys are a type of usability evaluation tool [1]. They have
strengths and weaknesses, as do other evaluation methods. WebAIM has
conducted a couple surveys of screen reader users [2] [3]. I was
thinking about a survey along those lines with questions such as Roger
posed. It wouldn’t be as labor intensive as full-blown usability
testing and might provide us some information... Another thought:
doing one wouldn’t preclude doing the other.

> Also, it's important to remember that nobody (as far as I know) is arguing
> that table explanations are undesireable

It is great that part of the table summary issue is now agreeable.

> I'm not sure that a survey would be the best way of collecting data about
> the best way to improve accessibility. I think a better way to get data
> about this would be a set of usability studies of Web authors followed by
> double-blind studies of the pages they write. For example, take six to
> nine Web developers, and give them the task of marking up some Web pages
> that include particularly complex data tables in an accessible way that is
> still aesthetically pleasing to them. The developers would be split into
> three groups, one being given instructions on using summary="", one being
> given instructions on writing paragraphs around the table, and one being
> given no instruction at all. Then, take the resulting pages, and bring in
> six to nine users of assistive technologies, and randomly give each one
> some of the pages created, and ask them to fill in a questionnaire based
> on the data in the table. Then, a researcher who is not aware of any of
> these events is asked to "grade" the questionaires, and determine which
> show a better understanding of the underlying data.

Interesting proposal. It has quite a few phases and variables.

Best Regards,
Laura

[1] http://www.d.umn.edu/itss/support/Training/Online/webdesign/testing.html
[2] http://www.webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey/
[3] http://www.webaim.org/projects/screenreadersurvey2/

--
Laura L. Carlson

Received on Sunday, 6 December 2009 23:05:11 UTC