1. Involving People with Disabilities in User Research to Guide Accessibility Activities Sarah Horton and David Sloan, The Paciello Group Laura Brelsford, MBTA 2. Poll: Which mode of transit did you use to get to UXPA Boston? T or Bus: 25 Car or Taxi: 10 Walk: 4 Swim: 0 Teleport: 0 None of the above: 2 3. Screenshot of compliance audit with red Fail notations 4. Meme: Munch The Screen saying, Youre telling me I have 433 alt texts to fix? 5. Poll: How active are you in engaging in user research activities? Very: 19 Somewhat: 14 Not very: 3 Not at all: 3 6. How active are you in engaging in user research activities with older adults or people with disabilities Very: 4 Somewhat: 7 Not very: 19 Not at all: 14 7. Bell Curve 8. By concentrating solely on the bulge at the center of the bell curve we are more likely to confirm what we already know than learn something new and surprising. Tim Brown, Change By Design 9. David Sloan on user research with older adults (video) 10. Accessibility Maturity Continuum Identify Prioritize Inject Integrate 11. Phase 1: Identify 12. Identify and repair accessibility issues based on standards compliance 13. Example of accessibility audit spreadsheet 14. Example of success criteria failuresError message not announced by screen readers Form labels not programmatically associated with inputs 15. Example of accessibility issues overview 16. Insights Frequency and distribution of issues Estimate of impact and effort of issues Potential design and code changes to repair issues 17. Poll: In your experience, what role/team has the most responsibility for accessibility? Strategy: 12 Design: 13 Development: 11 Quality assurance: 1 No one is responsible for accessibility: 5 18. Case Study: MBTA 19. BCIL Lawsuit Filed2002 Boston Center for Independent Living & 11 named plaintiffs filed class-action suit Over 100 affidavits submitted by customers with disabilities Law Firm of Nutter, McClellen & Fish hired to litigate case for 4 years 20. The MotivationBus Service a customer with a disability has a 20.5% chance not being able to board the bus for which he/she is waiting. 2005 Delta Services Study 21. Station Name Elevator # 2003 2004 2005 State Street 802/803 98.31% 95.21% 85.80% Porter Square 818/820 93.72% 91.05% 85.41% Downtown Crossing 892 93.45% 92.35% 45.74% Park Street 808/804 89.00% 87.39% 44.44% Harvard Square 821 92.94% 95.09% 28.01% The MotivationElevator Reliability 22. MBTA/BCIL Settlement Agreement This agreement is based on a shared vision between plaintiffs and the MBTA to make the MBTA a model transit system accessible to all. There is a mutual commitment and desire to comply not only with the letter but also the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act, with the complete understanding that all people with disabilities must have every opportunity to be fully participating members of our community and that fundamental to this opportunity is the right and ability to use public transportation in an equal, effective, and dignified manner. (April 2006) 23. Overview of Commitments Bus Operations Bus Maintenance Bus Purchase & Rehab Emergencies Performance Monitoring Service Planning Vehicle Engineering Subway Operations Stop Announcements Station Platforms Elevators Maintenance Replacements & Redundants Access to Vehicles & Stations Customer Assistance Complaints Personnel Training Management Did NOT cover RIDE, CR or Ferry Service 24. Progress to Date Creation of SWA New Elevator Maintenance contract 99.5% reliability New elevators at key locations Accessibility-focused training for employees New low-floor buses Reduction in platform gaps Design & Construction reviews Internal access monitoring Improved communication with disability community 25. Shift to IT/Web Access Customer frustration Inaccessible .pdfs, trip planning The Paciello Group findings Funding solution Progress to date 26. Poll: Have you used mbta.com? Yes: 31 No: 3 Not sure: 1 27. Poll: What do you primarily use mbta.com for? Trip planning: 30 Learn about public meetings: 0 Service alerts: 11 File complaints/commendations: 0 None of the above: 0 28. Phase 2: Prioritize 29. Prioritize evaluation and repair activities based on real-world impact 30. Logistics 9 people over 2 days Sessions lasting to 1 hour Boston Center for Independent Living (BCIL) and the MBTA Office for System-Wide Accessibility 31. Perspectives Low vision Large monitor, ZoomText, large type, high-contrast mode Blind JAWS, VoiceOver Deaf Captions Limited mobility and dexterity Dragon 32. Topics Issues people encounter when working with the MBTA website Suggested areas of focus for improving accessibility 33. Tasks for test plan Check a Schedule Plan a Trip Sign up for T-Alerts Add Value to CharlieCard Purchase Rail Pass Find out information about the Green Line Extension Project Find out about MBTA and Accessibility 34. Several people commented that there is a lot going on with the site, which can make it difficult to use for everyone, but especially for people with vision impairments. One participant does not use the site because its too busy, and things jump around. Another cant use her preferred mode of large text because the site is not designed to be flexible, and adapt to large fontswhen she enlarges the font, things get jumbled. Another prefers to look at the print preview of the itinerary page because it is less cluttered than the main page. 35. Screenshot of train schedule 36. Complex tables are difficult to track when magnified 37. Printed versions should support large print 38. Online information should match whats available in print 39. The right column is a bad location for critical information 40. Text entry is more difficult than selecting from a menu 41. Screenshot of page with colored panels 42. Layouts with grouped elements work well magnified 43. Insights Real issues encountered by people with disabilities Accessibility issues not surfaced in standards review 44. Moving toward the Phase 4: Integrate 45. Boston South Station lobby 46. Travel can be difficult due to uncertainties and a lack of control. Travel can be made much more difficult by unexpected and unknown changes to schedules or services. MBTA has the opportunity to reduce the negative effect of changes by implementing a notification system that provides up-to-the-minute details in a format that is accessible for everyone, before they travel and while they are in transit. The T-Alert service is a good start, but there is more to be done to fully utilize digital technologies to keep all travelers apprised of details that affect their journey. 47. Thank you, from MBTA and The Paciello Group lbrelsford@mbta.com shorton@paciellogroup.com @gradualclearing dsloan@paciellogroup.com @sloandr