User research

Running research sessions with disabled people

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From:
Accessibility community

When you do research with disabled people, it바카라 사이트™s important to plan your sessions carefully, treat participants with respect and take account of their individual needs.

Steps to follow

Think about what you need to do to make sessions easy and comfortable for participants, both before they start and when they are underway.

Before a session

If you바카라 사이트™re running a session at a research lab or other venue:

  • meet the participant at reception (or arrange for someone else to)
  • bring them to the lab or research room - find out
  • ask if they need you to set up any equipment they바카라 사이트™ve brought - this can take time so make sure you plan for it
  • explain where the nearest toilets are, including the accessible one
  • explain what will happen if the fire alarm goes off

If your participants need to use assistive technology, ask them to bring it with them. This is because it바카라 사이트™s hard to recreate someone바카라 사이트™s personal settings on a different device. If a participant cannot bring their technology, it바카라 사이트™s best to visit them instead.

Do not pet a participant바카라 사이트™s assistance dog, unless they say you can.

Before you start the session:

  • introduce yourself and explain who else is with you (like observers or notetakers) and what their role is
  • make sure they can use and understand the consent form so you get their informed consent

During a session

Regardless of what you바카라 사이트™re researching and which user research method you바카라 사이트™re using:

  • talk directly to the participant, not to their interpreter or helper
  • speak clearly and use everyday language without worrying about causing offence - for example, people who are blind or partially sighted use common phrases like 바카라 사이트˜see you later바카라 사이트™ and 바카라 사이트˜see what I mean바카라 사이트™
  • check if they need you to speak up or slow down
  • do not guess what the participant is saying if their speech is not clear - ask them to write things down if you need to
  • do not guess or make assumptions about what they can or cannot do - ask before you help them with something
  • do not guess or make assumptions about how they feel or why they did something - if you want to know, ask
  • if you바카라 사이트™re unsure how to refer to the participant바카라 사이트™s disability or impairment, ask them what terminology they prefer
  • ask how their condition affects their use of technology, if this is not clear

After a session

When the research session is finished, thank the participant for taking part.

If you바카라 사이트™re at a research lab or other venue:

  • make sure the participant packs up any assistive technology they바카라 사이트™ve brought
  • check if they need you to book them a taxi or arrange for someone to meet them
  • take them back to reception (or ask someone else to)

Examples and case studies

Read a blog post about .

in the book 바카라 사이트˜Just Ask: Integrating accessibility throughout design바카라 사이트™.

Posters

, made by the Home Office

You may also find these guides useful:

From:
Accessibility community
Last updated
over 7 years ago
Last update:

Guidance first published