Caroline's Corner: We can't find Them so They don't Matter

Recently, I was having an on-line conversation about the challenges of finding participants for testing – specifically, the challenges of finding participants with disabilities.

Someone put the view that if we’re having trouble finding people with disabilities, then maybe we would be better concentrating our development efforts on people without disabilities.

I'm extremely concerned about this view. Certainly in the UK, and I strongly suspect in the USA and in other countries, we have a huge issue about people with disabilities being excluded from economic and other activities simply because they are disabled, irrespective of whether or not their particular disability in fact is a barrier in that activity.

BARRIERS TO WORK
For example, people with disabilities are far more likely to be unemployed than people without disabilities. Shaw Trust, a charity that provides employment services for disabled people, offers these facts on its website www.shaw-trust.org.uk:

* Only about half of disabled people of working age are in work (49.6%), compared with 80% of non disabled people of working age.

* Almost half of the disabled population of working age in Britain (over 3 million people) are economically inactive.

* Over one third of disabled people who are inactive (about 1 million people) say they would like to work.

Often, a job is closed to someone with a disability for an irrelevant reason eg, they might be mobility-impaired, could get about sufficiently for the job, but don't get a chance at it.

It's actually illegal in the UK, and in many other countries, to discriminate against people with disabilities in this way. But that doesn't stop it happening, sadly.

CHICKEN OR EGG?
I believe we're in a chicken-and-egg situation here.

1. Disabled people with specific skills and interests may be hard to find.
2. That means that we don't ensure that they can use things that might allow them to acquire those skills or interests.
3. That means they are hard to find.

I know it's not a direct one-to-one. Someone, perfectly well-meaning, works on a product A and can’t find the right people to test it. That product ends up excluding some people. It's irrelevant to their acquisition of skills, interests, jobs etc.

But what happens is that: product A gets copied in product B. Or the approach used by product A gets copied. Or the people who worked on product A get used to not thinking about disabled people. And so, insidiously, the vicious circle builds up: 'don't know them, don't need to know them, they don't matter'.

FIGHT HARDER
We need to fight harder, try harder, work harder to get it across that accessibility means usability plus access. And that means, test with people with disabilities.

Only a few years ago we constantly heard arguments about not being able to find users at all. We worked at it and we learned ways to
find them. Now we need to do the same for a wider marketplace: the people that we ought to be designing for, as well as the people it's easy to find to design for.

TIPS FOR FINDING USERS WITH DISABILITIES
And, to be more practical for a moment, here are some ways of finding people with disabilities and with specific jobs, interests or whatever. (Thanks to posters on www.disabilitynow.org.uk for their help with these suggestions).

1. Approach lobby groups, action groups, charities or societies with particular disabilities as their interest.

2. Ask everyone you know if they happen to know someone with the particular disability.

3. If you find someone in the right demographic, ask that person if they know anyone else in the same demographic. (This is sometimes called
'snowball recruiting').

4. Consider volunteering for a group and get to know a range of people with disabilities personally.

5. Advertise in publications aimed at people with disabilities. For example, in the UK the print magazine "Disability Now" has a circulation of 20,000 and a readership of approximately 60,000 - mostly people with disabilities. You can take out a classified advertisement in it for only £32.

If you have any comments or suggestions about this article then please contact Caroline at:

Caroline.Jarrett@Effortmark.co.uk

Caroline Jarrett is a usability consultant specialising in forms, questionnaires and data capture.

© 2005 Caroline Jarrett, all rights reserved.

Associated Link: Effortmark

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