Abstract
This report presents the results of a pilot study on the online behavioral habits of 46 internet users; 26 of whom self-identified as having a visual impairment (either blind or low vision). While significant research exists which documents the degree of difficulty that users with visual impairments have in interacting with the Web relative to the sighted, few have addressed the degree to which this usability disparity impacts online behavior; information seeking and online exploratory behaviors especially. Fewer still have addressed this usability disparity within the context of distinct website types; i.e. are usability issues more pronounced with certain categories of websites as opposed to others? This pilot study was effective both in exploring these issues and in identifying the accessibility of online social networks as a primary topic of investigation with respect to the formal study that is to follow.
Highlights
Given that the modern World Wide Web is a largely visual medium, it would stand to reason that some usability disparity would exist between sighted users of the Web and users with some degree of blindness
Several subsequent questions regarding the online behavioral patterns of these users are left unanswered, questions which serve as the core of our research effort: 1) Are the types of usability issues faced by individuals with visual impairments largely universal or do they vary depending upon the website type in question?
While the results of this pilot study indicate that Web accessibility generally may be improving, equivalent usability is still elusive
Summary
Given that the modern World Wide Web is a largely visual medium, it would stand to reason that some usability disparity would exist between sighted users of the Web and users with some degree of blindness. This contention is further bolstered by the fact that these visually impaired users, by virtue of the nature of their disability, typically access the Web using a broad spectrum of specialized accessibility technologies with a number of documented deficiencies [1,2,3,4]. As a preliminary exercise to conducting a more formal study to investigate the aforementioned behavioral questions a pilot study was conducted using an online questionnaire This questionnaire was administered to 46 sighted, low vision and blind internet users age 18 and older. Participants were surveyed in an attempt to provide answers to online behavioral and accessibility questions while providing investigative direction in preparation for a more exhaustive and detailed study
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