Did you know that more than one billion of our world’s population has a disability or impairment? Global Accessibility Awareness Day (GAAD) is a date encouraging everyone to get talking about digital accessibility and inclusion. Empty links, low contrast text and missing alt image text on webpages are only a few of the accessibility issues that increasingly disrupt people’s access to digital products and services.

As part of People for Research’s efforts to help create more accessible products and services alongside our clients running the research, not only have we worked on over 100 accessibility-related projects just in the last year, but we’re also still offering access to our Accessibility Collective. The collective is one of our exclusive panels, specifically created to bridge the gap between clients running research and participants with accessibility needs or impairments.

To mark GAAD 2024, we asked some members of the Accessibility Collective to answer a handful of questions about the ups and downs of taking part in user research. Keep reading for valuable insights from some of our collective members and what they have to say when it comes to digital access and inclusion.

✨ Charlotte P.

“People with hidden disabilities – like myself – tend to go unseen, so to be heard and work with companies to help improve accessibility, provides an invaluable feeling of validation.”

Even if the user feels that the research they have taken part in felt accessible to them at the time, there are always other factors that we, as organisations in the user research industry, can pay more attention to. Thankfully, Charlotte’s experience so far has been positive and one main factor contributing to this are the researchers ensuring that the technology being used is accessible to the user. “Generally, I found that the client/research staff prioritised ensuring that the technology was practical (i.e. checking internet speeds/device compatibility, etc.), accessible (e.g. asking what adjustments I usually would make when working in such a way), as well as learning what I already do to adapt,” said the member of our Accessibility Collective.

Charlotte experiences cognitive fatigue, which is related to a traumatic brain injury. “Neurons cannot be replenished, but new neural networks can be established over time – with rehabilitation. This new networking is amazing at demonstrating the plasticity of the brain, and helping to rebuild one’s life and independence, but it is not the original hardware, and thus the brain will get tired, in the same way a refurbished laptop may be a bit less energy efficient than a brand new one.” For Charlotte, when accessibility is accommodated based on an individual’s unique situation and impairment, this can reduce the pressure of doing something out of the ordinary, like taking part in research.

Taking part in research for Charlotte helps her to feel rewarded, validated and heard within the community. Being able to use her expertise alongside her disabilities – dysexecutive syndrome and epilepsy – while helping to improve accessibility through user research and being paid for it, is an invaluable feeling of validation for Charlotte. It also helps from a financial point of view, as many individuals with disabilities and impairments often have more outgoings to compensate for, despite usually earning less money.

Top tips from Charlotte:

▪️ Despite internet speed checks being important, these could be skipped if checked recently, such as within the past 6-12 months. Charlotte lives with dysexecutive syndrome, so adding an extra task to complete straight away compromises her experience of the research session.

▪️ Charlotte pointed out how greater referral incentives could be implemented by user recruitment and research organisations to improve recruitment in the accessibility community.

✨ Raj M.

“The research is well done when the online platform is easier to use. For example, sharing my screen without any challenges.”

When we asked Raj how his experience of taking part in paid user research had been across the last year, it was great to hear that all the research projects he participated in were accessible, with clear instructions and he felt his needs were understood and accommodated.

As a blind person, Raj believes the way forward is for companies like PFR to invest even more in their accessibility communities: “organisations in the user research industry could invest more time in raising awareness of the opportunities that are available [for people with accessibility needs]. This could be done via different communication channels, but an idea is to set up a dedicated and inclusive website for people to look into.”

Raj’s accessibility experience when taking part in user research partly relies on PFR and our clients understanding his experience, skills, passion, and commitment, and choosing the right form of communication. If, for example, he’s allowed flexibility when it comes to choosing the online platform used for a research session and is able to select something suited to his needs, that massively improves his experience. It’s also essential to have clear research instructions in advance to help to optimise his digital interactions with the research team.

Referring to the projects he took part in the last year, he confirmed his “accessibility needs were clearly understood and accommodated”, including allowing Raj to select his preferred digital platform to run the research: “I prefer Zoom for online testing and this has been made possible,” which makes all the difference.

Raj’s top tips:

▪️ If working with a company like PFR, researchers should be given more of a heads-up about the individual’s particular accessibility needs to be able to prepare for the research session and make it as inclusive as possible.

▪️ Raj sometimes experiences issues with screen reading, so website links for him are easier to interpret when sent in an email, rather than a chat message.

✨ Emma W.

“Knowing that I am contributing to making the digital world more accessible for all is important to me.”

Emma’s insights into accessible user research began with her mentioning that her research experiences during the past year have met her accessibility needs. “Any issues have been technical, which is expected especially when working online,” she added.

As a member of the Accessibility Collective who lives with dyslexia, dyspraxia and SHAPO syndrome, Emma’s perspective on how to make user recruitment and research more inclusive is unique. It was great to hear her ideas on how research and online tasks can be made more accessible, such as sharing information ahead of the session, explaining structures and sharing information in an organised way with a bit of a visual flair (i.e., clear headings, paragraphs, and highlighted areas, diagrams, or showing pictures where possible to help explain the research easier). “Inclusive design is the way forward and should be the norm,” she said.

We were so glad to hear that, so far, her experience when it comes to taking part in and applying to paid user research has been extremely accessible. Being selected to be part of PFR’s Accessibility Collective, rather than applying to individual research each time, makes the process easier for her and in turn, helps her to feel more efficient when taking part in user research.

“It is positive that there are many organisations wanting to gain user insight to understand not only people’s views and opinions, but understand their thinking, decision-making, and action processes.”

Emma’s top tips:

▪️ Allow people with accessibility needs to take short breaks during the research sessions. This will make the whole experience less stressful and tiring for them.

▪️ During the research or task, try to avoid using technical words or acronyms.

▪️ Rather than asking people to download new programs or software, try to adapt to what they already use. Using new technology is not always possible and may clash with a participant’s assistive technology.

✨ Fiona A.

“I always like the ones you do in person as a group and get to meet others and discuss. It can be time-consuming getting somewhere… but you do also get the biscuits.”

As a person living with autism and dyslexia, Fiona’s experience with accessible research across the past year has also been a positive one, with all the research sessions being accessible and allowing her to fully take part. Outside of work, Fiona uses assistive technology when looking at websites, so if there is a possibility of the digital world becoming more accessible, that’s a no-brainer for her. However, when it comes to user research, she finds assistive technology can slow her down: “I find assistive technology can slow me down at times, but saves me getting exhausted. I mostly use assistive technology for work, but I use websites out of work more often than at work.”

So, how could researchers accommodate individuals with accessibility needs further in the future? Allow the participant to prepare ahead of the session by sharing as much information as possible and don’t surprise the participant with unplanned requests. “Being autistic, I don’t like any surprises. For me it is also important to see the person talking to me. It is a little off-putting when others are on the call, but I don’t get to see them, especially when they are talking.”

Mindful of GAAD, Fiona suggested user research organisations should try reaching out to charities who help disabled people find employment. Those that are looking for work would be keen to take part in user research as they have time and could use the extra cash. User research would also be great for those with disability impairments to add to their CV.

Although you do get to try some nice biscuits when you attend in-person research, Fiona recognises that online research sessions are extremely convenient for both people with accessibility needs and without. “Online is convenient to fit around other commitments. I just really enjoy explaining what works best for me and what would make it easier.”

Fiona’s top tips:

▪️ We are sensing a theme here: Fiona’s advice is that all research instructions and requirements are as clear and possible and are communicated in advance. This includes knowing how many participants will be attending, if talking about a focus group, for example.

▪️ As an autistic participant in remote user research (e.g. a video call), Fiona is more comfortable when she can see the faces of the people participating and who is talking.

✨ Joseph B.

“One day in a year is not sufficient enough to educate people on how to accommodate accessibility needs.”

Joseph has only just found out what GAAD stands for – he said, to be honest, he had never heard of the term before –, which shows that more awareness of Global Accessibility Awareness Day is needed, even for individuals who experience accessibility needs and impairments themselves.

Living with a visual impairment caused by birdshot uveitus, Joseph highlighted not all of his research experiences have been fully accessible, but both recruiters and researchers have been accommodating. “I feel that the people who are running the research sessions are on a whole very helpful and patient because it is very difficult sometimes to follow the technical advice they are giving you as it is hard for me to see certain things. Patience, clear direction and empathy for those with accessibility needs are requirements to run inclusive research,” Joseph said.

Being a member of the Accessibility Collective has definitely helped make the application process a lot easier, as most of the process is done on the phone and facilitated by our team members.

When asked about his favourite paid user research experiences, Joseph mentioned he really enjoyed a recent face-to-face research session to test a new phone app. On this occasion, he felt the researchers were professional and felt like he received all the help needed, to complete his research.

Joseph’s top tips:

▪️ Don’t assume participants are tech-savvy or technical-minded just because they use assistive technology.

▪️ Promoting inclusivity in technology and design is all about accommodating for individual accessibility needs, instead of having blanket rules that work for the majority, but still exclude a good number of people from using these services and products.

Happy Global Accessibility Awareness Day

Being more aware of the GAAD ideals and their importance for people with accessibility needs can help market research organisations to further enhance user research inclusivity levels.

One of our biggest goals at PFR is to make sure we keep championing inclusion and accessibility, not just on Global Accessibility Awareness Day, but all year round. We hope that, by sharing the firsthand experiences and insights of some of the members of the Accessibility Collective, we have been able to contribute to this goal.

Accessibility recruitment is a huge focus here at People for Research, and thanks to the collective and to our diverse community, we can connect users and researchers who share the same goals to create digital products and services that become growingly accessible. Of course, there are always areas to improve and to be more mindful of, depending on each person’s accessibility needs, but we can only progress if and when we involve real users in our research.

Charlotte Burch, Digital Campaign Coordinator + Matt Eversett, Project Manager & Accessibility Collective Ambassador

If you would like to find out more about our in-house participant recruitment service for user research or usability testing get in touch on 0117 921 0008 or team@peopleforresearch.co.uk.

At People for Research, we recruit participants for UX and usability testing and market research. We work with award winning UX agencies across the UK and partner up with a number of end clients who are leading the way with in-house user experience and insight.