What Are You Relying On?
What information disappears when users cannot perceive an interface the way its designer expects?
Module 01 gave us better ways to support an accessibility claim. Now we will apply that framework to a specific problem: visual information that depends on being perceived in one expected way.
Look Back at Challenge 01
Before we move on, we'll compare the three Challenge 01 briefs and look at what each source of authority allowed us to say.
How do you know?
- Where did law, WCAG, and UConn policy agree?
- Where were they answering different questions?
- Which conclusions were supported most convincingly?
- What could none of the three sources establish by itself?
Can You See What Matters?
We now have better ways to support an accessibility claim. Let's apply them to one assumption digital interfaces make constantly: that users will perceive the visual information a designer expects them to perceive.
Can users perceive and understand the information an interface is trying to communicate?
First Look
Spend a few minutes using the experience as though you were trying to find an appropriate place to study.
Pay attention to what information the interface expects you to notice.
What seems important, and how is the interface communicating it?
Campus Study Space Finder
Open Campus Study Space Finder ->Do not start with WAVE, DevTools, WCAG, or a contrast checker. Begin with your own judgment about what the interface is asking you to notice.
Try a Tool
WAVE Browser Extension - WebAIM
We've already made accessibility judgments and begun using standards as evidence. Now let's see what an automated evaluation tool can actually tell us.
Did WAVE actually determine whether this experience is accessible?
Treat the results as evidence to investigate, not as a verdict.
- Install or open the WAVE browser extension.
- Run it on today's experience.
- Look at what it flags and what information it exposes.
- Compare those findings with what your team noticed before using WAVE.
Challenge 02
You have now looked at the same interface with your own judgment, an automated tool, and the beginnings of a standards-based framework.
Challenge 02 asks your team to investigate one part of the visual problem more carefully - and improve it.
Can You See What Matters?
Open Challenge 02 ->- choose your team lens;
- record an important barrier and the evidence behind it;
- make a plan for a redesign you can test again in Session 04.