Nominations for New Media Awards 2006

Select award: -------------- Contribution to civic society Modernising government Elected representative Innovation Community and information Accessibility Education Advocacy

Usability Exchange

The Usability Exchange provides a simple, fast and cost-effective way for organisations to test the usability of their websites with real disabled users. Organisations genuinely committed to accessibility are keen to test their content with real users but find it difficult or time-consuming to do so - the Usability Exchange therefore provides a simple solution to this problem. The Usability Exchange is beneficial on a number of levels: (i) disabled users get paid for providing testing services, (ii) website accessibility can be radically improved by conducting usability testing with real disabled users, (iii) organisations get to hear what real disabled users think of their website and can communicate directly with these users to tackle any accessibility or usability issues - the solution is therefore attractive to organisations committed to improving accessibility rather than merely complying with technical accessibility standards. The Usability Exchange provides a simple, fast and cost-effective way for organisations to test the usability of their websites with real disabled users. Organisations genuinely committed to accessibility are keen to test their content with real users but find it difficult or time-consuming to do so - the Usability Exchange therefore provides a simple solution to this problem. The Usability Exchange is beneficial on a number of levels: (i) disabled users get paid for providing testing services, (ii) website accessibility can be radically improved by conducting usability testing with real disabled users, (iii) organisations get to hear what real disabled users think of their website and can communicate directly with these users to tackle any accessibility or usability issues - the solution is therefore attractive to organisations committed to improving accessibility rather than merely complying with technical accessibility standards. This organisation and its website are recently undertaking a series of 20 accessibility tests of local council websites. For each test, they ask disabled testers who register with them to give feedback on the site being tested as they complete certain tasks. This approach means that effective fedback can be obtained from a variety of people with a variety of disabilities, levels of experience and access needs. Neana Lawson

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