Use Case Solutions

From Low Vision Accessibility Task Force

This document is a repository for the solutions, which were removed from the Use Cases page.

Using THIS (feature, setting, etc.) solves the problem. Or, if THIS (feature, setting, etc.) existed it would solve the problem.

Field Loss

  1. TAGLINE: College student John, who has a limited field of view, has problems with fixed columns.
    1. SUMMARY: Content outside of the viewport is not perceivable.
    2. DESCRIPTION: A student has a limited field of view, which restricts vision to a small portion of the viewport and makes reading or interacting with content displayed in fixed columns time consuming and difficult. It is easy to loose context with multi-column layouts because of the need for left to right scrolling. Matching tests are nearly impossible to finish when the physical proximity between 2 sets is far apart.
    3. SOLUTION: The problem could be solved for some layouts by not using columns or reflowing the content into a single-column with a vertical stack to make it easier to see all the information presented. Close physical proximity is especially important. Matching questions may need to be changed to questions that can be read and answered individually, one at a time. [Laura, UC-1]
  2. TAGLINE: University student Gail, who uses a magnified viewport, has problems interacting with interface components outside of her viewport.
    1. SUMMARY: When changes occur outside the perceptual area, they are not actionable.
    2. DESCRIPTION: Using a screen magnifier, it is difficult for a student with low vision to perceive error messages or other actions such as expanding menus when they happen outside of the usable magnified viewport area due to field loss. Gail tries to click around with her mouse and nothing works. The proximity of changes on the screen are not close to where the action happens e.g. inside the usable viewport area nor are they grouped together centrally.
    3. SOLUTION: The problem could be solved if the proximity of changes on the screen was close to where the action happens e.g. inside the usable viewport area. When changes occur on screen, they could be grouped together centrally. Another solution per Jim A: "if the user were using cursor browsing error messages and other alerts could appear centered on the cursor. The browser should know the cursor location and where to place the message box. Generally they appear in the center of the screen (a known location). Could be a browser user preference."[Laura, UC-2]
  3. TAGLINE: University student Toby, who uses magnification software, has problems with navigation.
    1. SUMMARY: When the browser back button is disabled and an application's back button (and navigation) is outside of the perceptual area, navigation is inoperable.
    2. DESCRIPTION: Tobie is using zoom magnification software in an e-learning Web based product. He attempts to return to a landing Web page from an interior Web page by using the browser back button but it is disabled in the product. Moreover, the e-learning tool's back button (and navigation) is outside the zoomed-in field of view. No other method of navigation within the set of Web pages is provided i.e., breadcrumbs. This makes it difficult to locate previous content.
    3. SOLUTION: The problem could be solved if the browser back button functionality was available, or if back button functionality in the product was provided from within the zoomed viewport, or if some other method of navigation within the set of Web pages was provided e.g., breadcrumbs. [Laura, UC-3]
  4. TAGLINE: Clara who uses a screen magnifier has difficulties with browser tabs.
    1. SUMMARY: Pages opening in new browser windows or tabs are not perceivable.
    2. DESCRIPTION: When zoomed in with screen magnifier software, Clara loses the ability to see browser tabs, They are outside of her perceptual area. This is problematic when links, which open in a new tab or window fail to possess a link text warning of that fact. Hence Clara is unaware of when documents or Web pages open in a new tab and is disoriented.
    3. SOLUTION: The problem could be solved if a link opening in a new tab has a link text warning. Alternately, opening new tabs could be avoided. [Laura, UC-4]

Size Limitations

  1. TAGLINE: Naomi has difficulty reading tooltips for icons, which are obscured under the large screen magnifier cursor.
    1. SUMMARY: Tooltip text is fragmented, rendering it incomprehensible or ambiguous.
    2. DESCRIPTION: Naomi, a student using screen magnification software finds it difficult to read tooltips for icons, which are obscured under the large screen magnifier cursor. The design fails to provide static text labeling for icons, which would not require hovering. The following are links to screenshots from usability testing that illustrates the issue: 1.) Icon Hover Screenshot #1 (.png file) Hand cursor obscures tooltip. The letters "ssary" are visible in the tooltip. The first half of the word is missing. 2.) Icon Hover Screenshot #2 (.png file) Hand cursor obscures tooltip. The letters "F" and "otes" are visible in the tooltip. The middle of the word is missing. 3.) Icon Hover Screenshot #3 (.png file) The letters "cards" are visible in the tooltip. The cursor obscures the first half of the word in the tooltip.
    3. SOLUTION: The problem could be solved if static text labeling that doesn't require mouseover to label icons was used. [Laura, UC-5]

Color and Contrast

  1. TAGLINE: Arvid, a university student has problems with content images, which have low visual contrast.
    1. SUMMARY: When images fail to provide a sufficient contrast ratio, content is not perceivable.
    2. DESCRIPTION: A student with low vision is assigned to read a chapter in a teaching and learning Web-based product and write an essay to demonstrate his comprehension of the subject matter. The chapter contains complex diagrams with low visual contrast. It is difficult to understand much of what the images are depicting as they have insufficient contrast.
    3. SOLUTION: The problem could be solved if sufficient visual contrast in graphics was required for image content [Laura, UC-6]
  2. TAGLINE: Bill, a person who uses High Contrast Mode (HCM), is unaware of content provided via CSS background images.
    1. SUMMARY: CSS background images in HCM vanish and are not perceivable.
    2. DESCRIPTION: Bill uses an operating system's High Contrast Mode, which allows people with low vision a convenient means of improving their ability to successfully use a computer. HCM changes the foreground and background colors to create higher contrast. The HCM does not display images included via CSS background declarations as they are considered decorative. Therefore, whenever developers fail to use inline content images and relegate them to background CSS, important information or functionality is lost and Bill is not provided access.
    3. SOLUTION: The problem could be solved if content images were displayed or if inline images were used or if a CSS content image property existed/worked/was supported, or a script was used to detect when images are overridden. [Laura, UC-7]
  3. TAGLINE: Geoff, a person who requires an inverted high contrast color scheme has difficulties with some user agents.
    1. SUMMARY: Some inverted high contrast color schemes provide limited readability and content, which is not perceivable.
    2. DESCRIPTION: Geoff requires an inverted high contrast color scheme to effectively use an interface. Some user agents invert colors but fail to provide way to customize and set the inversion scheme based on user needs. They invert colors but fail to provide a usable white-on-black color scheme resulting in limited readability and content that is not perceivable. [Laura, UC-8] (Jeffrey Stark's article is the basis of this use case.)
    3. SOLUTION: A solution would be to provide a way to customize and set the inversion scheme based on user needs (ala Windows OS). [Laura, UC-8]

Blur / Glare

  1. TAGLINE: University student, Ian, has difficulties with large areas of white space.
    1. SUMMARY: Glare from white space in large borders used a in design as a fixed framing mechanism produces discomfort.
    2. DESCRIPTION: White space, also known as negative space, is the open space between visual elements on a web page. The term describes the unused areas. Designers typically use it to give the eye rest. However, for Ian, who is particularly sensitive to light, the white space renders brightly and causes glare in an e-learning Web based product. This in turn makes reading assignments and completing quizes slow and difficult.
    3. SOLUTION: The problem could be solved if white space was used where needed, rather than as a fixed framing mechanism. [Laura, UC-9]

Fatigue

  1. TAGLINE: After numerous, steadfast attempts to prove she is a human, Susan, a researcher, experiences exhaustion.
    1. SUMMARY: A service fails to provide an alternative to a visual CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing Tests to Tell Computers and Humans Apart), which results in fatigue, frustration, and ultimately having to ask for assistance from another person.
    2. DESCRIPTION: Susan, wants to write a research paper and use a scholar service to alert her of new information. When attempting to sign up she is initially presented with a check box, which says "I'm not a bot". She checks the box. Then she is presented with a modal dialog, which states "Select all images with street name signs" along with nine photographs (street sign screen capture #1 (.png file)). She has difficulty in identifying the images so she selects the "audio challenge" icon. Rather than being presented with an audio challenge another group of photos appear with the same instruction, "Select all images with street name signs" (street sign screen capture #2 (.png file)). She has difficulty but tries to identify them and selects the "Verify" button. She then is presented with another modal dialog, which says "Select all the food" (food screen capture (.png file)). A 2nd time she selects the "audio challenge" icon but is not presented with an audio challenge. She is presented with a modal dialog, which says "Select all the images with salad" along with a group of photos (salad screen capture (.png file)). Again, she tries unsuccessfully. A 3rd time she selects the "audio challenge" icon but is not presented with an audio challenge. This time she is presented with a modal dialog, which says "Select all the pancakes" along with a group of photos (pancakes screen capture (.png file)). Again, she tries unsuccessfully to complete the task. This process is repeated unsuccessfully several more times with various other sets of images. Finally, an error dialog box appears (error screen capture (.png file)). This experience results in fatigue, frustration, being unable to sign up for the Web service independently, and ultimately having to ask for assistance from another person.
    3. SOLUTION: The problem could be solved if CAPTCHA was not used or an alternative for a visual CAPTCHA was available and worked. [Laura, UC-10]
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