I’ve been using some of my vacation to look over a free report recently released by the Nielsen Norman Group. Beyond Alt Text is a guide for website usability and accessibility best practices. The report contains:
- Results of usability tests of 19 websites with users with several different types of disabilities who are using a range of assistive technology:
- blind users using screen readers
- blind users using Braille readers
- low-vision users using screen magnifiers
- motor-impaired users
- Test data collected mainly in the United States, with some additional studies in Japan to ensure the international applicability of the recommendations
- A total of 104 users participated in the usability studies:
- 84 users with disabilities
- 20 non-disabled users who served as a control group
- 75 detailed design guidelines
At about 150 pages, there is a lot to take in. From what I’ve seen so far, however, this is a great resource.
