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Research About Accessibility / Accessible Technology in Computing / Pages:  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8 

Appendix

Appendices included in this section are:

• Appendix A: Accessible Technology Studied
• Appendix B: Methodology
• Appendix C: Defining Who Is Likely to Benefit from the Use of Accessible Technology
• Appendix D: Accessible Technology Awareness and Use amongst All Computer Users
• Appendix E: About Forrester Research, Inc.

Appendix A: Accessible Technology Studied

The following provides detailed information about the forms of accessible technology studied in this research.

Accessibility Options and Utilities Studied

Many newer operating systems have built-in accessibility options and utilities provided for computer users. Accessibility options allow computer users to adjust and customize their computers for their vision, dexterity, hearing, speech, and cognitive needs and preferences. Accessibility utilities provide basic access to the computer for individuals with more severe difficulties and impairments. Accessibility utilities built into operating systems are not full-featured assistive technology products (which are discussed in the next section).¹⁵ These utilities provide basic access for individuals to set-up their computer and install a full-featured assistive technology product or provide an individual with temporary use of a computer other than their own.

In this study, the following built-in accessibility options and utilities were studied:

• Keyboard options
• Mouse options
• Sound options
• Display options
• On-screen keyboard utilities
• Screen magnification utilities
• Screen reader utilities

Assistive Technology Studied

Assistive technology products are specially designed hardware and software products that are chosen specifically to accommodate those with visual, dexterity, hearing, speech, and cognitive difficulties and impairments.

Many individuals who need these products can not effectively use a computer without their assistive technology product because of a difficulty/impairment. However, individuals with no difficulties/impairments may also choose to use assistive technology products as an alternative to traditional computing, such as those who want to use voice recognition products or touch screen monitors.

In this study, the following assistive technology products were studied:

• Alternative keyboards
  (for example, keyboards for use with one hand, alternative key configurations)
• Augmentative communication aids
  (for example, software that speaks text aloud for someone through their computer)
• Augmentative communication devices
  (for example, a hand-held device that speaks aloud for someone who has difficulty speaking or being understood by others)
• Braille embosser/printer
• Electronic pointing devices
  (such as those used to control the cursor on the screen using ultrasound, an infrared beam, eye movements, nerve signals, or brain waves)
• On-screen keyboard programs
• Refreshable Braille displays
• Reading tools for learning disabilities programs
  (such as text highlighting and text tracking)
• Screen magnifiers
• Screen readers
• Sip-and-puff switches
• Speech training software
• Talking word processors
• Touch screens or monitors
• Trackball
• TTY/TDD modems
• Voice recognition products
• Word prediction programs

Appendix B: Methodology

Phase I

Forrester conducted a nationwide survey from May to July 2003 to assess the incidence rates and the degree of severity of difficulties and impairments among US working-age adults and computer users. The survey was conducted by phone and mail, yielding a total of 15,477 respondents. Respondents were asked a range of questions about difficulties, impairments, computer use, and attitudes toward technology. Resulting data is representative of the adult US population. Forrester created an initial survey, in conjunction with Microsoft's team, to be fielded to a representative selection of households within the US to assess incidence rates and the degree of severity for several difficulty/impairment types. The following types of difficulty/impairment were studied: visual, dexterity, hearing, speech, and cognition.

Survey questions

The survey was designed to identify individuals who self-identify as having a difficulty or impairment, as well as those who do not consider themselves to have an impairment but do report difficulty with tasks. To measure a range of potential demand for accessible technology, a three-pronged approach was used to ask questions to identify those most likely to benefit from accessible technology.

The survey included the following three types of questions:

1. Task-based questions: Designed to understand difficulty with ordinary daily tasks in each of the difficulty/impairment types. The types of questions asked include: "Please indicate how often, if ever, you have difficulty seeing the words and letters in ordinary newspaper print because of your eyesight. If you usually wear glasses or contacts, please indicate whether you have difficulty while wearing glasses or contacts," and "Please indicate how often, if ever, you have difficulty using a keypad on a phone/dialing the phone because of physical difficulties with your arms, hands, wrists or fingers."
2. Direct questions about impairments: Designed to assess the proportion of the population who believe that they have an impairment. Individuals were also asked to assess the degree of severity of their impairment. The purpose of asking them for their own assessment was to understand the role of self-identification in seeking out solutions to difficulties with computer tasks. These questions were more direct, for example: "Do you have a visual impairment?"
3. Direct questions about impact on employment: Designed to allow individuals to communicate their assessment of the limitations imposed by their impairment. For example, people who identified themselves as having a visual difficulty/impairment were asked directly: "Do you have a visual impairment that limits the kind or amount of work you can do?"

In addition to a rigorous assessment of respondents' ability within a difficulty/impairment type, the survey assessed overall computer usage; technology, health, and life attitudes; employment; accessible technology use; and a range of demographic characteristics.

Sample size

A target sample size of over 15,000 completed responses ensured that the study would capture a large sample of computer users with various impairments. Additionally, this ensured that some low-incidence difficulty/impairment types (such as severe hearing impairment) would be sufficiently represented.

Phone and mail surveys

Respondents were contacted by either mail or phone from May to July 2003; 10,464 respondents are members of the mail panel managed by National Family Opinion (NFO); the remaining 5,013 respondents were contacted by phone through random digital dial (RDD).

Fielding the surveys by phone and mail allowed the research team to take advantage of the benefits of each method, accurately capturing a representative sample of the US population while minimizing bias against specific difficulties/impairments that would have challenged answering phone or mail surveys alone. The benefits of the mail survey include that it was more accessible for people with hearing difficulties and impairments and that the panelists know the source of the questionnaire, making them feel more secure revealing private information. Additionally, the mail survey was supplemented with rich background data on panelists (this background data also allows consistency checks on answers like income, age, and gender). The benefits of the phone survey include that the RDD method is more likely to include less traditional household structures, it is more accessible for people with visual difficulties/impairments, and the survey is guided by an interviewer, which reduces errors in the answers.

Weighting the data

Forrester Research uses weights to ensure that the final group of survey respondents gathered through each method is representative of the general US population. Mail surveys were sent to a representative group of households, but the final data was weighted due to differing response rates. Similarly, phone surveying, while providing a random selection of households, creates a self-selected bias in the sample that requires weighting to correct. Weights were created by identifying target characteristics of US households from the June 2003 Current Population Statistics. Sampling was done at the household level, so the weights are designed to ensure that the data is representative of US households and the individuals within them, rather than all individuals.

Although phone-based and mail-based data was weighted along similar grounds and attributes, weights were developed separately to ensure representation across both groups. Each survey was weighted so that, when combined, it represented 50% of respondents. While the mail survey actually captured twice as many respondents as the phone survey, mail survey respondents were more likely to identify limitations/disabilities in many cases. As such, the decision to weight them equally provided more conservative estimates of difficulty/impairment rates.

Phase II

Phase II, conducted in the fall of 2003, involved a follow-up survey sent to a sample of computer users who currently use accessible technology as well as computer users with mild or severe difficulties/impairments who were identified in Phase I as likely or very likely to benefit from the use of accessible technology due to mild or severe visual, dexterity, hearing, cognitive, and speech difficulties and impairments.

Survey questions

The Phase II survey asked participants a wide variety of questions about their current computer and Internet use as well as their own awareness and use of computers and accessible technology, computer comfort level, computer knowledge, computer experience completing eight different computer tasks, attitudes about accessible technology, and demographic questions.

The survey contained the following questions in the following categories:

1. General computer use at home and work: These questions asked people about ownership and use of computers including the number of hours using computers per day, years of using computers, and number and type of computers used. Participants were asked to identify from the following list which operating systems they use: Macintosh OS X or higher; Macintosh OS 8.0, 8.1, 8.5, 8.6, 9.0, or 9.1; Macintosh OS 7.X or lower; Windows XP; Windows 2000/NT/ME; Windows 95/98 or earlier; Unix; Linux/Lindows; Other (write-in) or Don't Know.
2. Accessibility options awareness and use: These questions asked specifically about built-in accessibility options and utilities including display, mouse, keyboard, sound options as well as built-in screen magnification utilities, on-screen keyboards, and screen readers included in the operating system. See Appendix A for a complete list.
3. Assistive Technology awareness and use: These questions asked about specialty hardware and software products. See Appendix A for a complete list.
4. Demographic and household questions: The survey assessed health and life attitudes, employment status, the use of accessible technology, and a range of demographic characteristics.

Sample selection and size: The Phase II survey involved re-contacting a random sample of computer users identified in Phase I who experience mild or severe difficulties/impairments. Phase II survey was conducted by phone and mail from October through November 2003 and was completed by 3,428 qualified computer users (2,555 by mail and 873 by phone). (Note: The survey was completed by a total of 4,072 respondents but only 3,428 qualified). Respondents were asked a range of questions about computer use, accessible technology, and attitudes toward technology. Resulting data is representative of the adult US population.

General Information

US focus. Both Phase I and Phase II surveys had a US focus. Difficulties/impairments identified will likely affect people similarly in other countries and our findings will be noteworthy outside of the United States. As such, Microsoft made the decision to focus the survey in the US because of the extremely high cost of a multi-country survey and because the surveys could not be easily translated to other languages and cultures. This study could be leveraged by other countries but the survey questions would need to be reconsidered to field the survey outside of the US, rather than directly translated into other languages, because of the sensitive nature of the research topic. Forrester Research believes that the survey design, and to some extent the research methodology, would need to be customized for each country. A key benefit of a US-only study is that the lessons from this experience can help ensure better execution of non-US versions, if Microsoft decides to invest in research on this topic in other countries.

Accuracy of results

For results based on a randomly chosen sample of this size (N=15,477), there is 95% confidence that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 1% of what they would be if the entire adult population of US households had been polled. The phone survey is randomly sampled, but the mail sample is not a random sample; while individuals have been randomly sampled from NFO's panel for this survey, they have previously chosen to take part in the NFO mail panel.

Appendix C: Defining Who Is Likely to Benefit from the Use of Accessible Technology

Note: The following is excerpted from The Wide Range of Abilities and Its Impact on Computer Use.

Based on answers to the survey questions in the first survey, survey respondents were placed into one of the following three groups according to the likelihood of benefiting from the use of accessible technology:

Not likely to benefit from the use of accessible technology due to no (or very minimal) difficulties or impairments.

This group includes:

• Individuals who had trouble performing two or fewer daily tasks in a difficulty/impairment type only some of the time or who never had trouble with any assessed task.¹⁶
• Individuals who did not self-identify as having any type of impairment or report having a difficulty or impairment that impacts employment.

Likely to benefit from the use of accessible technology due to mild difficulties or impairments.

This group includes:

• Individuals who self-identified as having a difficulty/impairment that did not limit their employment and daily life.
• Individuals who reported difficulty with more than one daily task within a particular difficulty/impairment type some or most of the time.

Examples of mild difficulties and impairments include being slightly hard of hearing or having difficulty hearing conversation some, but not most, of the time and experiencing pain in hands, arms, or wrists that limits activities some, but not most, of the time. These individuals are likely to benefit from the ability to customize accessibility options built into software such as increasing font size, turning up volume on computers, and using keyboard shortcuts instead of a mouse.

Very likely to benefit from the use of accessible technology due to severe difficulties or impairments.

This group includes:

• Individuals who reported having an impairment that limits employment.
• Individuals who reported difficulty with all of the tasks within a difficulty/impairment type some of the time and report having an impairment.
• Individuals who reported difficulty with most of the tasks within a difficulty/impairment type most of the time.

Examples of severe difficulties and impairments include being blind or deaf, experiencing pain in the hands, arms, or wrists that limits activities most of the time, and having non-correctable visual problems that cause difficulty performing many visual-related tasks. These individuals are likely to benefit both from using the accessibility options built into software (as described above) as well as specialty assistive technology software and hardware designed for specific difficulties and impairments (such as screen readers and voice recognition software).

Appendix D: Accessible Technology Awareness and Use amongst All Computer Users

This report focuses on presenting data about awareness and use of accessible technology among the 74.2 million working-age computer users (those age 18 to 64 years old) in the US with mild or severe difficulties/impairments. This appendix provides data about awareness and use of accessible technology scaled to reflect percentages among all (130.4 million) working-age computer users (those age 18 to 64 years old) in the US. The table below compares awareness and usage rates of specific types of accessible technology among all computer users to those among computer users with mild or severe difficulties and impairments.

 All working-age computer usersComputer users with mild or severe difficulties/impairments

Base: US 18- to 64-year old computer users

Appendix E: About Forrester Research, Inc.

Forrester Research identifies and analyzes trends in technology and their impact on business. It provides companies with practical ideas, rigorous research, and objective guidance to help them thrive on technology change. In February 2003, Giga Information Group became a wholly owned subsidiary of Forrester Research, Inc. Giga provides objective research, pragmatic advice, and personalized consulting to global IT professionals. Together, Forrester and Giga enable companies to make better strategic decisions that maximize technology investments and achieve identifiable business results.

The Forrester Project Team

Forrester's Custom Consumer Research team helps companies make strategic business decisions by providing analysis of consumer attitudes and behavior and helping to formulate market strategies. To gain a thorough understanding of consumers, the CCR designs, implements, and analyzes proprietary consumer surveys. Furthermore, the CCR may work with data proprietary to clients to provide the best possible assessment of current customer demand issues. In addition to data analysis and consumer research, senior research staff at Forrester combines the consumer analysis with relevant industry analysis. Senior research staff works together to find the best solution for clients' business problems.

The Forrester project team included:

Betsey Stevenson, Ph.D. Custom Consumer Research Advisor, who was the lead researcher. Betsey leads Forrester's Custom Consumer Research team, helping clients make strategic business decisions by designing, implementing, and analyzing proprietary consumer surveys. She has served as an analyst in Consumer Technographics®, covering a wide range of industries. Before coming to Forrester, Betsey taught and conducted research in economics at Harvard University. Her work there focused on statistical analysis of individuals to predict behavior in a wide range of consumer, health, and family areas. Betsey also taught courses in applied econometrics at Harvard University. Her writings have appeared in a variety of publications, including The Wall Street Journal. Prior to her work at Harvard, Betsey was part of the International Finance group of the Federal Reserve Board, analyzing the financial situation of developing countries and debt restructuring packages. Betsey graduated from Wellesley College and received an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics at Harvard University with an emphasis on econometric analysis and quantitative research design.

Jed Kolko, Ph.D. Vice President, who supervised the execution of the study. As the leader of Consumer Technographics® in North America, Jed directs a team of analysts and associates who track and analyze consumer use of technology products and services. His team conducts original research—surveying hundreds of thousands of households each year—on topics ranging from the spread of broadband to the adoption of wireless devices. This primary research is the largest and longest-running technology research effort in the world and provides Forrester and its clients with the most accurate view of emerging as well as established technologies. Prior to this position, Jed, was a principal analyst researching consumer devices, access, and services using Forrester's Technographics® consumer surveys. He covers devices such as PCs and peripherals, consumer electronics, and telecom products; Internet access, including broadband and wireless; and social implications of new technologies. Prior to coming to Forrester, Jed consulted to public and nonprofit agencies on telecommunications policy and urban development, including the Citizens Budget Commission in New York and the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City in Boston. He worked at the World Bank and for the Progressive Policy Institute in Washington. He also taught economics courses at Harvard University. Jed holds a Ph.D. in economics and an A.B. summa cum laude from Harvard. His doctoral dissertation examined the impact of information technology on urban development. His research has been widely cited in the academic and popular press.

¹⁵See Appendix B for a list of the operating systems and versions studied.
¹⁶ To ensure a conservative estimate, those who only reported some difficulty with one daily task in an impairment type were not included..

(A Research Report Commissioned by Microsoft Corporation and Conducted by Forrester Research, Inc., in 2004)