Authoring an Accessibility Story
Anticipating the needs of users with visual impairments can be a challenge for sighted testers. We can draw insights from the principles of plotting novels: developing empathy for "characters" as they navigate a journey, confront obstacles, make decisions, and successfully realize their goals. Elizabeth Langston's company releases an accessibility product that allows users with visual impairments to access and analyze charts and graphs through sound. She will discuss the basics of writing fiction and how to apply them to creating use case tests. You'll learn character development techniques to build customer personas, strategies for plotting a "story" end to end, and tips for projecting potential obstacles. We'll explore concepts that enhance testers' use case testing efforts and create a better software experience for customers of all abilities.
Elizabeth C. Langston is a principal software quality analyst in R&D at SAS, one of the world's leaders in software analytics. She has a master's in computer science from NCSU and more than thirty years of experience in software quality in both the military and private sectors. Elizabeth has served in a variety of roles to assist R&D staff and customers, including facilitation, testing, test management, training, documentation, and process improvement.