Toward a purposeful design strategy for visually impaired Web users

Authors

  • Rahul Barpanda Detroit Country Day School
  • Jared Reyes Envision
  • Rakesh Babu Envision and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v26i8.11612

Abstract

The central premise of this research is the belief that using the Web non-visually is cognitively burdensome and tedious due to its complex, sight-centered design. There exists a literature gap on visually impaired (VI) users’ perceptions and experiences regarding Web site complexity. This paper reports the findings from a survey of 50 visually impaired individuals regarding perceived complexity and usability of a popular shopping Web site and its less complex version. Results show that significant gains in usability could be achieved by reducing complexity in Web design. A theoretical model of perceived complexity and associated propositions are presented to guide future research on improving the VI user experience of Web sites and Web applications.

Author Biographies

Rahul Barpanda, Detroit Country Day School

Rahul Barpanda is a rising high school senior at the Detroit Country Day School, a research apprentice at Envision Inc., and a research scholar at Wayne State University. His research interests include Web site design for screen-reader usability and bio-medical issues related to vision loss.

Jared Reyes, Envision

Jared Reyes is the Research Program Manager at the Envision Research Institute. He received his Ph.D. in communication sciences and disorders from Wichita State University. His research interests are in education and health disparities.

Rakesh Babu, Envision and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Rakesh Babu is the Lead Accessibility Scientist at Envision Inc., and a Senior Scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He earned his Ph.D. in information systems from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. His research focuses on usability, user-centered design and social inclusion as these relate to people with vision loss. He assists organizations become fully inclusive to employees with vision loss using his Workplace Accessibility Service.

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Published

2021-07-23

How to Cite

Barpanda, R., Reyes, J., & Babu, R. (2021). Toward a purposeful design strategy for visually impaired Web users. First Monday, 26(8). https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v26i8.11612