DEGAS 2007 | Proceedings 10 September 2007 | Rio de Janeiro y Brazil Study of conditions of use of E-services accessible to visually disabled persons BOBILLIER CHAUMON M.E SANDOZ-GUERMOND F. Laboratoire GRePS Laboratoire LIESP Instit de Psychologie, Université Lyon 2 INSA de Lyon 69676 BRON Cedex (F) 69621Villeurbanne Cedex (F) marc-eric.bobillier-chaumon@univ-lyon2.fr francoise.sandoz-guermond@insa-lyon.fr ABSTRACT type of social stigmatism because of their lack of The aim of this paper is to determine the technological accessibility. The DP must first ask for expectations that French-speaking disabled help to use the system and perform the act. persons have for electronic administrative sites (utility). At the same time, it is a matter of identifying the The objective of our communication is to determine the difficulties of use that the manipulation of these E- real contributions of accessible E-services for visually services poses concretely for blind people (usability) disabled persons as well as evaluate the repercussions of and of evaluating the psychosocial impacts on the way the lack of digital accessibility to these E-services on of life of these people with specific needs. We show this population4. This is based on the hypothesis that that the lack of numerical accessibility is likely to inaccessible technologies will only confirm the accentuate the social exclusion of which these people inequalities of access to information and services are victim by establishing a numerical glass ceiling. between able-bodied persons and disabled persons, and could even reinforce and intensify them. ACM Classification Keywords In this perspective, we studied the conditions of use of Accessibility, Visually disabled persons, E- accessible electronic services. Government. In this perspective, we propose an original approach to INTRODUCTION & CONTEXT study the conditions of use of electronic services The development of new technologies may prove to be accessible to disabled persons. The methodological a tremendous springboard for the integration of disabled approach is indeed both: persons (DP) provided that these environments are - Multidimensional: by diagnosing their utility accessible, usable, and useful; in other words that they (adaptation to user expectations), usability (ease of take into consideration the various characteristics of the use), accessibility (respect of standards and activity and the needs and particularities (cognitive, principles), and acceptability (meaning and stakes perceptive, or motive) related to the disability of the attributed to the technologies). users (7, 9). - And comparative: since carried out on two user This question is even more pertinent in the context of samples (able-bodied and visually impaired) with quasi-generalized media coverage of the service various levels of E-service experience (novice to relationship (E-administration, E-banking, E-commerce, expert). etc.). Various studies worldwide have shown the very weak respect of accessibility criteria despite the METHODS numerous standards (section 508 in the USA, the law Our approach draws on three complementary studies: concerning digital accessibility of administrative services in France, etc.) or labels (Blindsurfeur in • The utility of the sites was studied using an online Belgium, See it Right in England, Accessiweb in France, questionnaire on 439 DP with motive, perceptive, and etc.) required during the conception of these online cognitive disabilities in order to determine what the services [5]: more than 75% of the assessed sites E-services bring to the DP and what the DP expect present level 1 WAI guideline accessibility flaws [9], from them. meaning that accessibility to these sites is impossible • The usability and accessibility of the sites was for DP [2, 3, 4]. This is becoming a serious problem insomuch as accessibility seems to be one of the social and political levers playing a role in the amelioration of the quality of life of people with disabilities [6, 8, 10]. Indeed, if on 4 These results are extracted from research on the digital the one hand, accessible Internet sites can allow DP accessibility of electronic administration (ADELA greater autonomy by giving them the possibility to project) financed by the Minister of Research and New complete various activities by themselves; on the other Technology (Ministère Délégué à la Recherche et aux hand, these technologies are also the source of a new Nouvelles Technologies) (Nov. 2004 to Dec. 2005). 15 evaluated5 with user tests based on 3 scenarios informational causes (services not complying with the (specified below) and two populations: 10 visually users’ needs, unawareness of services offered) and disabled participants (VDP) and 10 sighted personal reasons (preference for classic modes of participants. The participants had comparable access, fear of social isolation, entry errors, etc.). DP sociobiographical characteristics (age, sex, education, support (sensitisation, education, etc.) in the acquisition etc.), only the mastery of the Internet varied equally of E-services would certainly help breakdown these in each group (5 novices and 5 experts). For this barriers at least in part. Finally, even though 46% were confrontation, we wanted to know if the problems opposed to transforming classic services into E- encountered by the blind were the same as those of services, and this despite the benefits indicated above, the sighted (general problems of usability), or if the this position should not be seen as a rejection of problems were amplified by a choice of technology innovation, but rather as concern and worry, shared by incompatible with their perceptive limits (problems of 60% of participants that their specific needs and profiles accessibility). The data collection tools used were would not be sufficiently taken into account in the simultaneous verbalisation, observations and a conception of these technologies. satisfaction questionnaire (adapted from the Wammi grid6). The indicators measured were the efficiency Evaluation of the usability and accessibility (time, frequency and nature of errors, omissions, Three scenarios were used for these tests: information number of selections/strategies to perform a retrieval from the ANPE (French national employment scenario), satisfaction (score out of 5 on the Wammi agency) site (Scenario 1: informational), participation in scale) and efficacy (pass/fail test). a public forum (Scenario 2: interactive) and filling out an online form on the Nancy les Vandoeuvre municipal • The acceptability of E-services was analysed using site (Scenario 3: transactional). semi-directive interviews of 8 blind participants. The objective was to determine to what extent these Efficiency services could transform the practices, contacts, and Efficacy Satisfac- Mean Mean Mean number status of the blind. These interviews were recorded (% of success in tion explora-tionnumber of of selections the scenario) (mean scoretime (sec) strategies per scenario and entirely transcribed. A thematic content analysis / 5) deployed was performed on this corpus. Sighted Blind S B S B S B S B (S) (B) MAIN RESULTS Scen. 1 100% 60% 4.17 3.42 105 814 1.38 3.40 4.38 8.20 Study of utility of the sites Scen. 2 62.5% 20% 2.84 2.86 230 1134 2.29 3.70 6.43 7.30 Of the 439 DP who answered the online questionnaire, Scen. 3 66 % 10% 2.84 2.86 334 1176 3.00 3.44 10.83 8.22 52% indicated having help with their classic administrative processes. This is due to difficulties in Table 1: Main results of user tests mobility (33.5%) physical accessibility to the building or administrative hours (30.5%), the complexity of From these analyses (Cf. Table 1), large divergences forms (23%), or difficult contact with agents (feelings between the two populations emerge concerning the of “being different”) (13%). E-administration thus usability of E-services, as would be expected. The seems like an alternative solution that, incidentally, efficacy and efficiency are thus lower for the blind 52.4% of participants declared to have already used and participants than for the sighted participants (with the 32.4% would like to use. These users benefited from performances, notably the time, that are up to seven them. The role of these E-services as a facilitating tool times superior to those of the sighted). However, the (finding information, avoiding going out to fill out satisfaction is globally the same for both groups. We forms, etc.) is thus confirmed by 90%. The fact that even note a surprising result concerning scenario 3 these electronic services allow the DP to avoid where the efficiency (for the strategy and selection) is requesting someone’s help to perform tasks that are almost advantageous for the blind participants. This often intimate and personal and that they favour the piece of data could be explained by a learning effect social integration of the DP by providing the same since the users performed scenarios 2 and 3 on the same access as an able-bodied person is underlined by, site. So, it is the blind expert participants who exploited respectively, 90% and 96% of participants. this learning the best, undoubtedly being used to taking advantage of each action to compensate for their For the 40% who refuse to use E-services, this position disability. is principally due to technical and ergonomic causes (lack of reliability and accessibility of environments, We note moreover that the usage difficulties penalize data protection, delay of data processing, etc.) mainly the blind the least habituated. The novice blind users seem, in fact, extremely resourceless in dealing with the problem of accessibility of the interface 5 Ergonomic inspections of accessibility were also whereas the expert blind users, from their practice and performed during the research but won’t be presented their experience, solicit mental models to compensate here due to lack of room. for the ergonomic deficiencies of the tool. We can 6 http://www.wammi.com/using.html therefore observe a recourse to such schemas when 16 DEGAS 2007 | Proceedings 10 September 2007 | Rio de Janeiro y Brazil certain blind users anticipate the display of information Impact of E- References to E-services perceived E-services perceived or interpret inexplicit or polysemous wording by calling services on the theme in 8 more as a source of more as a source of the lives of interviews improvement deterioration on their navigation habits: “Normally, we should find VDP this information by clicking here…” On the level of Social 21 13 (62%) 8 (38%) navigation strategies, we can observe that novices opted dimension more often to use search engines to enter the key words Autonomy, social Disembodied relation to of the scenarios to perform (on average 4 of 5 novices) integration (through machines (absence of equal access), personalised attention whereas the experts preferred going to the home page to Social recognition and consideration) systematically read the proposed links with a voice (acting without help Risk of social isolation synthesiser (3 experts of 5). The results show that the like able-bodied and fear of social failures are more frequent for novices because the key persons) exclusion brought on by a digital exclusion words entered in the search engine are often vague and Psychological 12 7 (58%) 5 (42%) imprecise. This strategy, which we could qualify as dimension heuristic, is less efficient than the experts’ more Self-esteem, Loss of “know-how” of evaluation (being mobility systematic and general strategy: their mastery of the able to fend for one- Fear of losing control of Jaws system allowed them indeed to consult different self) information transmitted the different links very quickly and their experience Conservation of (hacking), or increased with E-services also gives them the possibility to confidentiality and control (cross privacy of personal referencing of promptly locate the most pertinent elements to reach information information.) their goal. Feeling of helplessness when confronted with These usage problems come specifically from the an environment choice of conception that does not take into account the perceived as complex perceptive limits of the level of participants, and more Cognitive 11 8 (73%) 3 (27%) generally the principles of accessibility: for example, dimension Ability to read, Entropy phenomena: we can cite newly opening contextual menus remaining classify and collect Sorting through the unsignalled the appearance of contextual menus not information in a mass of information virtual environment presented signalled, the density of information presented (over 84 "Demystification" of Standardised content of links on a single opening page of a municipal site), the the administrative E-services and absence of textual alternatives to images, the incoherent process through a inadequacies to the structure of pages organised in table format, the use of simplified access needs and profiles of the Acquisition of an VDP javascript which makes the screen reader used (Jaws) administrative culture obsolete, insufficiently explicit links (with do not consider the remaining text content), the opening of Instrumental 13 8 (61%) 5 (39%) and new windows not signalled, etc. operational Comfort of life: more Insufficient digita dimension mobility accessibility Other difficulties common to both groups show, instead, Possibility for tenfold a lack of ergonomics of the sites (according to [1]). It is increase in action, mainly a matter of certain polysemic terms interaction, and information (Téléprocédures~Téléservices), of confusing visited and Total 57 36 (63%) 21 (37%) non-visited links, of the non-deactivation of links on the current page, of unclear error messages, of the Table 2: Main results of thematic analyses of acceptability dynamic reorganisation of the menus from one page to interviews another, etc. In the end, these results prove that these sites do not take into consideration the inabilities of Overall, the visually disabled persons questioned felt VDP, and specifically for E-services novices. The that the benefits of the E-services far outweighed the accessibility to certain content is very difficult, short of difficulties posed (63% to 37%). E-services thus open impossible; but moreover, the use of E-services “spaces of possibility” that allow DP not only to avoid generates a greater mental load that hinders all the cognitive and operative constraints (spatial and involvement in the process (shown by the mediocre temporal) due to their disability, but also to regain a level of efficiency and by the efforts made to overcome certain autonomy and freedom of action. the obstacles to use). These new perspectives contribute to their psychological stability and personal fulfilment (self- Analysis of acceptability esteem). Nevertheless, these people do not idealise The thematic analysis performed on these data brought these new services either since they are well aware of out several themes grouped into contributions and risks the stakes linked to the lack of accessibility. Therefore, related to the use of E-services (cf. Table 2 below). if administrations are not able to better organize their electronic services, there is a great risk of marginalizing people with specific needs even further. From this point of view, the lack of accessibility represents an 17 additional factor of exclusion and an obstacle to the disabled persons are subjected to and as a factor integration of disabled persons. contributing to their exclusion and their social isolation. Conversely, an exclusive and excessive use of these REFERENCES tools could also turn out to be dangerous since leading 1. Bastien, J.M.C., Leulier, C., & Scapin, D.L. (1998) to a social isolation (doing everything remotely from L'ergonomie des sites web. In J.-C. Le Moal & B. home) and the loss of a know-how of physical mobility Hidoine (Eds.), Créer et maintenir un service Web, combined with a loss of autonomy of the VDP. “The ADBS, Paris, (1998), 111-173. problem is that staying home, not moving much, that 2. Beckett D.J. 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Améliorer l'accessibilité des sites Psychosocial factors of acceptability where the Web publics pour les personnes handicapées de la proposed E-services offer the possibility to truly vue. In Actes de la 16° conférence IHM'04, Namur, compensate, assist, and valorise visually disabled (Septembre 2004), pp 3-6. persons. 9. WAI. Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 Checklist. 2005a. http://www.w3.org/ These technologies can, in fact, give value to the TR/2005/WD-WCAG20-20050630/ checklist.html individual and confirm/reinforce his place in society by 10. WAI Accessibility is a Social Issue. 2005 providing him autonomy. The mastery of these ICT http://www.w3.org/WAI/EO/ could therefore result in the modification of his own Drafts/bcase/soc#social perception, the redefinition of his relationship with his entourage and the amelioration of his capacity for social integration. However, these contributions could be limited by the choice of conception. We have, in fact, shown that the quality of ergonomics and the insufficient level of accessibility of the interfaces risk frustrating the user’s interaction with the administrative sites and in the end hindering their appropriation and acceptance. Also, in opting for environments that do not take into account the specific needs and aptitudes of disabled persons, the site creators risk establishing a sort of "technological glass ceiling" that prevents their disabled users from using the E-services offered naturally, whereas able-bodied persons do so with no apparent difficulty. This digital exclusion would be amplified by a social exclusion if the services could only be accessed by the technological channel -- as is planned in the law concerning administrative modernisation. In sum, the digital chasm resulting from the lack of technological accessibility can be addressed as an additional dimension that adds to the social chasms that 18