Results from User Testing in BestApps

This is a summary of the results from the user testing that was part of the BestApps project. The BestApps project’s goal was to find best practices for creating apps that are accessible to as many people as possible. One project activity was to create an example application that demonstrated development patterns for creating accessible apps. While one can follow guidelines on how to create the app, it isn’t until the app is used on the phone by people that depend on different assistive technologies that we can find out how accessible it is and correct any issues. We evaluated the app with five participants with different vision impairments. Overall, the participants found the app easy to use and were able to complete the tasks that were assigned. The accessibility problems that were found did not cause large problems. Still, addressing the issues—particularly with how the search bar works and fixing one contrast issue—would make the app more usable and accessible for everyone.