Accessibility, Assistive technology

Test idea number 1 – part 1

At the Club of Ministry of Testing, Rosie Sherry asked to share test ideas in five words or less. My first test idea was: use the screen reader. That saved 1 word.

Introducing the screen reader

Describing the screen reader

A screen reader is a program, which reads aloud, what is happening on the screen. This program is used by blind or visually impaired users. Now they can get their own information or buy their own things. There is less need for help from family members or friends. That saves 5 minutes or more.

Mentioning aspects of the screen reader

My first experience was reading a legal text on a laptop. It was about Content. Now you might ask which other aspects are applicable.

During the demonstration, the cursor sprung from one paragraph to the next one with a short cut or key combination. The first paragraphs formed an introduction, which could be skipped after listening to the first sentence. So, the next aspect is Construction.

During the last years I noticed, that also my input was spoken aloud. Especially the buttons with a restricted input like checkboxes and combo boxes. It is always nice to hear, what I selected. This leads to the next aspect: Control.

There are some parts in the world, where people can speak different languages. For example, I live in the Netherlands and read English. One of my apps overruled the language of the screen reader, so I do not hear Dutch words with an English pronunciation. That is quite agreeable to hear. The last aspect is Choice of language.

So, testing with a screen reader is about Content, Control, Construction, and Choice of language. This will come back later.

Finding a screen reader

A lot of operating systems have a built-in screen reader. Windows has Narrator and Apple MacOS systems Voice Over. On the mobile front there is TalkBack on Android and VoiceOver on the iOS. On Windows there are alternatives like NVDA and JAWS, which is a part of Fusion.

Did I mention LINUX? There are also screen readers available for that operating system.

How to test with a screen reader

Let’s go back to Content, Control, Construction, and Choice of language. As promised.

How to test Content

Move the focus to images. By hovering the mouse above the a over a picture. Or pointing with a finger on the picture on a touchscreen. A picture should have a short story in the alternative text like the pictures in this test automation blog post. The same applies for a graph or a map.

How to test Control

Select a button and listen to the alternative text. This should explain the interaction of the button. Some buttons with nice pictograms might miss some explanation.

Select a value in a combo box or a switch, then listen to the selected value. Check boxes in cookie banners can be quite confusing,

Check whether the format of an input field is read aloud. For example, the date has the format DD-MM-YYYY. In case of error, check whether the error message is clear.

Check the code of the GUI or Graphical User Interface. The alternative text should be filled, if the button has a picture or if a graph is used. A possible solution might be static code analysis. There are accessibility test tools, but they might miss strange alternative texts.

Find the button using the find function of the screen reader. One of the most frequent used buttons, the Logout button, is sometimes hidden in unexpected ways. Note, that a screen reader can convert text to braille, A deaf blind user can use a braille reader to navigate a web site or app.

Feel the course, Luke.

How to test Construction

Check the use of proper headings. I like to
have good overview of an article, why not offer it to people with bad vision? Screen readers offer a nice list of headings and their levels like ”heading level 3, How to test Construction”. The list of headings also gives a user a fast way to jump to the section like “How to test with a screen reader – 2”.

Is it possible to make short cuts? It is like shopping in a super market. I do not want walk pass every shelf for buying only three items. A screen reader like JAWS has a feature to bookmark a certain place on a web page. This is a time saver.

Do you hear where you are or you do? A screen reader like JAWS stores everything it said. It is called history. If the history is not clear, how can a user know what is happening?

Compare the histories of two different executions of the same customer journey with each other. They should be the same, unless the differences are the results of bug fixes. In this case a new baseline for the history must be made. Emily Bache calls this Approval Testing. There are tools available to compare text files. My inner test automation nerd is pondering about combining RPA, a  file comparison tool, and Selenium.

How to test Choice of language

Set the language of the screen reader to English and open a Dutch app. Listen where Dutch is spoken. Or choose the favourite languages of your users based on user data.

A similar test could be executed for a web site. There is an HTML tag for language.

To be continued

Psychology

System 1 and System 2 in testing – part 3

In the previous blog posts System 1 and System 2 were discussed.

For the fast observations System 1 is used in most cases. This way of thinking provides fast, almost effortless way to digest information. Like walking to a restaurant.

For the thoughtful observations System 2 is used. An example is choosing what to eat in a restaurant.

In this episode I will write about situations, where System 1 and System 2 are used after each other. It is like shifting gears. This can lead to new test ideas.

Switching from System 1 to System 2

Switching off the auto pilot

Just like in previous years, I filled in my tax form this spring. There is an advantage for using a computer. I could save the form and correct any errors later on.  I just had to find the numbers and type them in the right text fields.

I read a strange term. What did this mean?

The following things happened:

”Hey hey, what does it actually say?
Clicking the question mark like JARVIS calling Stark
Getting tips when the question parts the lips.
Thinking, ’A.I. is not needed all the time.
Especially for this simple rhyme.’ ”
(On the melody of “American Pie”.)

Looking back

While I was filling in my tax form, it was like filling in a standard form. I did not need to think a lot. At that moment I was using System 1. Then I hesitated, there was something new. I might continue and paying too much tax. Not a pleasant thought.

I carefully thought about the situation.
Luckily, there was a way to get more detailed information. I pressed the question mark and got the requested information. With all this thinking, I was using System 2.

A well-designed web site provides enough information in case of questions.

Switching from System 2 to System 1

Taking a decision

Because of the increasing complexity of web sites, one of my kids helped me. while I booked the tickets. Holidays are always a good reason to get help.

The first questions were simple. I selected an airport a day and a time. Then I entered all the needed information about the passengers like names and birth dates. Then I needed to fill in the number of pieces of luggage. This question was not a surprise. I had done my homework.

Then the unexpected questions came up. Would I like to reserve seats? I only wanted 2 passenger seats next to each other. The other passengers would have no problem. But the web site did not allow to book reserved seats for a part of my company. It was all or none. I made a choice,

Would I like to rent a car? I did not intend to drive a car. No thanks.

Of course, I could book a bus ticket. That was not in my homework. A price of the bus tickets was shown on my screen. My kid looked on the mobile phone to determine, whether the bus ticket was better than the public traffic. The price sounded good enough. Then I could select a destination. I looked to my kid again. Using a map app and the location of the accommodation. my kid gave me a good suggestion.

Then we looked again to all the made choices. It looked good. I wanted to pay and pressed a button. Nothing happened. I pressed again. No deal.

Then I remembered that I got 2 warnings for booking too slow. Both times I requested for more time to book the flight. But somehow, I ran out of time. So, I spent a lot of energy and time for nothing.

Now I could go to another web site or do another attempt. Then the following things happened:

“Why, why did I do an extra try?
The thinking was done, the hesitating was gone.
Making the same choices, without any noises.
Thinking, “This’ll be the day that I retry.
This’ll be the day that I buy.”
(On the melody of “American Pie”.)

Looking back

Answering unexpected questions made me think. The questions about the bus tickets took 2 persons to answer them. System 2 was in use. For the second attempt to book the flight tickets, I could rely on my memory. Remembering things costed me less than a second. System 1 was now in use.

During the whole process I switched from Systen 2 to System 1. The choices were clear. If an application or web site does not provide an easy path  to remember, then the it will not be used for a second attempt.

Legal, Privacy, Psychology

System 1 and System 2 in testing – part 2

In the previous blog post System 1 and System 2 were introduced.

For the fast observations System 1 is used in most cases. This way of thinking provides fast, almost effortless way to digest information. Like walking to a cinema.

For the thoughtful observations System 2 is used. An example is choosing which movie to watch in a cinema.

There was a focus on System 1 in the previous episode. In this episode I will turn your attention to System 2. And how this system might lead to other test ideas.

Supporting System 2

Categorising

During my regular visit to the web site, I was welcomed with a cookie banner. My first thought was to reduce the number of cookies to an absolute minimum. Of, course I could accept all cookies. But I pressed the Options button. Three groups of cookies were presented.

Each group of cookies had an explanation and a radio box for selection. I only chose the necessary cookies. The text was shown in agreeable font size, so i did not have to pinch my eyes to read it.

Then I had to look to the buttons. The button to accept all the cookies was in the right lower corner. The Save and Exit button was left to it. I pressed the button and was ready to use the web site.

“Categorised cookies, a simple explainer,
no scrolling needed, a normal sized font size.
These are a few of my favourite things.”
(On the melody of “My favorite things”)

Pondering

It was time for a new headset for my PC. I had already done my homework: I found a good headset. I only had to buy it.

After clicking on the link in my notes, the web page with the right product was shown in my browser. I added it to my shopping cart and opened the order form with the usual questions.

Yes, I would like the headset be delivered to my home address. And I was home on the first suggested date. Of course, I wanted to enter some numbers from my gift cards.

Now I only needed to pay. I chose the cheapest option. Sorry, I am Dutch.

In short, I had to answer some questions and there were some good suggestions from the web site. Thanks for the support.

Knowledge about System 2 in good hands

A well-designed program simplifies the choices of the user. It reduces the time to make an informed decision.

Abusing System 2

Micro selecting

In my never-ending quest for information, I encountered a new cookie banner. I like to minimise the number of my cookies, so I wanted to change the settings. A dialog opened for my eyes.

While l tried to get an overview, I had to scroll down. There were about 9 groups of cookies. The categories looked almost identical. The selection of the permission was represented by a circle in the left side of some ellipse. It looked nice, but we do not use these switches in the Netherlands.

Now I had a screen reader installed for accessibility testing. This program tells what is happening on screen. I pressed the switch and heard that it was switched on. I did not like it. Another press let my screen reader announce that the switch was off.

“Scrolling down, another switch,
‘Legitimate interest’,
based on some law, which I don’t know.
Keep me safe, privacy laws“
(On the melody of  the chorus of “Take Me Home, Country Roads”)

But wait, there was more. There was a link for vendor information. After a click, I saw every single vendor with 1 or 2 switches. And the font size on the cookie banner was smaller than the font size on the web page.

This was an overwhelming experience for me. And it was not clear which options led to which consequences for me.

“Individual cookies, enormous explainer,
a scrollbar required, a small sized font size
These are a few of my dislikeable things.”
(On the melody of “My favorite things”)

Knowledge about System 2 in bad hands

Nowadays it is impossible to use programs or web sites without making choices. An abundant number of options may strike fear.

“When System 2 rules, when the user thinks,
when anxiety grows,
there were too many choices to be made
and an increasing fear.”
(On the melody of “My favorite things”)

To be continued

Sharing knowledge about testing and other things on my mind