Projects
Here's some information about a few of the projects I'm currently, or have been, involved in.
Cognitive Modelling and Web Usability for Older People
July 2010 - Dec 2012
We've been looking at the potential of using cognitive modelling techniques to simulate the behaviour of older web users when seeking information online. The aim is to create a simulation tool to support web developers and designers adopt an inclusive design approach when creating web sites and applications. We're looking at ACT-R as a cognitive modelling tool.
This work is funded under the Social Inclusion in the Digital Economy (SiDE) research hub, and is a collaboration with IBM Accessibility Research in New York, and the HCI Institute of Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh.
eAccess+
September 2010 - August 2013
eAccess+ is a network of European organisations from academica, the public sector, industry and non-profits, who together are trying to encourage and support adoption of e-Accessibility by companies and organisations across Europe. We'll do this by growing the network and reaching out through speaking at events, sharing resources, and generally supporting people in developing a more inclusive approach to using information and communication technology to deliver services. More details on the eAccess+ network web site.
Inclusive and Open Web Standards Education
August 2010 - ongoing
Here in Dundee we place a strong emphasis on inclusion and accessibility in our teaching of web and software development, and there is a significant overlap with an open web standards approach to design and development. We also know that sometimes universities get a bad press in terms of the currency and relevancy of their web teaching - so I'm interested in supporting and contributing to efforts to increase quality of inclusive web development teaching at tertiary education level.
Beat a drum - a blog post on web standards education.
University of Dundee Web Accessibility Service
May 2006 - ongoing.
I am the co-ordinator of the University's Web Accessibility Service. We've been funded to provide advice and support to all staff at Dundee involved in developing or authoring Web content, as well as more generally promoting the importance of Web accessibility at a strategic level throughout the University.
University of Dundee Accessibility Service Web site.
Sus-IT: Sustaining Independence for Older people through ICT
January 2009 - March 2012
We are part of a consortium of researchers, led by Loughborough University, on SuS-IT, a multi-strand project collectively looking to find out and apply effective strategies for encouraging and sustaining access to and use of ICT through the ageing process - and therefore improving quality of life for older people.
My role is to support the development and evaluation of technology that will accommodate the accessibility issues that arise due to age-related capability decline, in particular vision, hearing, motor skills and short term memory.
This project is funded under the New Dynamics of Aging research initiative.
Accessible Web Authoring Tools
January 2008 - ongoing.
We're evaluating a selection of web authoring tools, from major content management systems to specialist web content publishing tools, to find out the extent to which they support easy authoring of accessible content by authors of all technical abilities. We are also interested in the commissioning process, to find out how effectively customer demands for accessibility are expressed, and in particular awareness of the W3C Authoring Tool Accessibility Guidelines (ATAG).
An Inclusive Digital Economy
April 2008 - April 2009
I participated in the activities of the Inclusive Digital Economy project, which was a network of researchers looking to share ideas and develop research proposals in the area of inclusive technology design and implementation.
More on the Inclusive Digital Economy network.
Usable Image Project
October 2006 - October 2009.
I worked part-time as a user experience/interaction designer on the EPSRC-funded Usable Image project. This 3-year project was user-focused technology design, but in a new direction for me. The aim of the project, a collaboration between the School of Computing and the College of Life Sciences at the University of Dundee, was to apply user-centred design techniques in an open-source software development environment. We supported the development of the Open Microscopy Environment (OME) and associated tools by providing expert usability advice, and also researching novel ways of gathering data about usage conditions and environments, so that future development can be more effectively be informed by user needs.
More information from the Usable Image project web site.
Holistic Web Accessibility/ Web Adaptibility
Feb 2005 - ongoing.
Not a project, but an idea I and a few others who are also interested in accessibility (Brian Kelly, Lawrie Phipps, Andy Heath, and more) have been developing over the last few years. We think that sometimes the issue of Web accessibility becomes overly focused on technical guideline conformance (when in fact guidelines are there to guide, not to mandate). We've written and presented our thoughts on contextual Web accessibility at the W4A 2005 and W4A 2006 conferences amongst other places, where we proposed a "Tangram Model" which we think encapsulates a less rigid approach to acccessibility.
More recently, these ideas have been expanded to think about web adaptibility and identifying where using multiple, aggregated solutions to support different needs can be the most effective approach. A July 2009 post by Brian Kelly on from Web Accessibility to Web Adaptibility provides updated thoughts on this work.
Usability of Web Accessibility Statements
October 2005 - June 2006.
We received funding from Techdis to investigate how useful accessibility pages provided on a selection of UK Web sites were to users - in particular older people without significant impairments, but who may soon benefit from accessibility information. We acted because we believe that too many Web accessibility statements are overly technical, and don't give the necessary support to the people who would most benefit from it.
More on Usability of Web Accessibility Statements (including links to downlowadable versions of the final report.)
Awareness of Research-based Accessibility Guidelines
November 2005 - May 2006.
As part of work for a paper I wrote for the Gerontechnology journal, I conducted a small survey of accessibility advocates and their awareness of various sets of guidelines for Web accessibility and usability. The W3C WCAG is not the only set of guidelines out there, as several more research-oriented alternatives also exist. There seems to be a gap between two communities here - the Web standards movement, which encourages adoption of WCAG, while academic researchers produce alternative guidelines based on user observations. There seems to be a lack of acknowledgement between the two communities, and as a result there seems less transfer between the two in knowledge and best practice.
My survey found that most respondents were unaware of these alternative guidelines, and in an article based on the paper I discuss why I think the situation exists and how it might change:
Web Standards and Research-based Accessibility Guidelines.
Disability Equality Duty and ICT provision
Feb 2006 - March 2006.
I was commissioned by the Scottish Disability Team to produce an article looking at how the Disablity Discrimination Act 2005, known as the Disability Equality Duty, impacted on provision of information and communication technology.
The article is available online - Disability Equality Duty: Implications and Opportunities for ICT provision.
Skills for Access
Feb 2003 - May 2005.
I was Accessibility Editor and key contact at Dundee for the Skills for Access (SFA) project. With the University of Sheffield's Learning Development and Media Unit (LDMU), a team of professional media and e-learning producers, we developed a Web site devoted to accessibility, multimedia and e-learning and multimedia developers. The site provides detailed advice on creating optimally accessible video, audio, animated and graphical resources, and also promotes a holistic approach to using multimedia as a way of enhancing the accessiblity of the learning environment.
We also commissioned and published articles and case studies offering real-world perspectives from disabled students and staff, and from multimedia and e-learning developers. The site had to be designed with accessibility in mind, but also makes use of multimedia itself to show that accessibility need not be 'text-only'. It's received some very favourable comments for both content and design.
Teachability - Creating Accessible Learning
June 2004 - April 2005.
Commissioned by the Teachability project at Strathclyde University, I wrote a booklet on accessibility and e-learning development. The booklet has been distributed to all Scottish Higher Edication Institutions, and is also available on-line.
With Teachability, I ran a series of workshops around Scotland focussing on accessibility and e-learning.
NHS SDO E-health Scoping Study
Oct 2003 - Jan 2005.
In collaboration with some colleagues at the Tayside Centre for General Practice and the University of Edinburgh, we were funded by the National Health Service's Service and Delivery Organisation (SDO) to carry out a scoping study of the field of e-health.
The aim of the study was to chart current developments in e-health, and develop a model of the concept of "e-health", in order to identify areas of weakness, and inform future research in the area.
More information - Project reports available from the NHS SDO Web Site.