You’ve probably heard of user stories and user personas. They enable us to understand the motivation and needs of website users, helping us write our content, plan, and design & build better user experiences.
User personas and stories are commonly written documents and as helpful as they are it can still be difficult to visualise and experience the accessibility needs your users face.
Well, the wonderfully talented GDS (Government Digital Service) Accessibility team have created eight accessibility personas.
Claudia – a sight-impaired screen magnifier user
Ashleigh – a severely sight-impaired screen reader user
Ron – an older user with multiple conditions
Chris – a user with rheumatoid arthritis
Pawel – a user with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Simone – a dyslexic user
Saleem – a profoundly deaf user
Helena – a user with dyscalculia
Navigating the web as Ashleigh
For example, Ashleigh is severely sight impaired (blind) and uses a screen reader. You will have a short task to complete based on Ashleigh’s experience.
These eight simulations are a really helpful tool and I’d recommend everyone use these, clients and agencies alike.
It’s time to experience the web from a different perspective.