A Pool of Representative Users for Accessibility Research

Abstract

A critical element of accessibility research is the exploration and evaluation of ideas with representative users. However, it is often difficult to recruit such a range of users, particularly in a timely manner, nor is it easy for new researchers to understand how to recruit relevant populations or feel confident in communicating with older or "vulnerable" users. We report on the establishment of a large user pool created to facilitate accessibility research through recruiting sizeable numbers of older adults potentially interested in taking part in research studies about technology. We suggest points to guide new researchers and invite other experts to build on these. We also sketch some of the lessons learned from creating and maintaining this pool of individuals, including thoughts on issues for others wishing to set up similar pools.

Older Adults’ Deployment of ‘Distrust’

“…The research for all three focus groups received ethics approval from Lancaster University. 2 Participants were recruited through an established older adults participant pool maintained by researchers at the University of Dundee in Scotland (as detailed in [22]). Many of the groups targeted for recruitment were made up of retired individuals.…”

“…that it was about understanding older adults' attitudes to technology to help design technologies for older adults) to those that were deemed suitable for the study, in order to determine their willingness to take part. As noted in Dee and Hanson [2016], there are practical limitations to the representativeness of this particular participant pool across age, gender, socio-economic status, race, living situation (e.g. independent vs. care home), and (dis-)ability.…”

The wisdom of older technology (non)users

“…While there is reason for optimism about older adults' adoption of technology when looking at their increasing online participation [15], their participation is qualitatively different than younger users, more limited in time and variety of experiences [12]. We sought to better understand the underlying reasons for these differences in a series of group interviews with a total of 14 post-retirement community dwelling individuals ages 66 to 86, residing in the area of Dundee, Scotland, who were drawn from an established older adult participant pool [8]. While discussions revealed some physical and cognitive decline among these participants, we were not aware of any having physical or cognitive deterioration outside the typical range for their age.…”

Activities to Support Sustainable Inclusive Game Design Processes

“…The idea of a database, or 'user pool', is not new as it has been explored previously in other areas. Dee and Hanson [28], report their experience from recruiting 800 elderly people with varying degrees and types of disabilities to a user pool for research studies during 2009 and 2015. They further present a set of guidelines of how to build and maintain such a pool of users.…”