Accessibility research and testing
Recruit users with disabilities using precise targeting, screening & segmentation- Automate accessibility testing with seamless recruiting workflows
- Connect testing tools and assistive technology via integrations
UI’s panel includes over 430,000 people who meet accessibility-related criteria like physical or cognitive disabilities. Use our advanced targeting, segmentation, and verification capabilities to narrow in on the audience you need.
Audience stats and case studies for accessibility recruitment
Run high-quality research with any niche audience. Thousands of new participants join our panel every month, spanning 8 countries and counting. Match with your first qualified participant in under 1 hour and complete research in days.
- 430,000+ participants with accessibility characteristics
- Representation spans vision, mobility, and cognitive disabilities
- 53,000+ participants using screen readers, hearing aids, wheelchairs, or other assistive technologies
- Low fraud and no-show rates
- 98% positive feedback by researchers
- Unmoderated usability test for a diabetes website recruited in 72hrs
- In-person interviews with hard-of-hearing participants about their NYC Subway experience
- Multi-day study for parents of kids with physical disabilities
- Mixed methods recruit of participants with physical disabilities for a year-long accessibility research panel
Understand your product’s accessibility with compliance testing, usability testing, 1-1 interviews, focus groups, and paid market research for people with disabilities. We support moderated, unmoderated, and multi-day studies for any kind of research.
Why choose User Interviews for accessibility research
With a diverse pool of testers and support for any research method, you can get accessibility research done right.
Accessibility FAQs
Accessibility testing is a type of inclusive UX research that evaluates websites, software, apps, and other products to ensure they are usable for people with disabilities.
People with disabilities—such as visual, auditory, mobility, and cognitive impairments—may have different needs and challenges that affect the user experience of digital products. To design an equally positive experience for these users, you need to test your product with them and get their feedback.
For example, you might need to test things like:
- Screen reader compatibility: People with visual impairments often rely on screen reading technology to access digital content, so you need to ensure that your product works properly for users with screen readers and include supporting accessibility features such as alt-text for images.
- Color contrast ratios: Users with visual impairments may have trouble perceiving visual information that doesn’t contrast enough with its background, so the contrast ratio between the color of text and the color of the background must meet a minimum requirement for accessibility.
- Responsive design: Users with disabilities may use a number of different assistive technologies, so it’s important to test that your product adapts to different screen sizes and devices.
Accessibility testing is a key component of inclusive design. By designing products that are inclusive and usable for all users across the spectrum of abilities, you can reach a broader audience and provide a positive experience for everyone. When companies demonstrate a real-world commitment to designing accessible, inclusive, ethical experiences, customers respond with continued business and positive reviews.
Along with the business benefit of satisfying a wider audience, and the ethical responsibility of offering a consistent experience to a diverse group of customers, there is also legal compliance to keep in mind. To avoid fees, lawsuits, and reputational damage, products need to meet established accessibility standards such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the European Accessibility Act (EAA), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9241-171.
Accessibility testing is a critical practice for improving the user experience, reducing bias, and complying with regulations. Here are some tips for getting started:
- Familiarize yourself with accessibility guidelines and best practices. The WCAG is an international standard for digital accessibility, and this WCAG guide by Fable is a great place to start learning about it. We also recommend checking out Fable’s assistive technology glossary to learn more about the needs and requirements of users with disabilities.
- Recruit a diverse group of participants. Great research starts with recruiting the right participants. By performing accessibility tests with participants of varying levels of ability, you can collect feedback and insights that are truly representative of a diverse and inclusive audience.
- Manually evaluate different use cases for accessibility. In a pinch, you can perform various accessibility tests yourself, such as turning on high-contrast mode to see if the content is still perceptible, verifying that all functionality can be accessed using just the keyboard, or checking that all images have alt-text.
- Use accessibility testing software. It can be difficult to perform a comprehensive accessibility evaluation using manual testing alone. Luckily, accessibility testing can be automated with the right tools. Silktide, QualityLogic, Fable, WAVE, and similar tools can help you automate accessibility testing and identify issues.
There are many different avenues you can take to start recruiting people with disabilities, including posting ads on Craigslist or social media or enlisting the help of a recruiting agency. But the fastest and easiest way to get started with recruiting for accessibility UX research is User Interviews.
With smart matching algorithms and a diverse panel of over 4 million participants, User Interviews takes the pain out of research recruiting. Our panel includes a large segment of users with visual, auditory, cognitive, and physical disabilities, and Recruit makes it easy to target, segment, and screen these users based on any qualifying criteria. Or, if you already have an audience of users, you can build your own accessibility panel with Research Hub.
Resources for accessibility in UX research and design
