Meet Steve: a photographer who is deaf and low vision
Posted on by Henny Swan in User experience
Meet Steve, a photographer from London who is deaf and low vision. He is an ex-civil servant who then went on to do freelance technology journalism and travelled the world.
Steve shares his experience of the web including increasing font size and using good colour contrast as well as the joys of using his Bluetooth headphones.
Tell us about yourself
I'm 80, married, have two grown up daughters and have been retired for 6 years. I spent 20 years in the civil service and at the age of 51, took voluntary early retirement to become a self-employed freelance technical journalist, writing about computer software for project managers. Very niche, but it took me all over Europe, the States, and South Africa.
I love photography. I use a Canon, a really nice camera, but have to use it on "idiot settings" because all the buttons and settings are just too small for me to see on the camera. But the basic settings work perfectly well and I can get good pictures that way. When I was a journalist, I actually sold some of the pictures I took, which was nice.
Amongst other things, I run a Facebook page called Deaf - not stupid for, as you might guess, people who are deaf. It has 8,000 followers in 43 different countries, which I think is a bit amazing!
I wear hearing aids. Without these, I'm useless. For the last few weeks, I've had Bluetooth hearing aids which are wonderful. And what I'd really like for somebody to invent is a plug-in Bluetooth transmitter from a computer, so I could hear that. I've already got my phone linked through the hearing aid. I have a very good monitor with built-in speakers, so I can adjust the volume and make sure everything is good and clear.
As far as visual technology is concerned, I don't use screen readers or anything like that. What I do have is enlarged text on the computer screen and on the phone. The text size on phones is normally too small for me to read even though I have a good-sized phone, so I need everything enlarged.
What barriers have you experienced using the web?
The main barrier I experience is when website designers haven't considered that some people use large text. As a result, parts of the page don't fit on the screen, or a pop-up box doesn't appear on the screen because they are below the level of the monitor, so I can't scroll up and down. That's the main problem I come across. It's not uncommon, I normally just swear and delete the page!
I can hear video with my hearing aids and as far as lip-reading is concerned, I will do so unconsciously. Like most other people who are severely deaf, if I can't see your mouth, it's likely I won't be able to hear you. Having said that, I do not consciously lip-read. I probably wouldn't know what you said if you asked me directly. It all depends on the context. Lip reading is not just lips; it's expression, body language, and context. If you ask me a question with a yes or no answer, and I see the shape, even if I can't hear it, I will probably understand. However, if someone says something unexpected, I probably won't catch any of it. I did a couple of lip-reading courses, which helped a little, but I lip-read better when I don't think about it.
Are there any websites you find especially accessible?
The NHS website is a very good one. They have taken increasing font sizes into account. Another thing they do, and I know this because I'm on their panel, is they send out research opportunities for people with disabilities. They ask you to log into the site, complete some tasks and then ask, "what do you expect at this point?" and "how do you expect to go on from here?". As a result, not only is the website easy to see and read, it's also much more intuitive than some sites because they tailor it to what people expect.
It's difficult to say what other sites I find especially accessible. I use lots of sites, banking apps and all that, but I'm used to them now, so I know my way around. Navigation on some of these sites isn't intuitive at first, but that's more about poor page design than any accessibility issue.
What features or improvements would you like to see on the web?
More thought should be given to intuitiveness and more accessible menus. Quite often, the menus are in small fonts when you click on them. Also, poor colour contrast combinations, like white text on a light blue background, can make things hard to read, and I lose patience with those sites quickly!
Next steps
Find out more about how people experience the browsing with assistive technologies or how to include people with disabilities into your product development through Agile User Experience Testing.