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Although laws and standardization bodies promote user participation in digital accessibility evaluations, people with disabilities still consider themselves excluded from this process. One reason could be the lack of systematized knowledge about evaluation methods involving users. This article seeks to understand how and for what purpose digital accessibility evaluations with user participation were conducted in the scientific literature from 2018 to 2021. Three types of user participation emerged: 1) user-based usability testing to evaluate task accomplishment, user reactions and interface qualities; 2) interviewing users to assess the local and social factors impacting digital service accessibility; 3) using questionnaires or crowdsourcing to check the compliance of certain interfaces with accessibility standards. Participants are primarily chosen based on their functional impairments and, to a lesser degree, their project-related skills, biographical information, technology habits, among other criteria. The comprehensive user insights gained with these methods are judged to be positive whereas the lack of representativeness of the selected user samples is found to be regrettable. The article finally discusses the definitions of accessibility and disability that underpin these methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Text-based CAPTCHA is widely used as an online security guard, requiring a user to input letters for classifying human and automated software (known as a bot). However, they are still a problem for usability and robustness. This study investigated the effect of letter spacing, disturbing line orientation and disturbing line color on user test and robustness of text-based CAPTCHA. The 240 CAPTCHAS were tested using Thai undergraduate students. The results show that there were no significant differences in user tests for the three factors. For robustness, disturbing line orientation had no significant difference. However, overlapping letter CAPTCHA was the most significantly robust. CAPTCHA with a disturbing line using the same color as the background was more significantly robust than that using the same color as the foreground. Moreover, if no-spacing letter is used, the effect of disturbing line color is statistically significant in robustness while the effect of that became insignificant when a spacing between letter and overlapping letter are used. We recommend that CAPTCHA with no spacing letter and combined with disturbing line using the same color as the background is suitable for users and its robustness. This can be concluded that letter segmenting technique is not too hard for users (passed 88 %) while it is not too easy for bot attacks (passed 39 %). In terms of security, more studies can still be carried on the CAPTCHA to enabled more robustness against new crime technologies. In terms of usability, on other age groups could be consider.

Smart glasses could meet the plot diagnosis activity needs in agriculture. Therefore, their acceptability must be evaluated. We conducted user tests with agricultural advisors to assess perceived comfort and user experience. The participants reported comfort issues like and harm problems, and obstruction or disturbance of the visual field. Objective and subjective evaluations were poorer when the device was used in voice mode compared with buttons. Despite these limitations, the participants mentioned the potential benefits of the device for plot diagnosis. Although promising, smart glasses do not yet meet the advisors' constraints. We propose hardware and software recommendations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growth in the number of applications deployed in the cloud, one of the aspects that contributes to improving user productivity and enterprise competitiveness is usability. According to ISO 9241-11, usability is defined in terms of the attributes of effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction, where satisfaction is the subjective attribute. In a user test developed in a usability laboratory, the satisfaction attribute is obtained using perception surveys, so one of the challenges is to contribute to the objective determination of this attribute, given the subjectivity of the surveys. This paper proposes a new approach for the determination of the satisfaction attribute is user tests based on the use of sentiment analysis techniques. The proposed approach was developed using the four methodological phases of the iterative research pattern: observe the application, identify the problem, develop the solution, and test the solution. As a result, the proposed approach was implemented through a tool developed in Java and Python, which combines the conventional approach with the opinion mining approach for the determination of the level of satisfaction per user and across the entire test. This approach is intended to serve as a reference at the academic and business level in the objective determination of the satisfaction attribute based on affective computing techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the necessity for innovative educational methods in nursing. Our study takes a unique approach using a multidisciplinary simulation design, which offers a systematic and comprehensive strategy for developing virtual reality (VR) simulations in nursing education., Objective: The aim of this study is to develop VR simulation content for a pediatric nursing module based on a multidisciplinary simulation design and to evaluate its feasibility for nursing education., Methods: This study used a 1-group, posttest-only design. VR content for pediatric nursing practice was developed by integrating the technological characteristics of a multimodal VR system with the learning elements of traditional nursing simulation, combining various disciplines, including education, engineering, and nursing. A user test was conducted with 12 nursing graduates (preservice nurses) followed by post hoc surveys (assessing presence, VR systems, VR sickness, and simulation satisfaction) and in-depth, one-on-one interviews., Results: User tests showed mean scores of 4.01 (SD 1.43) for presence, 4.91 (SD 0.81) for the VR system, 0.64 (SD 0.35) for VR sickness, and 5.00 (SD 1.00) for simulation satisfaction. In-depth interviews revealed that the main strengths of the immersive VR simulation for pediatric pneumonia nursing were effective visualization and direct experience through hands-on manipulation; the drawback was keyword-based voice interaction. To improve VR simulation quality, participants suggested increasing the number of nursing techniques and refining them in more detail., Conclusions: This VR simulation content for a pediatric nursing practice using a multidisciplinary educational design model was confirmed to have positive educational potential. Further research is needed to confirm the specific learning effects of immersive nursing content based on multidisciplinary design models., (©Ji-Young Yeo, Hyeongil Nam, Jong-Il Park, Soo-Yeon Han. Originally published in JMIR Medical Education (https://mededu.jmir.org), 26.07.2024.)

(1) COVID-19 pandemic restrictions caused a dramatic shift in research activities, forcing the adoption of remote practices and methods. Despite the known benefits of remote testing, there is limited knowledge on how to prepare and conduct such studies in the industrial context where the target users are experts and company employees. (2) In this article, we detail how we organized VR user tests in five industrial cases during the pandemic, focusing on practicalities and procedures. We cover both on-site testing, including disinfecting and other safety protocols, as well as remote and hybrid setups where both remote and on-site participants were involved. Subject matter experts from eight countries were involved in a total of 22 tests. (3)We share insights for VR user test arrangements relevant to the pandemic, remote and hybrid setups, and an industrial context, among others. (4) Our work confirms that with careful planning it is possible to organize user tests remotely. There are also some limitations in remote user testing, such as reduced visibility and interaction with participants. Most importantly, we list practical recommendations for organizing hybrid user tests with safety and disinfecting procedures for on-site VR use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Usability has become a fundamental aspect of the development of a software product for being a primordial feature of quality. This concept is linked to the use nature of software and can be evaluated through a usability test. This testing is made quantitatively through measurement for two of the features (efficacy and efficiency) that define it. The satisfaction as a third associated feature is of a qualitative kind which estimation is subjective given that it depends on the absence of discomfort by the test user during its interaction with the product. This article is the result of a research that proposes an approach for the estimation of the satisfaction in user tests involving facial expression analysis. This idea is supported in the development of a software system for the emotional monitoring of a user during a test. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A smart garment that can be worn in daily life to track lumbar spine posture. • A persuasive application to help people maintain a good lumbar posture. • Participants in an experiment changed their posture for the duration of a short field test. Prolonged strenuous postures in occupational context may lead to low back pain. Avoiding such occurrences is known to help prevent low back pain episodes or may contribute to recovery. This research concerns wearable sensing technology to support posture monitoring for the prevention of occupational low back pain and, more specifically, how smart garments can help nurses avoid prolonged strenuous postures at work. We introduce BackUp, a system comprising of a smart shirt connected to a smartphone application that provides feedback and advice on low back posture, and we describe its design and implementation. We report on a series of studies that contributed to its development: an anthropometric study (N = 60) to decide on the placement of sensors on the lower spine; a brief field study aimed at evaluating user experience and attitudes towards the shirt (N = 17), and a second field study intended to assess its effectiveness in helping nurses avoid prolonged strenuous postures at work (N = 13). These studies demonstrate how smart clothing can support posture feedback in real life conditions. While the results from the field studies are encouraging regarding the potential of this technology, further research is needed to establish the durability of the behaviour modification achieved through smart garments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) COVID-19 pandemic restrictions caused a dramatic shift in research activities, forcing the adoption of remote practices and methods. Despite the known benefits of remote testing, there is limited knowledge on how to prepare and conduct such studies in the industrial context where the target users are experts and company employees. (2) In this article, we detail how we organized VR user tests in five industrial cases during the pandemic, focusing on practicalities and procedures. We cover both on-site testing, including disinfecting and other safety protocols, as well as remote and hybrid setups where both remote and on-site participants were involved. Subject matter experts from eight countries were involved in a total of 22 tests. (3) We share insights for VR user test arrangements relevant to the pandemic, remote and hybrid setups, and an industrial context, among others. (4) Our work confirms that with careful planning it is possible to organize user tests remotely. There are also some limitations in remote user testing, such as reduced visibility and interaction with participants. Most importantly, we list practical recommendations for organizing hybrid user tests with safety and disinfecting procedures for on-site VR use.

This paper presents how we, as design educators, integrated user-centeredness into a design studio course project that is concerned with improving well-being of domestic cats and dogs. Since the primary users of the project were identified as domestic animals, we carried out the project in collaboration with experts from a veterinary medicine school who study animal behavior. We developed a three-stage user research model to enable students to familiarize themselves with the physical and emotional needs of the animals at the beginning, and test their prototypes with the users in both the lab and home contexts during the project. The empirical basis of the paper comes from the interviews we conducted with 12 students who participated in the project, in order to explore their experiences of designing for animals. The paper shows that including animals in a design process as participants, through iterative trials in the real use context, serves as a good strategy to not only overcome the challenges of designing for animals, but also teach students the importance of user-centeredness and building empathy in design in a broader sense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Readability is a major issue with all maps. In this study, we evaluated whether we can predict map readability using analytical measures, both single measures and composites of measures. A user test was conducted regarding the perceived readability of a number of test map samples. Evaluations were then performed to determine how well single measures and composites of measures could describe the map readability. The evaluation of single measures showed that the amount of information was most important, followed by the spatial distribution of information. The measures of object complexity and graphical resolution were not useful for explaining the map readability of our test data. The evaluations of composites of measures included three methods: threshold evaluation, multiple linear regression and support vector machine. We found that the use of composites of measures was better for describing map readability than single measures, but we could not identify any major differences in the results of the three composite methods. The results of this study can be used to recommend readability measures for triggering and controlling the map generalization process of online maps.

Completely Automated Public Turing Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart (CAPTCHA) is a security application requiring a user to input a string of text to verify that the user is human. Each text string has distinctive visual features, making it perceivably different from others. No empirical work has examined which text strings included in text-based CAPTCHA have high correct response rates from users. The current study hopes to fill this gap. A user test on 8,928 iterations for which both uppercase and lowercase letters were used in 1,844 CAPTCHA tests confirmed (a) users' correct response rates to lowercases were higher than those to the uppercases, although both rates are acceptable, (b) the letters with straight line features had higher correct response rates than those without these features, and (c) the diagonal or the slender features had no impact on the correct response rate. The findings offer both theoretical and practical contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several Planning Support Systems (PSS) have been developed so far, but their uptake in planning practice remains low. The analysis of the literature shows that one major factors for the limited use of PSS is the mismatch between PSS functionality (as well as the way it is provided through the PSS user interface) and what planners expect. This motivated a deeper research with the objective to analyse the factors preventing a wider use of PSS. In particular, this paper focuses on the usability of PSS. It reports an evaluation study performed to investigate the usability of PSS for some specific tasks: planners were involved in testing the land suitability analysis module of three PSS. The study results confirmed the mismatch between what PSS provide and what planners expect, as well as indicated a poor usability of PSS. Indications for improving the design of PSS that satisfy needs and desires of practitioners are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]