What we learned from user testing of accessible client-side routing techniques with Fable Tech Labs
Marcy Sutton
July 11th, 2019
In June 2019, I conducted 5 user testing sessions for accessibility research with Fable Tech Labs, a Toronto-based start-up that’s “making it easier for digital teams to engage people with disabilities in product development.”
The goal of this initiative was to gather feedback from users with disabilities on a set of prototypes with navigation techniques for JavaScript web apps. There are multiple variations recommended in the industry for accessible, client-rendered page changes, yet very little user research on those methods. Therefore, we wanted to find out which techniques are the most ergonomic and intuitive to users with disabilities, and if any of the techniques presented barriers detracting from their browsing experience.
With this data, we can make better recommendations for accessible client-rendered websites in general and at the JavaScript framework level. By adjusting Gatsby’s implementation of client-side routing–currently leveraging @reach/router for React.js–to better support a range of people with disabilities, we can improve access for users and also potentially influence accessible UI patterns in other frameworks. Eventually (we hope), this work could encourage new browser APIs through web standards: “paving the accessible cowpaths” with solutions [...]