“In order to better understand [the elderly’s] experience I have bought a pair of ski gloves and some reading glasses (I don’t need reading glasses). Every now and again, I surf the site I am designing wearing both the glasses and gloves. The glasses make the screen hard to read while the gloves hamper my use of the mouse and the keyboard. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to select something from a drop down menuFrom Paul Boag in Boagworld podcast episode 130,
wearing ski gloves!”
and originally found on Web Axe.
3 comments
What an image that conjures up! In college, my wife was in charge of an awareness day where people without a disability took on a disability for a day. Some people had their fingers wrapped together to simulate loss of dexterity or digits, others went around blindfolded, or in a wheelchair, or on crutches. It forever changed the way she looked at the world. So while the effect of visualizing this guy in ski gloves and glasses he doesn’t need is funny—it’s also pretty powerful!
comment by Ted Boren 16 hours later
I think such simulations can help folks gain a greater understanding of some of the challenges faced by the disabled, but they need to be used carefully and with intelligence. For instance, I really don’t want someone to “learn about blindness” by just wearing a blindfold for a day.
When a sighted person wears a blindfold, they generally end up feeling confused, disoriented, and pretty useless, ergo blind people must be disoriented, confused, and pretty useless. If you really want to understand blindness, try wearing a blindfold for a good six months minimum. Being blind for only part of the time doesn’t count, nor does staying at home all the time.
Or, if that way of learning about it is just a bit too inconvenient, you can always just ask one of us. :)
I don’t want to discourage anyone from trying a disability simulation if you are curious or you think it might help you find weaknesses in your design. However, just remember to verify any conclusions you reach, and keep in mind that real disabled people are much better at being disabled than you are.
You can read about a disability simulation done right in the April 1997 Braille Monitor.
comment by Aaron Cannon one day later
Great clarification of perspective. Thanks.
comment by Ted Boren one day later
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