A Pilot Study Examining the Online Behavior of Web Users with Visual Impairments

This report presents the results of a pilot study on the online behavioral habits of 46 internet users; 26 of whom self-identified as having a visual impairment (either blind or low vision). While significant research exists which documents the degree of difficulty that users with visual impairments have in interacting with the Web relative to the sighted, few have addressed the degree to which this usability disparity impacts online behavior; information seeking and online exploratory behaviors especially. Fewer still have addressed this usability disparity within the context of distinct website types; i.e. are usability issues more pronounced with certain categories of websites as opposed to others? This pilot study was effective both in exploring these issues and in identifying the accessibility of online social networks as a primary topic of investigation with respect to the formal study that is to follow.

@article{Brinkley2013,
  title     = {A Pilot Study Examining the Online Behavior of Web Users with Visual Impairments},
  journal   = {International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications},
  volume    = {4},
  number    = {11},
  year      = {2013},
  publisher = {The Science and Information Organization},
  author    = {Julian Brinkley and Nasseh Tabrizi},
  doi       = {10.14569/IJACSA.2013.041121},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2013.041121}
}