Category Archives: Accessibility

Accessibility, Legal, Psychology

System 1 and System 2 in testing – part 1

In March 2024 Daniel Kahneman died. He wrote ”Thinking fast and slow”. This book is about how people handle certain situations. He introduced System 1 and System 2.

For the fast observations System 1 is used in most cases. This way of thinking provides fast, almost effortless way to digest information. Like walking to a shop.

For the thoughtful observations System 2 is used. An example is choosing which things to buy in a shop based on a shopping list or availability.

The way users behave, can lead to good test
ideas.

Supporting System 1

Pointing

For a test I needed a program. As usually, I went to the system administrator. He gave me some instructions to install the program on my own. I had to change one setting and only needed to press the Next button.

My thought process was like: is this the option? Yes, change it and press the Next button. Otherwise press the Next button. I had the program installed within minutes.

It went so smoothly, because the Next button was on the same place every time.

“The right lower corner of a well designed
dialog,
the group of a similar looking buttons.
These are a few of my favourite things.”
(On the melody of “My favorite things”)

Simplifying

One of the consequences of the privacy laws is the cookie banner. On one of my favourite web site there are only two buttons: ”Yes, I agree” and “No, thanks” buttons, This is clear and concise.

Knowledge about System 1 in good hands

A good design of the program stimulates the user to use System 1. The program is easy to use.

Abusing System 1

Hiding

In the past I stumbled on a cookie banner. It had the Accept All button and a More Info button. If I really wanted to visit this web site, then I needed to accept all the cookies. Something I was not looking forward to. It was also not compliant with the privacy laws. There was no way to reject the cookies.

But I was curious, I pressed on the More Info button, A dialog popped up with options to reject cookies. If I only used System 1, then I got unwanted cookies on my PC.

Distracting

On a cookie banner from another web site, I was looking for a way to avoid unnecessary cookies. In the right lower corner of the dialog there were no buttons. This is my favourite place to look for buttons.

My view went up and I noticed the Accept All button. It had a different background colour than the body of the dialog. I was about to press this button, when I noticed another button to the left.

The Reject all button had the same background as the body of the dialog. It did not get my attention because of the colours of the Accept All button.

This particular button had also a bigger impact on people, who have problems with reading. They might prefer the emphasised Accept All button over the normal Reject All button. Also. people with visual impairment would make the same choice because of the bad contrast.

“The right upper corner of a bad designed
dialog,
the group of different looking buttons.
These are a few of my dislikeable things.”
(On the melody of “My favorite things”)

Knowledge about System 1 in bad hands

It is possible to make programs in such way that people make bad choices. These situations are called dark patterns. Especially disabled people are easy victims.

“When System 1 rules, when the user clicks,
when the cookies come,
there was nor second thought, nor hesitation,
just a silent urge.”
(On the melody of “My favorite things”)

To be continued.

Accessibility, Assistive technology

Translating Agile Testing Condensed the unconvential way – part 3

Obligatory summary

In the previous episode I figured out a faster way to translate Agile Testing Condensed from English to Dutch. I put the English text file on my iPhone. Then I used VoiceOver and Acrobat Reader to read the text aloud. Then I used Dictate to enter the Dutch text into a Note.

Reduction of language switching

For the translation I used the iPhone which could only handle one language at a time. I had to use the Rotor frequently to change the language of the screen reader. It was like switching a dial every ten seconds. I really wanted to skip the dialling.

Why should I restrict myself to one single device?
I could use one device for English and one device for Dutch. Every device keeps his own screen reader language during the whole translation.

My choice was to use the iPhone to read the English source text aloud and a PC for entering the Dutch target file.

Reduction of correction

The use of dictation was becoming a burden. There were so many typing errors, that I needed more time to edit the text. I read a strange Dutch word and then tried to find the right Dutch word. With four strange words in a long sentence, this was not the way to translate.

Another way to enter the text was the keyboard of the PC. No more correcting text by Dictating the text again and again. The PC had a proper keyboard, so what was I waiting for?

Choosing Fusion

On my Windows PC I had Fusion installed. It contains two programs. JAWS is a screen reader, Using the arrow keys on my keyboard I can listen to my translated text. It also speaks aloud the words I typed.

Combine this with Word. This text editor supports auto correction and spelling control. While typing I got enough feedback in case of typos. There are specific sound effects to make auto correction and mis spelling clear.

Note to my fellow Dutch citizens: Fusion is covered by your health insurance under certain conditions.

Another note to my fellow Dutch citizens: the screen reader NVDA is free, but users are requested to donate.

Did I still need Acrobat reader for the English file? Apparently not, so I started to use Notes on my iPhone again.

Then I added the translated sentence in Word with the Dutch text. On my return on my iPhone, I got a wonderful feeling. VoiceOver continued, where I had left the file the last time. That is an advantage of the cursor.

Finding the right sequence once again

This led to the following actions. The first serie was:

  • Set the screen reader language to English on the iPhone, open Notes with the English file on the iPhone, and go to the sentence to be translated.
    Use VoiceOver to speak the sentence aloud.
  • Set the language of the screen reader on the PC to Dutch. Open Word with the Dutch file and go to the end of the file.
    Use the keyboard to enter the text.

The second and following series were:

  • Switch to Notes with the English file on the iPhone and go to the sentence to be translated.
    Use VoiceOver to speak the sentence aloud.
  • Switch to Word with the Dutch file on the PC. Use the keyboard to enter the text.
    Use the keyboard to enter the text.
  • Rinse and repeat.

After the first serie, I did not need to open any file, find the right sentence, and set the right screen reader language. Was this a typical case of Agile Translating?

Final edit

After a few months it was time to check my translated work. I opened the English source file in Notes on the iPhone and the Dutch target file in Word on the PC. After a swipe I heard the English text. After a press on the keyboard, I heard the Dutch text.

Come to the Dutch side.

Accessibility, Assistive technology

Translating Agile Testing Condensed the unconvential way – part 2

Obligatory summary

In the previous episode I joined a group of volunteers to translate Agile Testing Condensed from English to Dutch. I put the English text in a Note on my iPhone. Then I used VoiceOver to read the text aloud. Then I used Dictate to enter the Dutch text into another Note.

Reduction of navigation

For my translation, I read a sentence in the English source file. Then I opened the Dutch target file to dictate the translated sentence. Every time I had to close and open a file. A more annoying thing was, that I had to find the location in the file.

Some Windows apps have the option to open several files at the same time. Using the shortcut Alt + Tab, it was easy for me to switch between two different files. On my iPhone I looked to the Notes app, which I used for my translation work. Notes only could only open one single file at a time.

Time to use Windows again for finding a solution for my problem. Windows offers a way to open several apps at the same time. Also in this case, Alt + Tab is simple way to switch between apps. The iPhone has an App Chooser. I could use the Notes app for the Dutch target file for editing. Another app was needed to read the English source file.

If I would change between the apps, I would be on the same page.

Choosing Acrobat Reader

Now I needed a file reader to open the file with the English text. My obvious choice was Acrobat reader which could handle files with different formats,

Note to my fellow Dutch citizens: the basic version of Acrobat reader is free.

My first impression of Acrobat Reader on my iPhone was strange. The app showed the whole page on a small screen. The words were very small. I did not need to zoom in, because I used VoiceOver, I swiped through the file, until I found my next sentence to translate. It was like driving on hearing.

Then I added the translated sentence in the Note with the Dutch text.  I swished back to Acrobat Reader for my next sentence to be translated. On my return in Notes, I got a wonderful feeling. My cursor was still at the end of the file with the Dutch text. This would save me a bit of time.

Finding the right sequence again

This led to the following actions. The first serie was:

  • Open Acrobat Reader with the English file, set the System Language to English and go to the sentence to be translated.
    Use VoiceOver to speak the sentence aloud.
  • Open Notes with the Dutch file, set the System Language to Dutch and go to the end of the file.
    Use Dictate to enter the text.

The second and following series were:

  • Switch to Acrobat Reader with the English file, set the System Language to English and go to the sentence to be translated.
    Use VoiceOver to speak the sentence aloud.
  • Switch to Notes with the Dutch file and set the System Language to Dutch.
    Use Dictate to enter the text.
  • Rinse and repeat.

Another obstacle

After dictating several sentences, I read some strange Dutch sentences. The words were Dutch, but the wrong were in the file. Somehow, Dictate could not handle my Dutch sentences. And, I am a Dutch native speaker.

Maybe Dictate was not trained or tested to write complete sentences about Agile Testing. This is quite understandable, but it was a great annoyance for my translation work, I needed to check all my sentences.

I felt a disturbance in the translation.

To be continued.