Calgary's First
Inclusive Usability
Testing Service
Video Courtesy of Eric Gonzalez
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WHAT WE DO
We are a team of technologists, designers, public employees, community organizers, entrepreneurs, policy analysts and other engaged citizens with the vision that Calgary can be a more accessible city for all. Together, we are united in the mission to plan, design and run testing sessions with an inclusive and representative group of Calgarians to improve the usability of products, processes and services for teams in public, private and non-profit sectors.
To really understand the impact of our work, we need to unpack exactly how the word inclusive
changes what it means to do usability testing.
Usability testing isn’t a new idea, but with IncluCity Calgary, we’re doing something different: usability testing with a model of inclusion. By changing the ‘when, where, how and with whom’ of usability testing, we’re turning the process on its head, and providing opportunities for diverse and often under-represented residents to weigh in on the products, processes and services that impact them. When we add inclusion to usability testing we reconsider the design process with the notion that if it doesn’t work for someone,
it doesn’t work for everyone.
OUR IMPACTS
A Representative Group of Testers
We are working to recruit a cross-section of Calgary's diverse population to ensure that people of all demographics and lived experiences have the opportunity to provide authentic feedback on the outputs that are being tested so that they work for everyone.
Respect is earned when we build trusting relationships with each unique participant and design tests that are inclusive to Calgarians of diverse backgrounds. User research is part of our planning process to ensure that we are providing the most respectful testing methods possible. These practices will impact Calgarian testers to feel that both their time and feedback are respected and that their voices have been included in the development of projects in their city.
Empowering and Promoting the Inclusion of All
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Skill Development
We build digital literacy by providing access to information and communications in addition to exposure to digital skills training during testing sessions as we may be introducing some to new technology. Participants gain confidence and improve their digital literacy skills during testing, resulting in empowerment to become digital citizens who use technology in safe, responsible and ethical ways to improve their lives and access products, processes and services that can help them.
Inclusive Usability of Products, Processes and Services
This method of testing allows for client organizations to understand the usability of their offering before it reaches the public with authentic and unbiased feedback from a representative group of end-user perspectives in Calgary. Relationships with participants are based on trust and empathy rather than traditional methods of testing that involve transaction-based interactions that produce potentially biased results.
ACCESSIBILITY STATEMENT
Measures to support accessibility
IncluCity Calgary takes the following measures to ensure accessibility:
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Include accessibility as part of our mission statement.
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Include accessibility throughout our internal policies.
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Assign clear accessibility goals and responsibilities.
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Include accessibilities throughout our design policies.
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Integrate accessibility into our test design and recruitment.
Conformance status
The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) defines requirements for designers and developers to improve accessibility for people with disabilities. It defines three levels of conformance: Level A, Level AA, and Level AAA. IncluCity Calgary is fully conformant with WCAG 2.0 level AA. Fully conformant means that the content fully conforms to the accessibility standard without any exceptions.
Feedback
We welcome your feedback on the accessibility of IncluCity Calgary. Please let us know if you encounter accessibility barriers on IncluCity Calgary:
We try to respond to feedback within 5 business days.
Date
This statement was created on 5 August 2021 using the W3C Accessibility Statement Generator Tool.
www.inclucitycalgary.ca is committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability. We aim to adhere as closely as possible to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0, Level AA), published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). These guidelines explain how to make Web content more accessible for people with disabilities. Conformance with these guidelines will help make the web more user friendly to everyone. Whilst the IncluCity Calgary team strive to adhere to the guidelines and standards for accessibility, it is not always possible to do so in all areas of the website and we are currently working to achieve this. Be aware that due to the dynamic nature of the website, minor issues may occasionally occur as it is updated regularly. We are continually seeking out solutions that will bring all areas of the site up to the same level of overall web accessibility.
If you have any comments and or suggestions relating to improving the accessibility of our site, please don't hesitate to contact us by or email. Your feedback will help us make improvements.