[orca-list] Call for participants: research study about Web accessibility standards

[Alison Benjamin <alison benjamin gmail com>]

Hello, 

My name is Alison Benjamin, and I am a Master’s of
Information candidate at the Faculty of Information at the University
of Toronto. I have received permission to post to this mailing list
from its administrator, Willie Walker. 

I am seeking participants for a study I am conducting as a part of
my thesis work. My study is entitled: The force of standards and
guidelines in Web accessibility work.

As a Web developer or
designer, you may be familiar with the W3C’s Web Accessibility
Initiative (WAI). If you have ever used WAI standards and guidelines
(e.g. WCAG, ATAG, UAAG, WAI-ARIA, HTML, CSS), you may be interested in
participating in my study, which explores if and how Web developers and
designers incorporate aspects of the WAI in their day-to-day work. 

Participating in this study involves taking part in one
approximately 1 hour long semi-structured interview with myself, either
in-person at the University of Toronto, over the phone, or at a
location of your choosing. 

To qualify, you must have some experience designing or developing
Web sites and/or “Web 2.0” applications (e.g. have been involved in at
least one project of this nature).   Over the course of the interview,
you will be asked to share your views on how and when (if at all) you
incorporate accessibility guidelines, standards, and policies in your
design and development work. You may also be asked to share
accessibility documentation you use in your work, such as WAI Webpages,
best practice or accessibility statement documents, or personal
protocols you follow. 

Approximately 10-15 participants will be interviewed in total. The
results of my study will provide perspectives on how guidelines and
standards are used in a variety of approaches to Web accessibility.
Interviews are currently scheduled to take place between the months of
December 2009 and February 2010 and will be scheduled at a time and
location of your convenience. Interviews can occur over the phone if
needed. 

All information gathered in this study will remain completely
confidential. Any confidential or identifying information about
participants will be anonymized and only myself and my supervisor will
have access to the original data collected. This study has been
reviewed and received ethics clearance from the Office of Research
Ethics at the University of Toronto. 

If you are interested in participating in this study, or would like to discuss my study or this letter, please contact me at: alison benjamin utoronto ca.
Alternatively, you may contact my supervisor for this study, Dr.
Stephen Hockema, Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Information: steve hockema utoronto ca; phone: 416-978-7110. 

Thank you!
Alison Benjamin 
Masters of Information candidate 
Faculty of Information, University of Toronto