1. Online Employment Applications and Website Accessibility September 27, 2011 Dr. Jonathan Lazar Dept. of Computer and Information Sciences & Universal Usability Laboratory Towson University

2. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 2 ADA National Network Centers 1-800-949-4232 [voice/tty] adata.org

3. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 3 Online Employment Applications  Employment is a core ingredient in self-esteem, independence, and happiness  Historically, the unemployment rate for people with disabilities, especially people who are blind, is high  Estimated unemployment rate for people who are blind in US, UK, and Canada: 70-75%  Most jobs now require an online application  If online employment applications are inaccessible, this shuts people with disabilities out of the job before they can even apply

4. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 4 Previously published studies  Erickson (2002) evaluated 10 job boards and 31 E- recruiting websites for accessibility using an automated evaluation tool—none were accessible  Lazar, Wentz et al (2011) performed expert accessibility evaluations on 8 job aggregator websites (e.g. CareerBuilder), and found that 7/8 had accessibility problems  No previously published evaluations involve users who are blind attempting to apply for jobs online—that was our goal!

5. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 5 Participants  Pilot study took place with 2 users who are blind before the main data collection  All 16 participants were:  Blind  Screen reader users unable to use magnification  Currently either part-time employed, or unemployed, and seeking full-time employment  Most participants were recruited through a partnership with the Maryland Division of Rehabilitation Services, Office of Blindness and Vision Services

6. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 6 Participants (cont.)  16 participants  Average age: 36.5 years, Gender: 11 female, 5 male  Average screen reader experience:12.06 years  Average Internet experience: 10.94 years  Education: 2 had HS degree, 3 had Associates degree, 9 had Bachelors degree, 2 had Masters degrees  No personal information was used—each participant had a CV and e-mail account prepared for them  All CVs submitted were marked “not a real application— submitted for training purposes only”

7. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 7 Web sites chosen  2 online job application sites were chosen for each of the 8 states served by the Southeast DBTAC:  Alabama  Florida  Georgia  Kentucky  Mississippi  North Carolina  South Carolina  Tennessee

8. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 8 Web sites chosen (cont.)  Honda Alabama  Pilgrims  Orlando Regional Healthcare  Home Shopping Network  Harland Clarke Holdings  MARTA Corp.  PNC Bank  Ford Motor Company  Smithfield Packing Co.  Lowes Inc.  Sonoco Products  Fluor Enterprises  Beau Rivage Resort and Casino  Hinds Community College  International Paper Co.  Dell Computer

9. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 9 Research methodology  All participants utilized JAWS in the evaluations  Participants were given the URL of the homepage of the company/organization, and told to apply for a job of a certain category (e.g. help desk manager or software engineer)  A CV and e-mail account had previously been prepared for the participant to match the job category (with relevant work experience)  We used a modified usability methodology so that we could learn as much as possible about the barriers to online job applications

10. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 10 Assisting participants  For many sites, core features (such as the “search jobs” function) were inaccessible  When users could not move forward and told us that they could not move forward, we offered to assist them, and we took very careful notes of when we were asked to perform an “intervention”  We performed a total of 34 interventions  2 categories of intervention:  (18) verbal advice  (16) performing a mouse click (when it was required)

11. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 11 Assistance  Ideally, a user needs to apply for a job online without any assistance  However, we wanted to learn more about what are the most common challenges in online job application web sites  And if we did not assist the users in any way, very often, the users could not get beyond the homepage or job search page, and we would learn nothing about the problems that exist

12. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 12 RESULTS

13. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 13 Overall Results  24/32 applications were submitted, HOWEVER  Only 9/32 attempts at applying for a job online could be completed without assistance from the researchers  Some participants needed as many as 3 interventions  In usability testing research, this would be considered a task success rate of 28.1%

14. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 14 Information on time taken to apply  Quickest submission: 23 minutes - MARTA  Longest submission (121 minutes) for successfully submitted individual applications: Beau Rivage, no intervention Orlando Health, 1 intervention  User gave up on one submission attempt (Beau Rivage) after 229 minutes, application was not submitted

15. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 15 Software Notes  Note that 7 of the 16 sites use either the Taleo software or the Kenexa software for the application process  Taleo has over 5,000 customers  Kenexa is used in 11 languages and 115 countries (data from their respective web sites)  Imagine how minor changes to those two applications could have a major impact!

16. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 16 Examples of specific problems that would stop blind users from applying for jobs online

17. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 17 MARTA web site Every job available had a link title of “click here to read more” from JAWS links list

18. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 18 PNC Bank The “search jobs” page was flash-based, with no textual equivalents, so unless you could use a mouse pointer, you could NOT search for jobs

19. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 19 Smithfield Foods To find out more about jobs, you were required to click on maps to select where you wanted to find a job, but there were no textual equivalents, so mouse usage was required

20. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 20 International Paper To find out more about careers, you were required to click on careers in a pull-down menu, but there were no textual equivalents, and no way to access it through JAWS, so mouse usage was required

21. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 21 Sonoco Feedback on problems with data entry is inaccessible…you get feedback by hovering over with the mouse, and the fields that are incorrect are marked in red. JAWS users only hear “Ok button. Press space bar to activate.”

22. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 22 International Paper Feedback about the errors in form data, is not accessible to JAWS.

23. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 23 Sonoco and Ford The question is not in any way connected to the responses in the code. While a visual user can see that they are next to each other, this isn’t clear for JAWS

24. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 24 Progress bars provide no useful feedback They need to also provide information non-visually about how the user is progressing

25. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 25 Some general problems which relate to all users, not only users with disabilities…

26. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 26 Harland Clarke Site required user to select an end date, even though they had selected the job as their current job.

27. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 27 Orlando Regional Health The application process required a look-up of school attended, rather than allowing free text entry. However, there were 8 lookup choices with the same name

28. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 28 Orlando Regional Health (part 2) On the form, email and phone number were not indicated as required but when the user submitted the form, an error came up stating that email and phone number are required

29. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 29 Orlando Regional Health (part 3)  Even with textual labels of the steps in the application process, these textual labels are confusing:  Preferences?  Online questionnaire?  Languages?

30. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 30 Orlando Regional Health (part 4)  Unclear guidance on what format should be used to submit data in a form  This was actually requesting data be entered in a currency format, but there was no guidance, and the error message was unclear

31. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 31 HSN User was confused about the difference between “no selection” and “no”

32. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 32 Suggestions for Priorities in Improving Accessibility in Online Job Application Web sites

33. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 33 Forms properly labeled Make sure that forms are properly labeled  Textual labels should be read before the entry field/button, not afterwards  Textual labels should actually represent the same label as presented on the screen This combination, with no labels, is confusing

34. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 34 Required fields and feedback Make sure that it is clear which fields are required, and provide accessible feedback on incorrectly filled-out forms

35. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 35 Option for more time If you must have a session time limit, provide users the opportunity to request more time

36. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 36 Label Links Make sure that links are labeled properly  Every job available at Beau Rivage had a link title of “more info,” instead of the job title

37. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 37 Progress info accessible Make sure that information on progress through the process is available to JAWS  Progress indicators shouldn’t only be visual, based on color or shape  It’s important to provide textual information

38. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 38 Proper coding of table headers/ table cell Type 1: Tables that require data input – all form controls (drop-down lists, radio buttons, combo boxes, etc.) should be properly labeled. Type 2: Tables displaying data – here, table headers must be properly coded/labeled so that each row and cell could be read by Jaws.

39. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 39 Logical tab order Make sure that there is a logical tab order if you are listening to forms  When tab order is not logical, here’s what users hear

40. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 40 Suggestions for success  If you are building software for online application processes, place accessibility in the design requirements and specify evaluation  If you are purchasing a software package for online applications, ask if it’s accessible, and ask for data on how they tested for accessibility  Evaluate your online application process by:  Usability testing involving people with disabilities  Expert inspections (but only with real experts)  Using automated software tools for feedback

41. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 41 * Open Discussion & Questions

42. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 42 THANK YOU!

43. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 43 * Contact Information Please Feel Free to Reach Out to Us Dr. Jonathan Lazar Dept. of Computer and Information Sciences & Universal Usability Laboratory, Towson University JLazar@towson.edu JLazar@towson.edu Jill Houghton Deputy Director, Southeast TACE Acting Executive Director, USBLN Jilldh@bellsouth.net Jilldh@bellsouth.net Pamela Williamson Director, DBTAC: Southeast ADA Center sedbtacproject@law.syr.edu sedbtacproject@law.syr.edu

44. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 44 For more information ADA National Network by DBTAC ADA National Network by DBTAC Web: adata.org 1-800-949-4232 [voice/tty] Section 508 web site Section 508 web site Web: www.section508.gov Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Web: www.w3.org/WAI/intro/wcag.php Web AIM (Accessibility in Mind) Web AIM (Accessibility in Mind) Web: webaim.org

45. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 45 Sponsors of Webinar Series ADA National Network by DBTAC Web: adata.org American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) Web: aapd.com Council of State Administrators of Vocational Rehabilitation (CSAVR) - National Employment Team (NET) Web: rehabnetwork.org U.S. Business Leadership Network Web: usbln.org

46. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 46 Education Credits - DEADLINE: October 7 CEU (0.1) Approved by the University College at Syracuse University To earn CEU credit, you must: 1. Participate in the 1.5 hour webinar. 2. Login to your Webinar Account & complete: CEU Request. 3. Follow CEU Credit Requirements (http://sedbtac.org/webinars/requestCEU.php?eventid=533).CEU Credit Requirements CRCC (1.5) Approved by Commission on Rehabilitation Counselor Certification (CRCC) To earn CRCC credit, you must: 1. Participate in the 1.5 hour webinar. 2. Login to your Account & score 80% or better on Post Test. 3. Complete: CRCC Request and send a copy to the CRCC office. 4. Follow CRCC Credit Requirements (http://sedbtac.org/webinars/requestCRCC.php?eventid=533).CRCC Credit Requirements

47. Webinar Series for Business Hosted by: Southeast ADA Center and SoutheastTACE Projects of Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University Funded by NIDRR Grant # H133A060094. © 2011 All Rights Reserved 47 Disclaimer The DBTAC: Southeast ADA Center (Southeast DBTAC) is authorized by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) to provide information, materials, and technical assistance to individuals and entities that are covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act and its Amendments (ADA) under Grant No. H133A060094. However, NIDRR is not responsible for enforcement of the ADA. For more information or assistance, contact your regional ADA Center via the ADA National Network by DBTAC at adata.org or call 1-800-949-4232 [voice/tty].adata.org The information, materials, and/or technical assistance are intended solely as informal guidance, and are neither a determination of your legal rights or responsibilities under the Act, nor binding on any agency with enforcement responsibility under the ADA. The Burton Blatt Institute (BBI) at Syracuse University does not warrant the accuracy of any information contained herein. Any links to non-BBI information are provided as a courtesy. They are not intended to nor do they constitute an endorsement by the BBI of the linked materials.