So, I did a quick assessment at the request of my supervisor to test accessibility of the Yammer social group using Voice Over. Not accessible at all, to a novice user of Voice Over! To clarify this statement, I always try to test and take a different approach to testing. This can be a bit of a time consuming task. Repeated testing! I try to approach things through multiple perspectives; the novice user, the middle user (one who knows enough to get into trouble) and the expert.
Why is this important? Because the audience is always important in design. And we have a large audience. In our market place a trend is developing towards, brands, and niche groups, and loyalty to specific needs of a small group of people. This is NOT Universal Design practices. Especially, when dealing with the web or software that needs to meet everyones needs. The content can be specific to a person, but the use cannot!
Back to the Testing…
One has to be a Voice Over expert to navigate Yammer with it. There is no one tool in the VoiceOver tool box that one can get through the Desktop version of Yammer. JAWs allows you to arrow through or tab though almost everything. V.O. does not allow this. Training must be given to an individual to use V.O. However, if this is done then Yammer is pretty accessible despite some annoying glitches. I hope this helps P.S.U. get some alterations to their web service.
