There are ways users could miss emergency site alerts, including:
accidentally or impulsively closing the emergency site alert
screen reader users may think it is a popup and close it
And screen reader users could miss informational site alerts because:
they may arrow down past the site alert if it is not emphasized with a heading
It is recommended that USWDS adds guidance that recommends:
Not allowing users to dismiss emergency site alerts. Currently, dismissibility is not addressed in our guidance.
To assign a heading to site alerts, especially emergency site alerts.
That the emergency site alert should appear below the site banner.
Observations
During usability testing, we observed or got feedback from participants like:
Evidence that emergency site alerts should not be dismissible:
One blind participant kept escaping it before realizing what it was b/c she thought it was a popup.
A low vision participant said she might miss things at the very top of the page since she usually doesn’t go there.
The person with ADHD said she doesn’t think you should be able to dismiss it b/c she impulsively closes stuff a lot. She also made a point about considering people with working memory issues - they might dismiss it and then forget that they saw it.
Site alerts should be emphasized with a heading for screen reader users:
One blind screen reader participant said it's possible to arrow down and miss the alert, so consider emphasizing it with a heading, star, or some kind of tag.
Another kept escaping it b/c she thought it was a dialogue box.
Another said they expect an alert to have a heading.
Finally, emergency site alerts should apper near the top of the page, but below he banner:
2 people think v1 stands out more. 1 person said v2 looks more like a decoration and is less noticeable).
Another person said v2 makes the banner stand out more, but since we’re more interested in the emergency alert standing out, v1 may be the better option.
One person had no preference between emergency alert v1 or v2.
Affected user groups
All users
screen reader users
screen magnification users
Research method
Usability testing with 8 participants with disabilities:
Summary
There are ways users could miss emergency site alerts, including:
And screen reader users could miss informational site alerts because:
It is recommended that USWDS adds guidance that recommends:
Observations
During usability testing, we observed or got feedback from participants like: Evidence that emergency site alerts should not be dismissible:
Site alerts should be emphasized with a heading for screen reader users:
Finally, emergency site alerts should apper near the top of the page, but below he banner:
Affected user groups
Research method
Usability testing with 8 participants with disabilities:
Screen reader software participants used: JAWS, NVDA, and VoiceOver
[Link to public findings report forthcoming...here is the internal Zebra findings report] :lock:
Next steps
Draft guidance for site alert to recommend: