[Alex] reads more like a keyboard-only user than a speech input user

[nitedog]

From related issue by @KimPatch:

https://www.w3.org/WAI/people-use-web/user-stories/#reporter

• The persona description for Alex reads more like a keyboard-only user than a speech input user. I think something got lost in the translation here as well. I think this needs to be rewritten to better reflect speech input users observed behavior

A couple of thoughts about similarities and differences between keyboard only users and speech users:

• Keyboard only users and speech users both benefit from keyboard shortcuts, but for speech users the key benefit is if there's a keyboard shortcut for something you can easily write a speech macro to access it. You can also speak the keyboard shortcut.
• Keyboard only users and speech users also benefit from good focus order – for speech users this is because you need to know what the speech command is going to act on.

[nitedog]

My personal reflection on this comment:

At the time of creating the persona for Alex, the intent was to reflect a keyboard user who only ocassionally uses speech for dictation. That is, Alex is intentionally not a "power user" of speech. This had multiple reasons, including reflecting that not all people with disabilities are proficient users of assistive technology, nor should they be expected to be.

[KimPatch]

@nitedog Agree that not all people with disabilities are proficient users of assistive technology, nor should they be expected to be. But

1. I don't think that's a reason to leave out people who use speech input for more than putting words on the screen. Using speech to control the computer enables folks who can't use the keyboard at all or people whose keyboard use exacerbates RSIs. If you don't use speech for command-and-control it's difficult to picture what those users need. I think that's a good use of a persona – allowing people to picture how people who are different than them use assistive technologies.
2. Separate from that, I'm just having trouble picturing it being efficient or sustainable for a journalist who has RSIs to use the tab key for web navigation.

[iadawn]

Alex has had some rewrites to integrate speech control a bit more. I have indicated that he has started to use the software and one way that it can help. I have also downplayed his use of speech control software for dictation.

Current draft for Alex

[KimPatch]

Let me put this a bit stronger than I did above. Alex is very problematic. It's almost literally painful for me, as a journalist who has struggled with RSIs, to keep reading about a persona with RSIs doing such ill-advised and painful behavior as repeatedly hitting a tab key to carry out a single action. I've trained many different people to use speech recognition and mixed input. Encouraging someone with RSIs to take many steps to carry out one action is neither realistic nor helpful. It's not going to help the user thrive. Efficiency is key for this type of injury, especially when the job description includes hard deadlines. I showed this to another journalist who depends on speech input to carry out his job and I don't think incredulous is too strong a word to describe his reaction. I hear that you don't intend Alex to be a power user of speech. I don't think this is realistic or sustainable behavior for a journalist with RSIs, power user or not. Alex seems more like a keyboard-only user for reasons other than RSIs who might be experimenting with speech and hasn't landed on a good mix yet. My advice, if you want to illustrate the repeated physical keypress behavior, would be to switch Alex to a keyboard-only user who does not have RSIs. I'd start over again to come up with a more useful/sustainable/efficient speech input persona and to do that consult with speech input users. I'm happy to help.

[iadawn]

@KimPatch, thanks for this, didn't mean to cause you any pain! It is really helpful for me to have your input on this and I will take another look at Alex to better reflect the concerns you raise.

[KimPatch]

@iadawn No worries – I'm happy you are taking another look. I think the most important thing is to include folks who regularly use speech for work when you do. Again, I'm happy to help.

[iadawn]

@KimPatch Conscious that it would be good to have a more real time back and forth with this! Hopefully we can work through it with updates in GitHub. And I am also conscious that I put this not in a commit comment which means you may have missed it so repeating it here.

I have done a rewrite with your comments in mind (and immediately next to the update!). We are trying to retain the sense of Alex being that novice user of speech control. As such I have made this a much more recent diagnosis for Alex and am trying to talk through his journey of changing how he works. This retains the features of the previous persona but the context might make more sense.

Keen for your thoughts on the latest iteration and happy to work through this more.

[KimPatch]

@KevinWhite I agree that real-time communication would be better. Feel free to email me with a time to talk. I'm happy to help. (I still see problems – we're still missing on a fundamental. Someone with RSIs is still repeatedly hitting a tab key carry out a single action – I elaborated on why this is ill-advised above. If you need to illustrate this behavior in a persona I'd advise moving it to a different persona. Alex doesn't come through as a novice user so much as someone who doesn't know how to use a given type of assistive software. I don't think this is useful or consistent with the other personas.) Also, here's my similar reply from yesterday on the commit: https://github.com/w3c/wai-people-use-web/commit/fa53a3d4b15ebfbc6ecacdd37a8e6e5290d172c1#commitcomment-61255663

[sharronrush]

@iadawn @KimPatch : Do we need to resolve a basic question in order to get in sync on Alex?

Is the point here to provide a way to reference specific SCs related to keyboard use? (if so Kim has suggested to use another condition - tremors perhaps)

Or is the purpose more closely related to highlighting how people with RSI use the web? (if this is the primary goal, we may need to make more significant changes to Alex imo)

[KimPatch]

@KevinWhite Suggestions;

1. Finding another condition that Alex could have where he would use skip links and tab keys, and if Alex also uses speech recognition and you want him to be a novice user I suggest that the use speech to write email and reports. Getting words on the screen is the easiest thing to do with speech recognition software, the thing most people are successful at, and it can be faster than typing. And/or
2. If Alex remains someone with RSIs, suggest switching the profession to a grant writer who uses speech input for writing email and reports, which is common and speech recognition software these days does well. If you want Alex to be a novice speech user, he can use dictation plus just a few basic navigation and editing commands like "New Paragraph" and "Replace X With Y", which allows him to type far less. Alex might also use a mix of just a few basic speech commands and ergonomic keyboard/alternate mouse commands for computer control. Maybe something like this: Alex has learned a few speech commands that save him several mouse clicks each. This allows him to get more done using his limited mousing capabilities. For instance, he usually starts a web search using speech by saying something like "Search the web for Human Computer Interface", then uses his ergonomic mouse to navigate from there. He has started to explore a speech input method that numbers every link and allows him to say the numbers to click the links so he can offload his hands more fully if he needs to.

Note that the User 2 option would not illustrate skip links or tab key order. (FYI Tab key order is important to more advanced speech input users who combine speech commands and use macros.) It also looks like the Barriers and Related Resources sections would need a major refresh as well.

Another thought: If you go with the RSIs user I'd also be careful about implying that he could do all his work on a mobile phone – for someone with RSIs a bigger screen is better because there's less scrolling, and hunching over phone can exacerbate RSIs, which often have neck and shoulder involvement. So maybe something like Alex finds his smart phone touchscreen easier to use for control than the mouse, and makes use of the dictation button on the keyboard to dictate on his phone as well. He wishes his employer would create a mobile-friendly/responsive site so he could have more input method options available.

[KimPatch]

Also clarifying that my above suggestions for the survey were limited to practical suggestions to untangle this user to remove unrealistic and dangerous behavior (someone with RSIs hitting a key repeatedly to carry out one action) while keeping in mind the strong push for a novice-level speech user if Alex remains a speech user. I think it's unfortunate that we aren't more fully including speech input, and think it would be useful to eventually include personas who have some experience. Here are a couple of common scenarios that would more fully and realistically include speech input users: someone who has no use of hands and so uses speech input for everything, and someone who is using an efficient combination of speech and a pointing device. Again, happy to help.

[brianelton]

The user story for Alex will not exist in the newest update. That user is now Ade (https://deploy-preview-113--wai-people-use-web.netlify.app/people-use-web/user-stories-one/) and there is no mention of RSI with his disabilities. Closing this issue based on this. Please re-open if you have specific concerns.