Internet Searching by Ear: Decision Flow Diagrams for Sightless Internet Users

Abstract

A cognitive task analysis was conducted to better understand strategies that sighted and sightless users rely on to navigate the web and make sense of information encountered. Across participant groups, analyses revealed that users engaged in three primary cognitive modes: orienting themselves to the page, engaging in a goal-directed search, and completing the task by finding the results. Decision flow diagrams highlighted similarities and differences between user groups. While the sighted users consistently progressed in a linear fashion through the three modes, two distinct groups emerged within the sightless participants. Highly experienced sightless users exhibited actions much like those taken by the sighted users in their interaction with a weather website; however, interview data indicate that more complex cognitive processes were required during this portion of the task for the sightless user. Intermediate sightless users exhibited a more recursive flow that involved re-orienting themselves several times to complete the tasks.