8. SERIAL AND PARALLEL STEPS
8.1 Number of keystrokes per task
Sighted users tended to use the same 6 keystrokes (or mouse clicks) during each task: scroll up (CU), scroll down (CD), click in (CI), type in (TI), click on enter (CO), click back (BACK).
The visually impaired sample tended to use around 16 different keystrokes during a task (these might differ between tasks). These included click in (CI), type in (TI), click on enter (CO), click back (BACK), Tab up or down (TU/TD) cursor or arrow keys to move up, down or around a page (AU, AD, AA), and sometimes using a number of different keystrokes to perform the same or similar functions. Examples would include using the tab key or cursor keys to move through hypertext links, or using cursor keys or control keys to get back to the top of the page (a graphical depiction of keystrokes is in Appendix Six).
Steps taken can then be broken down into serial and parallel steps. For the purpose of this study, serial steps are defined as a movement from page to page, such as the Click On (CO) or Click Back (BACK) keystrokes. Parallel steps are defined as movements within a page, such as Click In (CI), Scroll up (CU) Scroll down (CD), Tab up or down (TU/TD) use of arrow keys (AA, AU, AD), and keystrokes such as Control Home (CH). Note that reading text within a page or frame (LA or RO) is not defined as a "step" in this context.
Comparisons have been made of the number of serial steps and parallel steps taken by the two samples. This provides some insight into the information seeking behaviour of each group when interacting with web-based resources. Descriptions are provided in the following sections and graphical depictions can be found in Appendix Seven.
8.2 Serial and Parallel comparisons
8.2.1 Search Engine
Sighted users in total took 201 serial steps (i.e. clicking on a link or clicking back) and 181 parallel steps (i.e. clicking in edit boxes or preferences, scrolling up and down pages, typing in search terms etc). The mean number of steps was 10.1 serial and 9.1 parallel.
Visually impaired users in total took 288 serial steps and 345 parallel steps (which include around sixteen different keystrokes). The means are 14.4 serial steps and 17.3 parallel. This indicates more on-screen activity within pages than the sighted users as well as more movement from page to page.
8.2.2 Directory
Sighted users took a total of 161 serial steps and 172 parallel steps. The mean was
8.1 serial steps and 8.6 parallel steps during the task.
Visually impaired users took 111 serial steps and 149 parallel steps (mean of 5.6 serial steps and 7.5 parallel steps), indicating slightly less on-screen activity within the Directory pages than the sighted users and less movement from page to page. This was the only task where visually impaired users took fewer steps, both serial and parallel, than the sighted users. Possible reasons for this are discussed in the Summary of Findings, section 11.1.
8.2.3 Online Shopping
Sighted users took a total of 224 serial steps and 77 parallel steps (with a mean of 11.2 serial steps during the Online Shopping task and 3.9 parallel steps).
Visually impaired users took a total of 223 serial steps and 234 parallel steps. (with a mean of 8.5 serial steps and 11.7 parallel steps). This indicates that in total, sighted users moved from page to page almost the same number of times as visually impaired users, but the visually impaired users spent much more time within a page, i.e., scrolling around, examining links etc.
8.2.4 OPAC
Sighted users took a total of 148 serial steps and 82 parallel steps. The means were 7.4 serial steps and 4.1 parallel steps during the OPAC task.
Visually impaired users took a total of 223 serial and 247 parallel with a mean of 11.2 serial steps and 12.4 parallel steps. Again, the visually impaired users spent much more time within pages (moving through links, typing in terms etc) than the sighted users but they also moved from page to page more than the sighted users.
8.3 Serial Steps
The term "Serial" has been used to describe a linear movement between pages. For example, moving forwards from page to page or from one website to another by following hypertext links, or by moving backwards to re-trace steps or re-submit searches. Codes used to describe Serial Steps are Click On (CO) and Back (BACK) and will be described further under the appropriate heading.
8.3.1 Click-On (CO) code
The Click-On (CO) code is used to describe the movement from page to page following hypertext links by either clicking on a link using the mouse, or by pressing the Enter key (for example, when the link is read out). To CO a link could mean the user has either been taken to another page within the same site or may be taken off-site via an external link, or even to a reference point within the same page. The Search Engine and Directory tasks both presented users with the option of following external links if they wished. Hypertext links on the OPAC and Online Shopping sites generally kept users within the same site (although of course they might click off-site accidentally).
8.3.1.1 Search Engine
During the Search Engine task, the sighted users Clicked On a total of 171 times. The maximum number of times a user CO during this task was 18 times (one user) and the minimum was twice (one user). All users operated the CO button at some time during the Search Engine task. The mean number of times was 8.5 times.
The visually impaired users Clicked On to follow a link a total of 241 times during the Search Engine task. The maximum number of times a user CO during this task was 23 times (one user) and the minimum twice (two users). One user did not CO anywhere (giving up because he/she was unable to read the page properly). The mean number of times was 12.0
8.3.1.2 Directory
During the Directory task, the sighted users Clicked On a total of 139 times, the maximum by one user being 25 and the minimum of once (one user). The mean number of times was 7.0 times.
Visually impaired users Clicked On a total of 103 times. The maximum number of times a user Clicked On during this task was 12 times (one user) and the minimum was zero (one user). The mean number of times visually impaired users used the Click On button was 5.2 times.
8.3.1.3 Online Shopping
Sighted users Clicked On a link a total of 194 times during the Online Shopping task. The maximum number of times was 21 (one user) and the minimum was twice (one user). The mean number of times per user was 9.7 times.
Visually impaired users Clicked On a total of 149 times during the Online Shopping task. The maximum was 16 times (two users) and the minimum was twice (two users). The mean number of times per user was 7.5 times.
8.3.1.4 OPAC
During the OPAC task, sighted users Clicked On 133 times, with a maximum of 23 times (one user) and a minimum of 4 times (eight users). The mean number of times per user was 6.7.
Visually impaired users Clicked On to follow a link a total of 198 times. The maximum number of times was 23 (one user) and the minimum was four times (three users). The mean number of times per user was 9.9 times.
8.3.2 Use of Back (BACK) code
The Back (BACK) Code describes the movement taken by users to go a step or several steps backwards. This may be performed to re-submit a search or to re-trace steps having gone down an unsuccessful path. Users activated this step by either clicking on the BACK button or using an equivalent keystroke.
8.3.2.1 Search Engine
Sighted users operated the Back button a total of 30 times, the maximum by one user was 6 times and the minimum was zero (eight users). The mean number of times was 1.5.
Visually impaired users operated the Back button a total of 47 times during the task, the maximum number of times one user operated this button was 8 times and the minimum was zero (six users). The mean number of times was 2.4.
8.3.2.2 Directory
The Back button was used by the sighted sample a total of 22 times, the maximum number of time by user was 4 and the minimum was zero (eleven users). The mean number of time the Back button was used was 1.1 times.
The visually impaired sample used the Back button 8 times. This was used by only four of the users - one user activated the Back button on 4 occasions during the task, one user activated it twice and two activated it once, giving a mean of 0.4 times.
8.3.2.3 Online Shopping
During the Online Shopping task the sighted users operated the Back button a total of 30 times. The maximum number of times was 5 (two users) and the minimum was zero (seven users). The mean number of times the Back button was used was 1.5 times.
The visually impaired users operated the Back button a total of 21 times. The maximum number of times was 4 (two users) and the minimum was zero (nine users). The mean number of times was 1.1.
8.3.2.4 OPAC
During the OPAC task the sighted users in total operated the Back button 15 times. The maximum number of times by one user was 6 times and the minimum was zero (thirteen users). The mean number of times was 0.8 times.
The visually impaired users operated the Back button a total of 25 times during the OPAC task. The maximum number of times by one user was 6 times and the minimum was zero (nine users). The mean number of times the Back button was operated was 1.3.
8.4 Parallel Steps
As described earlier, the term "Parallel" has been used to describe movements within a page. This could be typing in search terms, clicking in edit boxes or selecting options. A parallel step could also describe scrolling up and down a page or tabbing through links on a page. Codes used to describe Parallel Steps are:
· Type In (TI) [Section 8.4.1].
· Click In (CI) [Section 8.4.2].
· Movement codes [Section 8.4.3]
· Click Up/Click Down (CU/CD)
· Page Up/Page Down (PU/PD)
· Tab Up/Tab Down (TU/TD)
· Arrow Up/Arrow Down (AU/AD)
· Control Home (CH)
· Zoom In/Zoom Out (ZI/ZO).
All of the codes listed above will be described in more depth under each appropriate heading.
8.4.1 Type In (TI) code
The Type In (TI) code refers to typing in search terms to an edit box such as a search facility or a "find in page" feature. During each task a reformulation could occur when a user revised search terms or when a user decided to try another method of searching. For example, they may have started by typing terms into a search box but later decided to go back to the Home Page and follow relevant links instead. Logan and Driscoll define these types of reformulations as revisions and iterations. They are described thus:
· Revision: revising a search statement
· Iteration: an ongoing interplay between keywords, indexes or search
engines
(Logan and Driscoll-Eagan 1998 p.422).
8.4.1.1 Search Engine
During the Search Engine task, three of the sighted users did not Type In any search terms, preferring to follow links to the weather from within the page. The remaining seventeen Typed In search terms, using between 1 and 2 terms. Search terms used included:
"weather"
UK weather
National weather AND uk
Today's weather
Met office
"manchester and weather"
Five of the sighted users reformulated the query twice. Of the five, two reformulated the original query for the national weather forecast, to search for the Manchester forecast, e.g.
"weather"
"manchester weather".
The other three reformulated either to refine the search, e.g.
weather uk
"weather forecast" uk
or to try other combinations of terms or phrases, e.g.
national weather AND uk
weather forecast.
Four of the visually impaired users did not Type In any search terms. The remaining sixteen Typed In between 1 and 8 terms during this task. Search terms were either submitted to the search box or to the "Find in page" facility offered by the access technology. The "Find in Page" facility could help the user find relevant links in the Search Engine Home Page or help to find where the terms occurred within the results retrieved. Terms used to search for links were generally weather or manchester depending where the user was up to in the task. Terms used to "Find in Page" were generally the same or similar to the terms applied to the original search.
Terms used for the Search Engine search facility included:
weather
weather forecast
uk weather forecast
national weather
weather uk
manchester weather uk bbc
national weather manchester
weather in manchester
Twelve of the visually impaired users reformulated the query. This was done between two and six times.
Reformulations were sometimes used to revise the search, for example:
weather
weather uk
weather manchester
or
national uk weather
national weather
Other reformulations were the same terms re-submitted. For example, if the search button was not activated properly, or because the user was unable to find the results the Search Engine had displayed. Some users submitted the search and then re-typed the same terms into the "Find in page" facility to locate them from within the results.
Reformulations were sometimes due to the mis-typing of terms. Whereas sighted users were able to quickly look at the terms used and often realise their mistake, it took visually impaired users longer to ascertain this. It was often not obvious to the user that the error had occurred. For example, the screen reader would sometimes read out a word sounding like the term used when in fact it was mis-spelled, e.g. manchester and manchestwer sound very similar when read out, but the latter may not retrieve any useful results. One user re-tried the search using the same mis-typed terms twice before realising a spelling error had occurred and correcting it.
8.4.1.2 Directory
Ten of the sighted users Typed In search terms when undertaking the Directory task, two using more than one reformulation. The other ten preferred to follow links, or were unaware that a search facility was provided.
Search terms used were Solomon Islands and Solomon Island. One user reformulated the query twice, the first time having mis-typed Solomon, and one reformulated five times, trying the same terms but limiting each search by title, subject etc. to see if any different results were retrieved.
Eight of the visually impaired users chose not to enter any search terms - preferring to follow links instead, or because they were unaware of the search facility.
Of the remaining twelve, users either typed in search terms or used the "Find" feature to search for relevant links in the page. Terms used for both included:
Solomon Islands
Geography
"s"
SO
No reformulations as such were performed, although a number of terms were input to the "Find" feature during one task.
8.4.1.3 Online Shopping
Only five of the sighted users Typed In any search terms, most preferring to follow links on the page.
Of the five, terms used were suits and mens suits (although one user was prompted to type "Java Script" into the location box because there was a problem with the page, not realising that this was a system error message. After two attempts the user abandoned the task).
Five of the visually impaired users chose to Type In terms. These included:
suits
men's suits
mens
formal suit
Reformulations were undertaken once, due to a miss-spelling of men's wear in the first instance, the term mens was then tried before moving on to use the drop down combination boxes instead of Typing In terms.
Terms were also Typed into the "Find" facility to locate the search facility. The search facility was then used to search for men's suits.
8.4.1.4 OPAC
All of the sighted users Typed In search terms during the OPAC task, unsurprisingly since this was initially required in order to search for anything. Users were asked to find details about the "British Journal of Visual Impairment" and almost all the users type in the exact terms, British journal of visual impairment, with a few exceptions where british journal of visual or visual impairment were used. Three users performed more than one formulation.
Reformulations were performed by the sighted sample to refine the search or to search under different options such as the title, the class mark, or the former title (although no useful results were retrieved in these cases). Other reasons for reformulating the search were due to the mis-typing of the title, which resulted in no items retrieved e.g. British journal of the visual impairment. Reformulation also occurred when the search was not activated properly so that the user decided to start again.
All the visually impaired users apart from one (who had a problem moving between frames and reading the text) Typed In search terms. Terms used were British Journal of Visual Impairment, British Journal of Visual, and Journal/s. The spelling of the title at times presented problems for the users. For example British Hournal sounds very similar to British Journal when read out by a screen reader but the former did not retrieve any useful results. However it was not clear to the user why no results had been retrieved as they were not aware of the mis-spelling.
Eight of the users reformulated the search more than once. Three of the users reformulated the search twice and five users reformulated the search three times.
There were a number of reasons for reformulating the search. Some of the visually impaired users were unable to locate the results the first time, so went back and started again:
I can't find a title... I am going to go back to the search page and re-enter my terms (visually impaired user)
Or, when a user clicked off-site by accident and then had to type the OPAC URL again before finding the search edit box. Others found the results difficult to interpret because the screen reader kept reading out a lot of redundant information such as "link to frame, link to frame" before getting to the results, or they were unsure where to go next and so went back and re-tried the search. One user had trouble reading the text with a magnification package:
I can't read it, I can't understand why when you type in the title, it doesn't give you all the details on one page (visually impaired user)
In this case the same search was applied with different options (i.e. title search, keyword search and author/title search) in the hope of retrieving the information required - commenting that it was very confusing and at times it was just guess work.
One user put the CAPS LOCK on and, although the search facility would have ignored this, the screen reader reads out capitalisation in a different voice and the user was therefore unhappy with the process. It took the user several attempts to switch CAPS LOCK off - each time re-trying the search.
8.4.2 Click In (CI) code
The "Click In" facility refers to both mouse clicks or keystrokes such as the Enter key or control keys (e.g. F4, F1). The reason these have been coded as Click In is that the visually impaired users who could not see the screen at all used them instead of a mouse.
8.4.2.1 Search Engine
The sighted users Clicked In a total of 43 times during the Search Engine task. The maximum number of times was 6 (one user) and the minimum was zero (two users). The mean number of times users Clicked In during this task was 2.2.
Visually impaired users Clicked In a total of 52 times during the Search Engine task. The maximum number of times was 12 (one user) and the minimum was zero (six users). The mean number of times users Clicked In was 2.6 times.
8.4.2.2 Directory
The sighted users Clicked In a total of 34 times during the Directory task. The maximum number of times one user Clicked In was 8 and the minimum zero (seven users). The mean number of times users Clicked In during the Directory task was 1.7 times.
The visually impaired users Clicked In a total of 15 times during the task. The maximum number of times one user Clicked In was 6 times and the minimum was zero (fourteen users). The mean number of times users Clicked In during the Directory task was 0.8 times.
8.4.2.3 Online Shopping
The sighted users Clicked In a total of 43 times during the Online Shopping task. The maximum was 16 times by one user, the minimum was zero (nine users) with a mean of 2.2 times.
The visually impaired users Clicked In a total of 39 times during the task. The maximum number of times by one user was 17 times and the minimum was zero (eleven users). The mean was 2.0 times.
8.4.2.4 OPAC
The sighted users Clicked In a total of 44 times during the OPAC task. The maximum number of times was 9 (one user) and the minimum was once (five users). The mean was 2.2 times.
The visually impaired users Clicked In a total of 23 times during the OPAC task. The maximum number of times was five (one user) and the minimum was zero (ten users). The mean was 1.2 times.
8.4.3 Movement around the page
When undertaking the tasks, users utilised a number of different methods to move around a page. These were logged as:
· Scroll Up and Scroll Down: refers to using the mouse pointer to
move up and down the scroll bar.
· Tab Down: used to move back and forth through links and sometimes headings.
· Tab Up: refers to the Shift/Tab key, which moves back up a page through
the links or headings.
· Arrow Up, Arrow Down: refers to the up and down cursor keys used to
navigate the cursor through the page when using assistive technology such as
a screen reader.
· Arrow Around: refers to navigating the left and right arrow letter by
letter (for example, to check a spelling) when using assistive technology.
· Page Up and Down: are keystrokes which move the cursor either to the
top or to the bottom of the screen.
· Control Home: this keystroke takes the cursor to the top of the document.
· Zoom In and Zoom Out: are keystrokes used with screen magnification
to enlarge the page (or part of a page) or to decrease the enlargement.
8.4.4 Search Engine
During the Search Engine task the sighted users moved around pages using Scroll Up and Scroll Down. The visually impaired users moved around pages using 12 different keystrokes: Scroll Up, Scroll Down, Arrow Up, Arrow Down, Arrow Around, Control Home, Tab Up, Tab Down, Page Up, Page Down, Zoom In, Zoom Out. Findings from each of the codes are summarised as follows:
8.4.4.1 Scroll Up and Down
During the Search Engine task the sighted users moved around pages using the mouse to Scroll Up and Scroll Down at total of 116 times.
The total number of times users Scrolled Down the page was 91 times with a maximum number of times per user of 8 times (two users) and a minimum of twice (three users). The mean was 4.6 times.
Sighted users Scrolled Up the page a total of 25 times, with a maximum of 5 times (one user) and a minimum of zero (eight users). The mean was 1.3 times.
Scroll Down was used by the visually impaired users a total of 20 times. The maximum number of times was 13 (one user) and the minimum was zero (sixteen users). The mean number of times was 1.0.
Scroll Up was used just once by one of the visually impaired users.
8.4.4.2 Arrow Up, Down and Around
Arrow Up, Down and Around was not used by any of the sighted users.
Visually impaired users used the Arrow Up key a total of 24 times during the task. The maximum number of times per user was 5 times (two users) and the minimum was zero (twelve users), the mean was 1.2 times.
Arrow Down was used by visually impaired users a total of 50 times. The maximum was 15 times (one user) and the minimum zero (nine users), with a mean of 2.5 times.
Arrow Around was used a total of 24 times by the visually impaired users. The maximum was 5 times (two users) and the minimum was zero (eleven users) with a mean of 1.2 times.
8.4.4.3 Control Home
Control Home was not used by the sighted sample.
Control Home was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 10 times. The maximum number of times was 6 (one user) and the minimum was zero (fifteen users), with a mean of 0.5 times.
8.4.4.4 Page Up and Down
Page Up and Down keystroke was not used by the sighted sample (they used the mouse to Scroll Up and Down the page instead).
Page Up was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 12 times. The maximum was 3 times (two users) and the minimum was zero (thirteen users) with a mean of 0.6.
Page Down was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 11 times. The maximum was 5 times (one user) and the minimum was zero (fourteen users) with a mean of 0.6.
8.4.4.5 Tab Up and Down
Tab Up and Down was not used by the sighted sample.
Tab Up was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 12 times. The maximum was 6 times (one user) and the minimum was zero (sixteen users) with a mean of 0.6.
Tab Down was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 77 times making it the most popular keystroke used by this sample for moving around the page during the Search Engine task. It was used a maximum of 13 times (two users) and a minimum of zero (seven users) with a mean of 3.9 times.
8.4.4.6 Zoom In and Out
Zoom was not used by any of the sighted sample as it refers to screen magnification assistive technology used by some of the visually impaired sample. It should be noted that the Zoom functions are only of relevance to users with some vision.
Zoom In was used by the visually impaired sample on 8 occasions. The maximum number of times by one user was 7 and the minimum was zero (eighteen users) with a mean of 0.4 times.
Zoom Out was used on only 1 occasion.
8.4.5 Directory
8.4.5.1 Scroll Up and Down
During the Directory task the sighted users moved around pages using the mouse to Scroll Up at total of 31 times, with a maximum of 5 times (one user) and a minimum of zero (eight users) and a mean of 1.6 times.
The total number of times users Scrolled Down the page was 92 times with a maximum of 14 times (one user), a minimum of once (three users) and a mean of 4.6 times.
The Scroll Up function was used just 3 times by the visually impaired users, twice by one user and once by another giving a mean of 0.2. The remaining 18 users did not Scroll Up during the task
Scroll Down was used by the visually impaired users a total of 12 times. The maximum number of times was four (two users), the minimum was zero (sixteen users) and the mean was 0.6.
8.4.5.2 Arrow Up, Down and Around
Arrow Up, Down and Around was not used by any of the sighted users.
Visually impaired users used the Arrow Up key a total of 12 times during
the task. The maximum number of times per user was 4 times (one user) and
the minimum was zero (twelve users) with a mean of 0.6 times.
Arrow Down was used by visually impaired users a total of 35 times. The maximum
was 9 times (one user) and the minimum zero (eleven users), with a mean of
1.8 times.
Arrow Around was used a total of 13 times by the visually impaired users. The maximum was 5 times (one user) and the minimum was zero (thirteen users) with a mean of 0.7 times.
8.4.5.3 Control Home
Control Home was not used at all by the sighted sample and only once by one of the visually impaired users during the Directory task.
8.4.5.4 Page Up and Page Down
Page Up and Down was not used by the sighted sample at all. Instead they used the mouse and scroll bar to Scroll Up and Down the page.
The Page Up keystroke was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 4 times. It was used 3 times by one user and once by another giving a mean of 0.2.
Page Down was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 6 times. It was used 4 times by one user and once by two users giving a mean of 0.3 times.
8.4.5.5 Tab Up and Tab Down
Tab Up and Tab Down were not used by the sighted sample.
Tab Up was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 3 times, twice by one user and once by another, giving a mean of 0.2.
Tab Down was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 28 times. It was used a maximum of 7 times (one user) and a minimum of zero (eleven users) with a mean of 1.4 times.
8.4.5.6 Zoom In and Zoom Out
Zoom was not used by any of the sighted sample.
Zoom In was used by one of the visually impaired users on 3 occasions. Zoom Out was not used by any of the visually impaired sample.
8.4.6 Online Shopping
8.4.6.1 Scroll Up and Down
During the Online Shopping task the Sighted users moved around pages using the mouse to Scroll Up a total of three times, once each by three of the users, giving a mean of 0.2 times.
Sighted users Scrolled Down the page a total of 25 times, with a maximum of 13 times (one user) and a minimum of zero (eleven users) and a mean of 1.3.
The Scroll Up function was used just once by one of the visually impaired users.
Scroll Down was used by the visually impaired users a total of 21 times. The maximum number of times per user was 11 (one user) and the minimum was zero (seventeen users). The mean was 1.1.
8.4.6.2 Arrow Up, Down and Around
Arrow Up, Down and Around was not used by any of the sighted users.
Visually impaired users used the Arrow Up key a total of 17 times during the task. The maximum number of times per user was 4 times (two users) and the minimum was zero (thirteen users), the mean was 0.9 times.
Arrow Down was used by visually impaired users a total of 41 times. The maximum was 9 times (one user) and the minimum was zero (ten users), with a mean of 2.1 times.
Arrow Around was used a total of 32 times by the visually impaired users. The maximum was 11 times (one user) and the minimum was zero (ten users), with a mean of 1.6 times.
8.4.6.3 Control Home
Control Home was not used by any of the sighted users.
Control Home was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 5 times - twice by two users and once by one user, giving a mean of 0.3 times.
8.4.6.4 Page Up and Page Down
Page Up and Page Down were not used by any of the sighted users.
Page Up was used by the visually impaired users a total of 4 times. The maximum was twice (one user) and the minimum was zero (seventeen users) with a mean of 0.2 times.
Page Down was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 6 times. The maximum was twice (one user) and the minimum was zero (fourteen users) with a mean of 0.3 times.
8.4.6.5 Tab Up and Tab Down
Tab Up was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 7 times. Three times by two users and once by one user with a mean of 0.4. Seventeen of the users did not Tab Up the page during the task.
Tab Down was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 49 times. It was used a maximum of 7 times (three users) and a minimum of zero (eight users) with a mean of 2.5 times.
8.4.6.6 Zoom In and Zoom Out
Zoom was not used by any of the sighted sample.
Zoom In was used by one of the visually impaired users on 3 occasions.
Zoom Out was used by one of the visually impaired users once.
8.4.7 OPAC
8.4.7.1 Scroll Up and Down
During the OPAC task, sighted users moved around pages using the mouse to Scroll Up twice in total. Two users Scrolled Up the page on one occasion each giving a mean of 0.1 times.
The total number of times sighted users Scrolled Down the page was 11 times with a maximum number of 4 times (one user) and a minimum of zero (sixteen users). The mean was 0.6 times.
The Scroll Up function was used once by four of the visually impaired users, giving a mean of 0.2.
Scroll Down was used by the visually impaired users a total of 13 times. The maximum number of times per user was 8 (one user) and the minimum was zero (sixteen users) with a mean of 0.7 times.
8.4.7.2 Arrow Up, Down and Around
Arrow Up, Down and Around was not used by any of the sighted users.
Visually impaired users used the Arrow Up key a total of 18 times during the task. The maximum number of times per user was 4 times (one user) and the minimum was zero (thirteen users). The mean was 0.9 times.
Arrow Down was used by visually impaired users a total of 63 times. The maximum was 10 times (one user) and the minimum zero (eight users), with a mean of 3.2 times.
Arrow Around was used a total of 30 times by the visually impaired users. The maximum was 6 times (one user) and the minimum was zero (ten users) with a mean of 1.5 times.
8.4.7.3 Control Home
The Control Home keystroke was not used by any of the sighted sample.
Control Home was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 5 times. The maximum number of times was twice (two users) and the minimum was zero (seventeen users), with a mean of 0.3 times.
8.4.7.4 Page Up and Page Down
None of the sighted sample used the Page Up or Page Down keystrokes.
Page Up was used once by two of the visually impaired users (mean of 0.1).
Page Down was also used once by two of the visually impaired users (mean of
0.1).
8.4.7.5 Tab Up and Tab Down
The Tab Up and Tab Down keystrokes were not used by any of the sighted sample.
Tab Up was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 3 times, twice by one user and once by another, giving a mean of 0.2.
Tab Down was used by the visually impaired sample a total of 48 times. It was used a maximum of 15 times (one user) and a minimum of zero (ten users) with a mean of 2.4 times.
8.4.7.6 Zoom In and Zoom Out
Zoom was not used by any of the sighted users during the OPAC task.
Zoom In was used by the visually impaired sample on 4 occasions by one user.
Zoom Out was not used by any of the visually impaired users.
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