AiSight Guide Appendix
Product Designer / Capstone Project / Apr 2025 - Jun 2025
Interview Responses
These are the interview responses from three visually impaired users. The questions and responses were transcribed from audio recordings. Adjustments were made to the responses for better readability, grammar, and clarity.
Interview #1
Interviewee #1 is a 25 year old student currently enrolled at Fresno State and studying architecture. He has had aniridia since he was born and is legally blind with a small amount of usable vision. He currently lives with four roommates who are sighted. His family at home in San Francisco is also fully sighted.
How frequently do you use assistive technology in your day to day life? Are there any limitations?
Recently I've been just using open browser technology as well as the accessibility that Windows offers itself within the computer so I can enlarge font or if I needed to use a certain type of contrast. I need a very apparent contrast whenever I read anything at all. So I tend to use dark mode on most of my applications for school as well as just like reading anything that I want to read in the media.
What is your experience with navigating new websites or digital environments?
If it is a very new app, they tend to not follow accessibility as far as certain hyperlinks. Sometimes I'll click on the link and then it won't be in the font or whatever the contrast isn't where I can actually read.
What makes a website feel "well designed" from an accessibility perspective?
Clear tabs, up top, when everything is given to you straightforwardly. I think that's more accessible to me because that's when it is to make out where everything is on the page. And then also like thicker font, I would say because most people that can partially see tend to be able to make out letters on a website.
When do you feel the need to reach out for sighted assistance?
My peripheral vision is not as focused as most most sighted people. So anything like a right hand tab and then I'll probably say I missed it and I don't know where it is on the website. I have to call the company for that information, and it's on the website, go find it over here.
Do you have to modify or view the images differently to see them better?
Whenever I try to Google an image, I would click the tab for images and then I won't be actually able to see the first image at all like. I would have to reclick it and maybe go to the website and zoom in.
Do currently you use any AI tools to help with accessibility online or in real life? If yes, what method of interaction do those tools use and are they effective?
Some websites I started figuring out that I struggle with being able to zoom in into certain images and things of that nature. So what I started to do was input those into, say Chat GPT, so it could give me a description of what that looks like.
Does it get you what you need, or do you wish you could do more?
Coming from a more creative industry, I feel like I sometimes I would need more, because the AI sometimes kind of misses the mark on certain details in the image, And then, there are a couple of times where I say I needed a layout based on like what was described in a photo and it was blurry. There was a problem when I asked for a description or getting a clean layout from websites and then they gave me the wrong information.
Interview #2
Interviewee #2 is a 45 year old teacher in San Francisco who works with visually impaired students. He is blind and has no usable vision or perception. He works with blind or low vision students and is typically around both sighted and blind people. He uses screen readers almost exclusively to navigate the internet.
How frequently do you use assistive technology in your day to day life? Are there any limitations?
Mostly I use screen readers. There are different ones on my computer and on my phone. So for the computer I use either JAWS or NVDA. And for the phone, I use Voiceover. Most of the limitations are not because of the screen leaders. It is mostly because of the design of the technology. Like let's say if I need to use an app which is not accessible, then it doesn't matter which screen reader you use, it's not gonna help, right? Most problems are because of either bad design or inaccessible websites or apps.
How long does it take to learn a new website or digital environment?
It depends on the simplicity or how sophisticated the app or the website is. And then also how accessible it is. It might be a simple website, but if the buttons or links are not labeled or if there are a bunch of images without labels, then it will take a long time or it will not even be possible to use. If it is a very complicated website with a lot of menus or links or buttons or a lot of form fields, it will take a while to explore it, assuming that it will be accessible. Sometimes it might take 5 minutes, sometimes it might take hours.
What makes a website feel "well designed" from an accessibility perspective?
One very important and very helpful accessibility feature is making hierarchical headings. The screen reading program will take those headings and make a hierarchical list. And then it will be very easy to figure out what is the most important thing. And then also labeling. Sometimes people use no labels for the link and then you just see the file name as a link and most file names are very long, sometimes it is gibberish, or sometimes they use a label, but it doesn't make sense. And also, there are other things like descriptions for images as long as it is not decorative. I prefer hearing an explanation, a description for photos and images.
When do you feel the need to reach out for sighted assistance? Does it happen frequently?
Not that often, but it definitely happens sometimes. I am usually patient. I try to figure it out, but sometimes that's not enough. If I don't really need to use it, I give it up. Let's say, I need to do online shopping. If the website is not accessible, I spend some time and then I say, OK, I'm not going to support this business. I will go buy whatever I need from an accessible website. But if I really need to use it, let's say it's a government website, then I spend some time. If I spend a lot of time and I still cannot do it, then I ask for support.
How frequently do you encounter websites with poor labels, without image description or do not meet your accessibility requirements?
Well, the thing is now, fortunately, the big companies are aware of those issues, and they usually have an accessibility team. To avoid lawsuits they do the minimum. They at least label the links and buttons so the website is okay. Not perfect, but usable. But on the other hand, everyone is designing websites now. They don't need to know much about accessibility. They just learn a little bit of web design and create something. Those websites, mostly, are not very user friendly. Those are, I would say, 50/50.
What do you think about the level of detail or length of image descriptions you’ve typically encountered?
If the image is not related to navigation or if it is not providing important information on the website, just a sentence will be fine, right? But if it is providing some important message About the website or maybe sometimes if I am purchasing something and there's an image of that product, I might want to hear more.
Do currently you use any AI tools to help with accessibility online or in real life? If yes, what method of interaction do those tools use and are they effective?
I use Be my Eyes for accessibility. There was a website asking me to verify that you're not a robot. So for that kind of thing I used Be my Eyes a couple of times. I took a photo of the screen and I asked Be my Eyes, which one has that object or which one doesn't have that object. In that situation you need to really take a good picture to capture that object in the screen. If you point the camera a little to the left or a little to the right, then AI will not see that picture. You might need to take a bunch of pictures to capture that object. I'm willing to use it as long as it works, but it's worse sometimes, not always, but better than nothing.
Interview #3
Interviewee #3 is a 36 year old stay-at-home mom. She has narrow vision, near sightedness, and her left eye has cloudy vision that she cannot see very well with. She uses a combination of visual aid tools and screen readers to navigate the web. She is mostly around other sighted people and lives with her fiance and her two toddler age children.
How frequently do you use assistive technology in your day to day life? Are there any limitations?
On my phone, I use Zoom and Smart Invert or Classic Invert, and I also use Voiceover on my phone. On my laptop I'm learning voiceover and then I would also use Zoom and, the classic invert on my laptop. If I'm watching a movie or if I'm watching a show, I'll use the audio description.
Some websites if you use voiceover, it'll miss a few things, or miss a few menus that you would need. For smart invert, classic invert, normally I like to see a black background. Some websites, it'll do the black background, but then when the keyboard shows up when I need to type, it'll be all white.
What is your experience with navigating new websites or digital environments? How long does it take to learn a new website or digital environment?
For me, it takes me a while to figure it out, especially if it's a really new website that I'm unfamiliar with. And if it's a website that I know for sure is not accessible because it just takes me a while to figure out. How can I maneuver around this, it just takes me a minute. But if it's a website that, that I know for sure, or some of my colleagues have told me is accessible, then it'll be a lot easier for me to navigate.
What makes a website feel "well designed" from an accessibility perspective?
At least with voiceover, it'll tell you everything that's on the website and if you're able to navigate through certain items, then if it'll allow you to click on it. With the smart invert or classic invert, it'll just invert it to where you can see it.
Can you recall a website that was difficult to navigate or inaccessible and what areas made it so?
Yeah, there's certain links that you can't click on with voiceover. When you take off voiceover then you're able to click on it or you're able to scroll, especially scrolling down. I know I've had an issue with DoorDash before. Even though DoorDash is accessible, I've had a couple of issues with it. I feel like a lot of bigger companies, they're usually better about it. But sometimes I'll just use zoom and the inverted color.
When do you feel the need to reach out for sighted assistance? Does it happen frequently?
It depends if I need to do something that needs to be quick or that needs to be done right away, then I'll ask my fiance for help just to get it done quickly. Or if I'm having issues I really can't see it without. I'm having problems, even with the accessibility stuff, then that's when I'll ask my fiance to help me navigate through it. I'll tell him, tell me what is on there, and then I'll let you know what I want you to click.
How frequently do you encounter websites with poor labels, without image description or do not meet your accessibility requirements?
Yeah, I have, and then I've also come across how when you're writing forms, it won't tell you "first name here, last name here." It won't give you that. It'll just tell you the name of the form and that's it. It's one of those things where the form wasn't properly done. It was obvious it was done with Microsoft Word and it's difficult to navigate. Or it'll just say everything that's on the form, but it won't stop. It'll just read through the entire form.
Do currently you use any AI tools to help with accessibility online or in real life? If yes, what method of interaction do those tools use and are they effective?
I haven't. I haven't been introduced how to use it. So, I'm not too familiar with AI, but it would be nice to know. I'll be willing to try it, see how it'll help me navigate through technology.