The Most Accessible and Usable Survey Tool

Update: A more recent accessible survey tool comparison was done by Ohio State University.

We have seen a lot of interest recently in SurveyGizmo’s accessibility features and how our surveys meet current accessibility and usability standards, such as Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act or the British version the DDA (Disability Discrimination Act). We are happy to report we meet Section 508 (and likely the DDA as well). Customers reviewing survey tools tell us SurveyGizmo is the most accessible survey tool on the market.

An accessibility study group at UC Berkley did an accessibility comparison of online survey tools this spring and found that SurveyGimzo came out on top. Around the same time, the Usability Professionals’ Association ran a recent article comparing SurveyGizmo and another survey tool vendor.

“Because we found an accessible tool, we stopped our search and deployed a survey with SurveyGizmo. Survey creation and activation was simple, and the results were easy to gather. But most importantly for us, our users with disabilities reported no difficulties in accessing, completing, and submitting the survey.”

Seeking an Accessible and Usable Survey Tool
By Karen Mardahl and Lisa Pappas

Why should you care if your surveys are accessible?

First, being accessible means meeting a variety of requirements in the HTML that make your survey easier to use by people who may be attempting to access them under non-traditional circumstances. For instance:

• A blind user reading and navigating with a screen reader
• A user with a broken hand trying to navigate solely with the keyboard
• Anyone with reduced motor controls who has trouble clicking precisely
• Anyone with vision issues who desires larger type or higher contrast colors (think aging baby-boomers)

Offering better accessibility in your surveys means a larger and more satisfied audience. Many of our competitors’ surveys rely solely on JavaScript and mouse interactions, making it impossible to navigate a survey and answers questions using only a keyboard.

I’ve pushed for accessible, Web Standards based design for years and have thrown my hat in the ring to promote it in the past. When I designed our web survey templates over a year ago, accessibility issues were top of mind, and we are currently working on some enhancements to improve things still further.

We will also feature an in-depth article on Building Accessible Surveys in the near future. In the meantime, let us know if we can answer any of your questions on accessible survey design.

SurveyGizmo VPAT

You can download our our VPAT here.

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