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506 CHAPTER 16 Working with research participants with disabilities

direct access to, and may not be 100% aware of the configurations, this may pose a
logistical problem. One hybrid approach is to have participants come to a centralized
location to get trained on how to do the data collection, and then to remotely collect
data and send the data results back to the researchers (Petrie et al., 2006).
There are multiple ways to do distributed research. For instance, one approach
is to go for a high number of participants, using a standard data collection method,
such as time diaries or surveys, which don't require researchers to be present. Lazar
et al. (2007) describe how 100 Blind participants took part in a time diary study to
examine what frustrating situations occur on the web, how they respond, and how
it impacts on their work and time lost. Rich text format files were provided, with
specified spaces for participants to enter their data. Surveys are often used for dis-
tributed research, because of the ease in getting a lot of responses. Feng et al. (2008)
collected 561 surveys from parents, relating to the computer usage of their children
with Down syndrome. Wentz and Lazar (2016) collected 150 surveys from Blind
users, about the challenges they face when software updates or website redesigns
are inaccessible. Porter and Kientz (2013) collected 55 surveys from people with
various disabilities (primarily motor disabilities, but also visual, hearing, and cog-
nitive), about the barriers that they faced in video gaming. Apart from surveys and
time diaries, participants can be asked to perform tasks remotely on the web, with
data being collected either via a remote usability testing application, video confer-
encing, or Javascript inserted into web pages. As an example, Bigham and Cavender
(2009) had 89 Blind participants attempting to perform a series of tasks on audio
CAPTCHAs, with data collected remotely. Another approach to distributed research
is to analyze publicly available information (such as tweets), because although you
may not be able to determine which individuals have disabilities, you can determine
which tweets are about the topic of access for people with disabilities (Brady and
Bigham, 2014).
Another approach to distributed research is to combine a remote data collection
method, with interviews (either in-person or distributed). Shinohara and Wobbrock
(2016) had 14 participants who were Blind, low vision, or Deaf and hard of hear-
ing take part in a diary study related to social comfort of using assistive technolo-
gies, (which isn't a large sample), but which resulted in 97 diary entries and then 12
follow-up interviews done, mostly by phone.

16.3.3 IN-DEPTH CASE STUDIES

Yet another approach is to do in-depth case studies, in which fewer users (say, be-
tween three and 10) take part in a more intensive way. These studies might involve
data collection over several days, or users being trained, or longitudinal studies. This
is most appropriate when data cannot be appropriately collected in a short amount
of time (say, 2–3 hours). For instance, for many complex software applications or
devices, users really do need a period of training, as well as time to familiarize
themselves with the tool. A 2-day period of research for each user can be seen as
a minimum for a case study. Ideally, longitudinal studies would examine how users