Personas are fictional characters to represent different user types. They help us recognize different needs and expectations certain users may have. Although there are many personas to represent users with disabilities, only a few are used in the blog.
Personas in this blog are simple. They try to illustrate in a simple way, the most common scenarios for keyboard-only navigation and screen readers. Most articles in this blog are about those two topics, placed in context with eCommerce.
Jane: Right-handed user. Recently broke her right hand. She can’t use the mouse. Uses keyboard-only navigation temporarily with her left hand. She relies on her sight to know where she’s at on the screen. Knows which elements are next on the page by looking at them. Sees the alerts on the page as soon as they happen.
John: Blind user. He uses keyboard-only navigation permanently, with both hands. He relies on screen reader vocalization to know where he’s at on the screen. Doesn’t know which elements are next on the page. The screen reader has to first read the entire page to discover the contents. Relies on screen reader vocalization to know there is an alert on the page.