D1: Tools for Usability and Accessibility Analysis

Protocol Manager

The Protocol Manager of MUA-Lab serves to guide the team through a systematic process for accessibility analysis of a given medical instrument that is to be used by a collection of subjects.

This web-based tool is available through the rerc-ami site (see http://rerc-ami.org/d1three/userlogin.aspx), but it is password-protected to preserve the confidentiality of our human subject data.

The PM protocol and questionnaires were designed by an interative process, over the course of many meetings between the Wisconsin and California teams. We believe it is not only the best available tool for accessibility analysis, but it is also one of the most thorough protocols available for any type of usabilility analysis. The RERC-AMI Advisory Board has indicated there is substantial intellectual property associated with this tool, but we choose to fully disseminate it "as is" and anticipate that as the user base grows it will continue to be improved. The parts of the Protocol Manager include:

Before testing:

• Problem Statement for "Parent" Medical Instrumentation
  • This typically is based on previous R1 needs assessment results. In most cases there will be a "parent" class of technology (i.e., broad device category such as dental chairs) with instances of "child" devices that are under evaluation (i.e., specific models of a product under a parent class, such as model )
• Advance Preparation
  • Understand all aspects of instrument usage
  • Universal Design Analysis (completed for each "child" device)
    • Patient perspective (sensory, cognitive, and physical usability, assistive technology accommodation, error tolerance, equitability, then device-specific questions)
    • Provider perspective (sensory, cognitive, and physical usability, assistive technology accommodation, error tolerance, equitability, then device-specific questions)
  • General requirements for Test Subject Performance
  • Conduct pilot tests
• Pre-activity Subject Interview(s)
  • Pre-screening Patient Interview Form
  • Functional assessment Scale and Sub-scale selection
  • Functional assessment - Patient
  • Pre-screning Provider Interview Form
  • Functional assessment - Provider

Day of Testing:

• Activity Preparation and Documentation
  • Pre-Activity Preparation
  • Activity Performance Observation
  • Documentation and Monitoring of Data Collection and Storage (support for protocol while on-site data collection using SVDA)
  • Review video with subjects
• Post-activity Interview of Subjects

Data Collection and Storage:

• Post-Activity Data Analysis
• Research Documentation
• Compare Instruments
• Post-Activity Data Summary

View current version of the Protocol Manager as a guest user