Google Announces “Day-in-the-Life” Study Following Blind Individuals

We’ve had a terrific summer getting to know the folks at Google who think deeply about accessibility on a daily basis, and as a product of that relationship we’ve been able to provide some great new opportunities for our students and community members, both in receiving training and providing feedback.

Now, on the heels of our highly successful July workshop, we’re proud to announce a new opportunity: Google would like to follow you around for a day — quite literally.

The announcement, direct from Mountain View:

At Google, our Android and Accessibility teams are studying current and future technologies that help people with visual disabilities. We are seeking to understand what works and doesn’t work with smartphones and other devices that help. We would like to deeply understand the emotions, hurdles, achievements and surprises that are involved in navigating the world with visual impairment. Familiarity with the Android operating system is not a prerequisite to contribute to this research.

The research will take place between Monday August 17th and Saturday August 22nd.

To participate in this research, there are 2 options: Full-day and partial-day. Descriptions are listed below.

Full day shadow:
– For this research project, one researcher would like to observe a typical day in your life, including one significant activity (like going to a museum or going grocery shopping). The researcher would meet you in the morning at your home, as early as you feel comfortable starting. She [these researchers happen to all be women] will generally sit quietly nearby as you go through your daily routine. She’ll ask questions, take notes and take photographs occasionally. She will accompany you on any events you have planned for the day.

In addition to the observation, we would like to also conduct an interview you with you and some friends, on the following day. You would invite one to two friends to meet together at a convenient time and place (e.g., your home, Google office), to chat together about your experiences with different tools and different situations.

For your time, you would be compensated $700. Your friends would each receive $150 for attending the 2-hour buddy session.

Partial-day shadow:
– “For this research project, two researchers would like to follow you through a significant activity in your daily life (like going to a museum, having lunch with friends, or going grocery shopping, etc.). The researchers would meet you at your home,and travel with you to the activity, to get to know you and also observe transportation experiences. They will ask questions, take notes and take photographs occasionally, but try not to be too disruptive to what you need to accomplish. You can choose which activity you would take them along to. They expect to spend about 3 hours with you. For your time, you would be compensated $300 for your time.”

Note: The quotes and photographs that we collect during our research will be kept confidential to our company, and never be used publicly. We will use the stories and experiences that we gather to build develop new opportunities for technology to help people with visual disabilities.

If you are interested, please click here and complete the survey. If you have any further questions, please direct them to LightHouse’s deputy director, Scott Blanks at sblanks@lighthouse-sf.org.