Online focus groups used as an accessible participatory research method

Participatory research methods are being used internationally to gather data on complex social, cultural, and political concerns that effect the use of technology [4]. Researchers have found it difficult to include people with disabilities in these studies [5, 6, 7]. The Accessible Learning Through Text-to-Speech Project will utilize online focus groups as a method of integrating people with disabilities into a participatory research project. The Alt-Learning Project will have three primary target populations; users of screen readers with vision, users of screen readers who are blind, and professionals responsible for the delivery of assistive technology. The online focus groups will allow the observation and collection of data as a participant would normally utilize their screen reader applications at home, school, or workplace.