High 2 · Reading series
Lesson 39 · A Design That Left Someone Out
Audio track 39
Listen first
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Our club designed an app to guide visitors around the school festival. On our phones, the route looked simple: colorful arrows led from the gate to each room. During testing, a teacher who used a screen reader could not identify the arrows because we had provided no text descriptions.
We added labels and tested again. Then we noticed that the route to the science room included stairs without mentioning the lift. Fixing one problem had not solved every access issue. We invited several users with different needs to try the guide and tell us where they hesitated.
Their comments changed the menu, map, and printed signs. We could not promise a perfect experience for everyone, but we could keep a channel open for corrections during the festival.
At first we thought accessibility meant an extra feature at the end of design. Testing showed that it belonged in the questions we asked from the beginning: who can use this, and under what conditions?
Check your understanding
After reading, state the main idea in one sentence and find a line that supports it.
Chinese translation
社团设计一款应用，帮助访客在校园节找路。在我们的手机上，路线很简单：彩色箭头从校门指向各教室。测试时，一位使用屏幕阅读器的老师却认不出箭头，因为我们没有提供文字说明。
我们补上标签，再次测试。随后发现去科学教室的路线要走楼梯，却没提电梯。修好一个问题，并没有解决所有通行障碍。我们邀请有不同需求的使用者试用导览，告诉我们他们在哪里会犹豫。
反馈改变了菜单、地图和纸质指示牌。我们无法保证每个人都得到完美体验，但可以在节庆期间保留一个反馈与修正渠道。
起初，我们以为无障碍只是设计完成后附加的一项功能。测试表明，从设计之初就该问：谁能用它？在什么条件下能用？
Key words and expressions
Key terms have Chinese explanations. Hover over dotted words in the English passage for word help and pronunciation when available.
- designed
- 设计；社团制作导览应用。
- route
- 路线；图上由箭头表示。
- screen reader
- 屏幕阅读器；无法读出无文字箭头。
- identify
- 辨认；老师看不到视觉标记含义。
- labels
- 标签；为箭头补文字。
- access
- 通行；楼梯路线还缺电梯说明。
- hesitated
- 犹豫；用户在不明指示处停住。
- corrections
- 修正；节庆中也保留反馈渠道。
- accessibility
- 无障碍；应从开始就考虑。
- conditions
- 条件；不同使用者所需不同。
Background notes (Chinese)
只有颜色和图形的导航，可能无法被屏幕阅读器识别。文字标签、电梯信息和持续反馈都应纳入早期设计与测试。