Simulation-Based Accessibility Evaluation of Graphical User Interfaces Using Virtual User Models

Accessibility assessment for ICT software products and human-machine interfaces is rapidly gaining increasing significance within the research and development (R&D) cycle of new products, as the population of aging users increases. Through VERITAS automatic simulation framework, we evaluated both Virtual User Models (VUMs) and the simulation framework and its results by conducting a series of pilot tests that involved elderly users using user interfaces in Infotainment and Games. The followed methodology and simulation results are presented with respect to the scores of actual users performing the same tasks as VUMs. Finally, the comparison between the actual user’s and virtual models performance is used for VUM optimization.