Developing a User Research Recruitment Questionnaire

Goal: Establish the purpose of the user research engagement.

Best Practice: Be clear about what you want to learn from participants and the feature, application, or solution being tested.

Example: Identify or confirm usability issues in an application, website, or digital solution.

Goal: Find diverse participants who reflect the population of people with disabilities (PWD).

Best Practice: Use multiple recruitment channels to reach PWD.

Example:

• Disability advocacy groups and community organizations
• Accessibility companies and user research panels
• Direct recruitment through agency programs, job postings, or disability-focused employee resource groups

Goal: Ensure participation from people with a range of disabilities.

Best Practice: Include participants with diverse impairments.

Example:

• Without vision or limited vision
• Without perception of color
• With hearing loss or limited hearing
• Without speech
• With limited manipulation, reach, or strength
• With cognitive, language, or learning limitations

Goal: Collect demographic and psychographic information to understand your audience.

Best Practice: Ask about technology comfort, disability experience, and personal background.

Example:

• Age, gender, ethnicity, education, profession
• Comfort with technology and assistive devices
• Time of disability onset (from birth, early age, newly disabled)

Goal: Identify eligible participants and their technology or assistive device usage.

Best Practice: Combine open-ended and multiple-choice questions; cover disability type, assistive tech, and comfort with devices.

Examples:

• Open ended questions such as:
  • Do you have a disability? If yes, and you feel confortable sharing, please describe.
• "Select all that apply" questions such as:
  • Do you identify as living with any type of disability?
    • Attention disorders
    • Blindness or blind
    • Cognitive impairment
    • Deaf
    • Dyscalculia
    • Dysgraphia
    • Dyslexia
    • Learning disabilities
    • Low or limited hearing, or hard of hearing
    • Low or limited vision
    • Memory issues
    • Neurodiversity
    • Neurological disorders
    • Physical or dexterity issues or limited dexterity or mobility
    • Reading disorders
    • Speech difficulties
    • Temporary disabilities such as a broken arm
    • Other
    • None of the above
    • Prefer not to say
  • Which of the following assistive devices do you use?
    • Braille display
    • Hearing aid
    • Screen magnification
    • Screen reader
    • Walking frame
    • Walking stick
    • Wheelchair
• Questions to determine use of assistive technology, such as when specifically identifying screen reader users or people who are extremely low vision or blind, ask queation such as:
  • Which screen reader do you use (if a screen reader is identified)?
  • What percentage of time do you use a screen reader to navigate websites, mobile applications, or software?
  • When you travel to a new location, what is your preferred mode of transportation? Drive myself, ask a friend or family member to drive me, carlift, bus, train, etc.
• Self identification question such as:
  • Do you identify as a person with a disability? Yes or No
  • Do you identify as any of the following:
    • Living with a cognitive or neurological disability
    • Living with a physical disability or injury
• Questions to determine comfort with technology such as:
  • Which of the best describes you while on a website?
    • I never use assistive technology to help with reading and navigation
    • I sometimes use assistive technology to help with reading and navigation
    • I must use assistive technology to help with reading and navigation
  • Which of these best describes you when navigating websites?
    • I exclusively use keys on a keyboard (no mousepad, trackpad, mouse or touchscreen) to navigate
    • I use a combination of keyboard and mouse to navigate
    • use a combination of keyboard, mouse, and assistive devices to navigate, or other
  • If you use assistive technology to help navigate websites, describe what type/s do you use? If not applicable, select N/A.
  • When was the last time you shopped online?
  • What is your preferred device when shopping online?

Goal: Encourage participation from PWD.

Best Practice: Consider higher or premium incentives to support participation.

Example:

• Offer gift cards, premium incentives, or ride-share reimbursements
• Provide additional encouragement for attendance or acceptance by participants with disabilities

Goal: Ensure participants understand the study and agree to participate.

Best Practice: Provide consent documents in advance and record consent during the session.

Example:

• Send informed consent documents before arrival
• Read aloud upon arrival, then have participants sign and date
• Record consent on camera if applicable

Goal: Ensure a smooth and accessible research session.

Best Practice: Plan breaks, buffer time, and backup participants.

Example:

• Include breaks between participants
• Schedule sufficient time for each session
• Include floaters or extra participants to adjust for no-shows