Toward Designing Accessible and Meaningful Software for Cancer Survivors

TL;DR

This paper investigates the specific software accessibility challenges faced by cancer survivors through surveys and interviews, providing guidelines and design features to improve software inclusivity for this underserved group.

Contribution

It offers the first comprehensive set of accessibility guidelines and tailored design features for software aimed at cancer survivors, based on empirical research.

Findings

Cancer survivors face diverse impairments affecting software use.

They rely heavily on software for social and health-related activities.

Proposed design features include health resources, social tools, and engaging games.

Abstract

Cancer survivors experience a wide range of impairments arising from cancer or its treatment, such as chemo brain, visual impairments, and physical impairments. These impairments degrade their quality of life and potentially make software use more challenging for them. However, there has been limited research on designing accessible software for cancer survivors. To bridge this research gap, we conducted a formative study including a survey (n=46), semi-structured interviews (n=20), and a diary study (n=10) with cancer survivors. Our results revealed a wide range of impairments experienced by cancer survivors, including chemo brain, neuropathy, and visual impairments. Cancer survivors heavily relied on software for socialization, health purposes, and cancer advocacy, but their impairments made software use more challenging for them. Based on the results, we offer a set of accessibility guidelines that software designers can utilize when creating applications for cancer survivors. Further, we suggest design features for inclusion, such as health resources, socialization tools, and games, tailored to the needs of cancer survivors. This research aims to spotlight cancer survivors' software accessibility challenges and software needs and invite more research in this important yet under-investigated domain.