Reflections on Using Chat-Based Platforms for Online Interviews with Screen-Reader Users

Within accessibility research, it is important for researchers to understand the lived experience of participants. Researchers often use in-person interviews to collect this data. However, in-person interviews can result in communication barriers and introduce logistical challenges surrounding scheduling and geographical location. For a recent study involving screen reader users, we used online chat-based platforms to conduct interviews. Unlike in-person interviews, there was little guidance within the field on conducting interviews using these platforms with screen reader users. To understand how effective these platforms were, we collected feedback from our participants on their experience after completing their interview. In this paper, we report on our experience of conducting online chat-based interviews with screen reader users. We present reflections from both the interviewer and participants on their experiences during the aforementioned study, and outline four lessons we learned during the process.