Autism and ADHD: A Tester’s Perspective on the Digital World

In our continuing series of blogs highlighting our diverse global testing professionals, I spoke with Paul Xu, a member of Applause’s global uTest community. In this blog, Paul gives us insights into what it’s like to have autism and ADHD, and how that impacts his use of digital properties and products.

Hoffman: I recently interviewed a blind woman and she likes to be referred to as disabled, not as a “person with a disability.” What do you prefer and what have you observed around how people first engage with you?

Xu: I identify as disabled. I don’t identify as any other way. But, not everyone in the uTest community knows that. When I meet someone, I always tell them I’m autistic and that our work styles may be different. I always start with that.

One of the things that would be very helpful is if the people I’m working with knew about my disability before they reached out to me. It would make things a lot easier. So, take Slack, for example, you can put your pronouns in your profile so people are aware of that, but wouldn’t it be great if we took that a step further? I could add that I’m autistic and have ADHD into my profile, and I could give a few tips on how to best work with me. It would save people from feeling awkward when I tell them about myself and save me from always having to say that. It would also avoid situations where I may be criticized for making an elementary mistake due to missing a detail while reading a set of instructions because I was hyper-focused on something else. And – maybe most of all – it would sensitize people to the fact that we have to consider others’ differences all the time as they engage with new people.

If I were to forget to tell people about my disability and start working with them, I might do something that they might consider rude. I think customizing Slack, just as one example, to enable a bit more information on a person would be a great improvement. I could, for example, list that I prefer email as my default communications channel in that space too.

Hoffman: How has your autism and ADHD impacted the way you interact with technology/digital properties?

Xu: With ADHD and autism, it’s hard to focus on learning new apps, websites and devices. Also, I don’t feel very comfortable talking to strangers, and so I don’t go out to shop very much. Most of my shopping, with the exception of grocery shopping, is done online. One of the biggest challenges with doing stuff online is navigating apps and websites that aren’t accessible and user friendly, like a product description written as a long paragraph with words that are difficult to comprehend.

I like to use smart devices like Alexa or a smart thermostat, but one of the difficult things for me is getting them set up. For example, you use Bluetooth to connect most smart devices. You turn it on but it doesn’t just connect. There are a few things you need to do to pair the device(s), and to fully onboard. For me, this process seems long and it’s hard for me to focus. And, if I skip one of the onboarding steps but later want to go back to it, then I might have trouble remembering where it was in the app.

I wish that companies would include videos on how to set things up. These days, you scan a QR code and then read the manual online, but that’s not great for me because it’s hard for me to switch between reading the manual online on my phone (because you can’t really scan the QR code on your PC) and working to set up the app on my phone. I know companies are trying to save the environment, but for some of us, having a printed manual is really helpful. You can choose different product colors, so it would seem easy enough to add an option to get a printed manual for the product; there are many people who would benefit from this.

Hoffman: Are there other common issues with your experience in the digital space?

Xu: I generally experience issues with online communication. Everyone has some challenges determining tone and meaning in online communications, but because of my autism and my communications disability, it’s particularly difficult. If I don’t know someone and their general demeanor, then it can be hard to decipher their tone, humor, sarcasm and other characteristics in a text or email. Still, I tend to prefer digital communications like email over in-person communications.

Slack, for example, works for me if someone is just asking me if I’m available and it’s a short exchange like that. But, when people start to send a series of questions in Slack, particularly when they create a thread, where they take the communication out of the main sequential flow and start a side conversation with me, I find it hard. Often, they’ll begin to send images or detailed instructions around what to do for tests, and that gets very confusing and not a preferred way to communicate. It complicates organization. One of the adaptive things I’ve done is use a screen reader. It’s great for listening to longer instructions for specific testing or to help sort through a long Slack message. It enables me to focus on one screen instead of bouncing back and forth between two. Also, since I can adjust the speed, I can really slow it down so it’s much easier to follow.

The other thing that can be problematic is emojis. Some people use quite a lot. I don’t like them. The problem with emojis is people use them and interpret them differently. It’s hard to tell exactly what people are trying to convey. Someone will send a straight face, no smile or frown. How do I interpret that? How does anyone interpret that if they don’t know the person and their tendencies?

Hoffman: It’s very interesting that you use a screen reader, as we typically think of that for blind or low-vision people. This illustrates how access technology isn’t just for one disability, and also that the technology might be used by anyone – disabled or abled.

Hoffman: Relating to your needs, how have access technologies changed in your view over the last 10 years?

Xu: I consider Amazon Alexa an access technology. It’s really helpful to me because I have trouble staying on schedule and organizing time blocks. I have Alexa remind me to take breaks when I’m hyper focused on something or remind me to do some specific task. I might have a project that is due in 3 hours. I’ll tell Alexa to remind me that I have a 3-hour deadline, and then if I go to lunch for a half hour and come back, Alexa will remind me of the project and the time I have left. Assistants like Alexa are really important to me and have improved a lot over the last 10 years. The output is much better and is steadily improving.

Screen readers have vastly improved as well. I mentioned how I use them and I’ve seen that text to speech is becoming much smarter too. In the past, the voices were very robotic and monotone. Now they have more emotion built into them – AI has helped a lot in this regard I think – so even though it can be hard for me to identify emotions, the improvement has helped me better understand the tone. Tone definitely improves my attention span. This helps me connect better with the person who has sent the message. With autism, as I’ve mentioned, I have difficulty picking up on social cues and subtleties, so improvements that assist with this are key.

Speaking of AI, I find it very helpful when I write. I’ve installed the Grammarly extension and AI goes through my text and makes the corrections. There’s been big improvement there. In addition, during the pandemic, with the rise of video conferencing, those technologies got a lot of attention, and now video conferencing tools are used all the time, and that space has improved.

Hoffman: What’s your perspective on societal attitudes towards disabled people?

Xu: It’s really mixed. Some people may think that working with me will be harder and would rather work with an abled person. Others understand the importance of all types of diversity and how, in my case, I add an important perspective. They understand how products and services get better for everyone with broader and more diverse testing.

As an example of how people could be more patient and understanding, because of my social skills, I might forget to hold the door for someone in public. Someone will say “rude” or “Thank you for not holding the door.” I’m not going to say “I’m sorry, I have a disability and sometimes I forget to do certain things. I wasn’t trying to be rude.” The same goes for testing. I sometimes miss something that seems obvious to others and I get criticized for my mistake, but it’s hard to say “Sorry, I have ADHD and due to my condition, I sometimes miss something when my attention shifts, like when I get a slack message, which are highly random.”

In general, I think 80% of the population is reasonable and patient or understanding. And I think there is more general awareness these days, perhaps it’s because of other social changes like understanding and accepting preferred pronouns, or having more exposure to people from different cultures. I think it’s all about exposure.

Hoffman: It’s a good lesson for all. You may think a person is being rude, but maybe they’ve just gotten some bad news and are really dismayed, or many other factors. Best to extend some understanding as a whole to those we interact with.

Hoffman: What are some of the things you test for and what do you find?

Xu: I do a lot of functional testing. For example, I may be asked to open the help menu and go to the FAQs and see if they work well. But I might not be able to find the FAQ in the menu due to the poor design of the menu, so I’ll give that additional feedback. I also test a lot of hardware, like smart TVs, for example. I might have to do a factory reset and then test the onboarding/set up. When it comes to hardware, I often like to report inclusive/usability bugs and try to help make it more accessible, when the cycle scope permits.

I’ll also test websites and evaluate other elements. One of the things I often find that is problematic for me is that pages on websites are cluttered. This makes it hard to focus. I prefer bigger buttons and more spacing, and I’d love to lose the ads and sidebar distractions on a page. Often, to focus, I zoom in, but when you do this, if the site isn’t designed well, you can be moving the cursor all over the place and working hard to find everything on the page. These issues aren’t just something I have issues with, other people do as well.

For example, someone with low vision will use the magnification, and in doing that, will have to navigate outside the visible area to find a button. So, there’s a lot of accessibility work that companies must consider to address all of these issues. Here are a few other issues that should be considered:

• A distraction-free mode – Particularly on retail sites that have ads. I’m ok with seeing the ad once, but after that, let me hide it to focus.
• Use shorter, less complicated words – Readability and the level of language on sites is important in terms of reaching a broad audience. We’re not reading a novel.
• More customization options – Font size and font types and the ability to set dark mode. Let me set this up, so when I come back, it’s the way I want it.
• Keep apps open longer in background – Once authenticated, it would be very helpful for me if I wasn’t logged out so soon. I think it’s often after 15 minutes or so that they bump you out. Because I use different passwords and emails in my work, I have to keep looking up my password or security questions, and as I mentioned, this is a distraction and extra challenge for me.
• Symbols in passwords – I realize that symbols add to the security of passwords. For me, symbols are hard to find on a mobile phone. You have to click on the one keyboard button and switch between that and letters and numbers. It would be nice to allow people to either use symbols (and perhaps have a shorter password, but more complex) or opt for a longer password without the symbols.

The final word

I asked Paul to leave us with a few final thoughts.

Xu: Be patient when you communicate with people with autism and ADHD. If you don’t know what would help while you’re communicating with them, just ask. As I mentioned with Slack, it’s a difficult communication app for me, so there are definitely things that a person could do to make that experience better for me. For example, instead of just sending multiple questions, one after another, send one question and wait for the reply. Continue that way. Some people just keep sending things and the communication becomes disjointed. It’s hard for me to take all that in at once and may lead to me missing something.

I’m a very literal thinker, so I would appreciate that companies take care when writing instruction manuals. When it comes to how to use an app, the writer should include a narrated video and show touches. Also, make one video for each environment that the platform is available on (i.e. web, Android, iOS, etc.), as flows vary by platform.

Lastly, try to understand who you are dealing with. Ask if what you’re doing – the way you are collaborating – is working for the person you’re working with. In general, the more considerate we are of other people’s circumstance and abilities, the better off we all are.