Deceptive Patterns and FAST

Deceptive Patterns and FAST Framework for Accessible Specification of Technologies

Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Todd Libby • Senior Accessibility Engineer • W3C Invited Expert • Accessibility Advocate • Phoenix, Arizona 🌵 Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

What is FAST? Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

The Framework for Accessible Specification of Technologies (FAST) advises creators of technical specifications how to ensure their technology meets the needs of people with disabilities.

Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Goals of FAST Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

User & Functional Needs Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

User need: A high-level accessibility characteristic of content and/or a user interface that is necessary for users to complete an objective. Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Functional need: A statement that describes a specific gap in one’s ability, or a specific mismatch between ability and the designed environment or context.

Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Along with POUR (Perceivable, Operable, Understandabale, Robust) we have added Personalization and Deceptive Patterns with over 1,500 intersections of user and functional needs.

Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

How to meet user needs: • Author design & technical implementation • User agent accessibility support of standard & author-implemented features • Assistive technology support (including accessibility API mediation) Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

3 Stages of FAST Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

FAST Approach Three stages • Inventory functional and user needs; • Identify ways to meet needs; • Develop technology guidelines to meet those needs as best as we can. Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Deceptive practices go back as far as 1938, in this image of a German voting card, this asks about the Reunification of Austria with the German Reich. This ballot asks the voter, “Do you approve of the reunification of Austria with the German Reich accomplished on 13 March 1938 and do you vote for the list of our Führer, Adolf Hitler?”

Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

When supporters donated to the Donald Trump campaign, many thought they were making a one-time donation, but their accounts were later charged for additional donations. The problem? A pre-checked box stating that the donation would be recurring. So users would need to spot the pre-checked box, read the disclaimer, and un-check the box if they wanted to make a one-time donation.

Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

“Dark” Patterns Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Harry Brignull Cognitive Scientist, designer, UX consultant • 2010 coined “dark patterns” • Gained traction in legal circles • Still used widely today

Connotation and Inclusion Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Black/Dark - Evil, disgrace, vile, immoral White/Light - Purity, good, innocence, cleanliness Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Instead of: • Slave/Master • White Hat/Black Hat • Blacklist/Whitelist • Grandfathered Replace with: • Primary/Secondary • Ethical/Non-Ethical Hacker • Deny/Allow-list • Exempt Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Deceptive Pattern: Deliberate. With intent Anti-pattern: No intent but harmful/bad UX Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Barriers & Categories Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Deceptive Patterns Categories of barriers • Wording • Consistency (Affordances) • Adjustability /Flow blockers • (Time) Pressure • Invasive

Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Deceptive Patterns Examples of patterns/anti-patterns • Trick questions; • Infinite scroll; • Copy and paste is disabled; • Timers; • Asking the user to enable features (microphone, camera, etc.).

Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Unsubscribe Shaming Anti-Pattern Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Obscuring Deceptive Pattern Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Hidden Costs Deceptive Pattern Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Pay to Play Deceptive Pattern Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Summary Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

What about large companies like Meta, Twitter, Google, etc.? How will you get them to change? Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Ethical Web Principles Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

• W3C TAG Ethical Web Principles • The web should be a platform that helps people and provides a positive social benefit • Ethical Principles for Web Machine Learning • This document discusses ethical issues associates with using Machine Learning and outlines considerations for web technologies that enable related use cases

Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

https://toddl.dev/slides https://raw.githack.com/w3c/fast/ restructure-functional-and-userneeds/index.html https://www.w3.org/TR/ethicalweb-principles/ https://www.w3.org/TR/ webmachinelearning-ethics/ Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023

Thank you! Todd Libby - 6 June, 2023