samigo: Improve usability of matching questions for students.

GENERAL

TESTING

GENERAL

TESTING

Description

Matching questions are formatted vertically, as follows:

Question Text (and accompanying image attachments, if there are any)
Lettered options
Matching items with selection menus to select the option letters.

This can make for a lot of vertical scrolling (for sighted users), and if images are included in the question text, it can be even harder for students to answer. It may be worse for a screen reader user, who must remember what possible answer selections the letters correspond to when interacting with the menus.

Here are two questions in the current bad format, as examples (screen shots from nightly experimental server):

An instructor has requested that these questions be reformatted to place the answer options' menus horizontally to the right of the matching items, as shown in the mock-ups below.

Potential caveat to consider: What happens if the answer options include images/HTML? How would those be presented effectively with the drop-downs?

Attachments

22 May 2020, 08:17 AM
20 Aug 2019, 09:34 AM
20 Aug 2019, 09:34 AM
20 Aug 2019, 09:33 AM
20 Aug 2019, 09:33 AM

Linked issues

is related to

SAK-34240

Accessibility issue for Matching questions

SAK-42541

Samigo: Font in Matching Question

relates to

SAK-41369

SAMIGO: Wrong CSS on matching questions

Activity

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Tiffany Stull May 22, 2020 at 1:55 PM
Edited

@Fangcong Yin I'm pretty sure we need additional user data from different institutions to determine whether the proposed solution is even viable. I think something needs to be done to improve the usability of this question type, but there may be a better way to do it than the mock-ups I included in the description.

I was recently working with an instructor who had some matching questions that included LaTeX in both the choice and match fields, so I don't think it's a viable option to remove HTML formatting from the match field altogether. We would need an accessible way to make the drop-down include HTML elements, and yet potentially still restrict the types of HTML allowed (It would be a problem, for example, if the instructor attempted to embed videos in a match that would populate the drop-down).

@Jolie Tingen were you ever able to follow up with the faculty/pedagogical consultant regarding this proposed feature?

Fangcong Yin May 22, 2020 at 1:36 PM

Hi @Tiffany Stull I'm sorry that last time I tested the matching questions with a very short answer & question text, so that they seem to be displayed in the new feature. Then are we still considering implementing the new feature on 20.x and 21.x ?

Tiffany Stull May 22, 2020 at 8:18 AM
Edited

The matching questions still have the same old, problematic format on nightly experimental and trunk.

Where are you seeing them improved or made more usable?

Fangcong Yin May 21, 2020 at 9:29 PM

Since the new feature is already implemented on 21.x trunk server (https://trunk-mysql.nightly.sakaiproject.org/portal/ Build Info: 8e7f2b61)and 20.0 nightly server,(https://qa2-us.nightly.sakaiproject.org/portal Build Info: 20.0) should we mark this Jira as fixed?