Accessible Patronus Quiz from Pottermore

The Brief

Pottermore, the digital publishing, e-commerce, entertainment and news company from J.K. Rowling, is the global digital publisher of Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World. As the digital heart of J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World, pottermore.com is dedicated to unlocking the power of imagination. It offers news, features, and articles as well as new and previously unreleased writing by J.K. Rowling.

The company sets high standards for the accessibility of all its digital products and has worked with us since 2015 when it started developing its current website. When the publisher devised the Patronus quiz, we were once again asked to provide accessibility consultancy and testing to ensure that the quiz could be fully enjoyed by visually impaired people.

Pottermore visitors taking part in the online experience make a series of choices, based on a set of cryptic prompts written by J.K. Rowling, and then discovering which animal is their Patronus – a magical protector from harm or evil. 

Our Approach

“We spent two months helping Pottermore develop an online experience that delivered a superior experience for visually impaired people,” said Paul Crichton, Test Partners’ Head of Accessibility and Digital Inclusion.

“Our brief was to ensure that the experience worked well for people with visual impairments and we were determined to maintain the sense of challenge.There is a timed element to the Patronus experience, so we worked with the development team so that information was delivered to visitors with accessibility requirements with just enough time to spare, emulating the experience of non-accessible visitors. I’m pretty proud of what we achieved, and how well it works with the most popular software used by visually impaired people.”

“We’re delighted with the way that Test Partners supported us in making the Patronus experience accessible to the visually impaired,” said Anna Rafferty, Pottermore’s Director of Product, Creative and Content. “This was achieved whilst fully supporting the creative treatment and with a high regard for the experience of pottermore.com visitors.”

The Result

Pottermore’s Patronus experience was launched 22 September 2016. It is set in a 3D animated environment that suggests danger and features originally-scored music and a responsive soundscape. Patronuses are drawn from animals both familiar and magical.

Yet this is not the end of the story. Work is already underway on making further improvements to the user experience – and making the Patronus as inclusive as possible. “It is a testament to Pottermore’s ongoing commitment to digital inclusion that it isn’t resting on its laurels. Future releases will continue to explore ways of catering for people with accessibility needs,” Paul Crichton concludes.

The screen reader friendly version of the quiz can be viewed here: https://my.pottermore.com/patronus#accessibility