Societies and Associations

Professional societies and associations can be a good source of participants who do particular jobs or are in specific professions. If you or someone in your company is a member of an appropriate association, you may be able to put out a casual call for participants through listservs or email distribution lists
The groups may also have forums, blogs, or other technology-mediated social networking available that you could put out a discrete message or posting on. This may not be appropriate in some groups, though, so do check on the etiquette for making your approach. You may instead have to purchase a list from the association. You can usually do this by contacting its main office, paying a fee, and being sent a list electronically. The association will probably put restrictions on what you can use the list for.
If you want to include people with disabilities in your test, contacting organizations such as the American Foundation for the Blind, Lighthouse International, Disabled American Veterans, and National Council for Support of Disability Issues, or the American Disability Association can get you started.
For more on testing for accessibility, see Chapter 13