Issues in the Non-Visual Presentation of Graph Based Diagrams (original) (raw)
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Making Graph-Based Diagrams Work in Sound: The Role of Annotation
Human–Computer Interaction, 2013
Non-linear forms of diagrammatic presentation, such as node-arc graphs, are a powerful and elegant means of visual information presentation. While providing non-visual access is now routine for many forms of linear information, it becomes more difficult as the structure of the information becomes increasingly non-linear. An understanding of the ways in which graphs benefit sighted people, based on experiments and the literature, together with the difficulties encountered when exploring graphs non-visually, helps form a solution for non-visual access to graphs. This paper proposes that differing types of annotation offer a powerful and flexible technique for transferring the benefits of graph based diagrams, as well as for reducing disorientation while moving around the graph and for tackling some of the inherent disadvantages of using sound. Different forms of annotation that may address these problems are explored, classified and evaluated, including notes designed to summarise and to aid node differentiation. Graph annotation may be performed automatically, creating a graph that evaluation shows requires less mental effort to explore, and on which tasks can be achieved more effectively and more efficiently.
Interactive hierarchy-based auditory displays for accessing and manipulating relational diagrams
Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces, 2011
An approach to designing hierarchy-based auditory displays that supports non-visual interaction with relational diagrams is presented. The approach is motivated by an analysis of the functional and structural properties of relational diagrams in terms of their role as external representations. This analysis informs the design of a multiple perspective hierarchy-based model that captures modality independent features of a diagram when translating it into an audio accessible form. The paper outlines design lessons learnt from two user studies that were conducted to evaluate the proposed approach.
Comparing interaction strategies for constructing diagrams in an audio-only interface
2008
ABSTRACT Although research on non-visual access to visualisations is steadily growing, very little work has investigated strategies for constructing such forms of representation through non-visual means. This paper describes the design of two interaction strategies for constructing and manipulating relational diagrams in audio. We report on a study that compared the two strategies, and discuss their advantages and disadvantages in terms of how efficiently they support the activity of constructing diagrams in an audio-only interface.
Designing a Multimodal Graph System to Support Non-Visual Interpretation of Graphical Information
Journal of Physics: Conference Series
While researchers have performed numerous studies to understand the human interpretation of visual graphs in reading, comprehending and interpreting displayed data; visually impaired (VI) users still face many challenges that prevent them from fully benefiting from these graphs. Thus, it influences their understanding of data visualization and in turn reduces their role in collaborating with their sighted colleagues in educational and working environments. We intend to develop a mobile application where visually impaired users can work together to build a collaborative graph that supported by data sonification in the mobile environment. The system properties were all tested by the task of identifying line trends in time series, which resulted in an accuracy of more than 80% for notes below 20 points. The usability testing has given result of 6.7 out 10 based on users' perception on the effectivity of the features.
Automated interpretation and accessible presentation of technical diagrams for blind people
New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia, 2004
The EU-supported TeDUB (Technical Drawings Understanding for the Blind) project is developing a software system that aims to make technical diagrams accessible to blind and visually impaired people. It consists of two separate modules: one that analyses drawings either semi-automatically or automatically, and one that presents the results of this analysis to blind people and allows them to interact with it. The system is capable of analysing and presenting diagrams from a number of formally defined domains. A diagram enters the system as one of two types: first, diagrams contained in bitmap images, which do not explicitly contain the semantic structure of their content and thus have to be interpreted by the system, and second, diagrams obtained in a semantically enriched format that already yields this structure. The TeDUB system provides blind users with an interface to navigate and annotate these diagrams using a number of input and output devices. Extensive user evaluations have been carried out and an overall positive response from the participants has shown the effectiveness of the approach.
Constructing relational diagrams in audio: the multiple perspective hierarchical approach
2008
Although research on non-visual access to visually represented information is steadily growing, very little work has investigated how such forms of representation could be constructed through non-visual means. We discuss in this paper our approach for providing audio access to relational diagrams using multiple perspective hierarchies, and describe the design of two interaction strategies for constructing and manipulating such diagrams through this approach. A comparative study that we conducted with sighted users showed that a non-guided strategy allowed for significantly faster interaction times, and that both strategies supported similar levels of diagram comprehension. Overall, the reported study revealed that using multiple perspective hierarchies to structure the information encoded in a relational diagram enabled users construct and manipulate such information through an audio-only interface, and that combining aspects from the guided and the non-guided strategies could support greater usability.
Communicating graphical information to blind users using music
Proceedings of the SIGCHI conference on Human factors in computing systems - CHI '98, 1998
We describe the design and use of AUDIOGRAPH -a tool for investigating the use of music in the communication of graphical information to blind and partially sighted users. This paper examines the use of the system to communicate complex diagrams and gives some examples of user output. Performance is not as good as expected and it is postulated that context will play an important part in the perception of diagrams communicated using music. A set of experiments are reported which indicate that context does indeed seem to play an important role in assisting meaningful understanding of the diagrams communicated. The implications for using music in auditory interface design are discussed.
Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 2019
While researchers have performed numerous studies to understand the human interpretation of visual graphs in reading, comprehending and interpreting displayed data; visually impaired (VI) users still face many challenges that prevent them from fully benefiting from these graphs. Thus, it influences their understanding of data visualization and in turn reduces their role in collaborating with their sighted colleagues in educational and working environments. We intend to develop a mobile application where visually impaired users can work together to build a collaborative graph that supported by data sonification in the mobile environment. The system properties were all tested by the task of identifying line trends in time series, which resulted in an accuracy of more than 80% for notes below 20 points. The usability testing has given result of 6.7 out 10 based on users' perception on the effectivity of the features.
2020 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE)
This Research Full Paper presents the design and evaluation of an auditory interface that allows blind people to perceive workspace awareness elements in a shared environment for modeling diagrams. Approximately 36 million Brazilians are visually impaired, where half a million are blind, and the enrollment of the blind at Brazilian higher public education institutions has been increasing. However, accessible tools for diagram authoring are scarce, despite their necessity on STEM courses. There are studies and new developments regarding the perception and authoring of diagrammatic information, but they do not consider collaborative features. Therefore, this study proposes the sonification of workspace awareness elements as a solution to enable accessible groupware features for the blind. It was designed auditory cues for three awareness categories (who, what, and where) using abstract sounds and favoring suitable metaphors for an intuitive mapping. The designed auditory cues were implemented in a prototype application for collaborative diagram modeling and evaluated through an objective usability test. The results demonstrated that participants could reasonably distinguish who made what and where. Besides, it was possible to identify the awareness categories which need more work.
Design Guidelines for Audio Presentation of Graphs and Tables
International Conference on Auditory Display, 2003
General Line Graph Sonification Guidelines Audio can be used to make visualisations accessible to blind and visually impaired people. The MultiVis Project has carried out research into suitable methods for presenting graphs and tables to blind people through the use of both speech and non- speech audio. This paper presents guidelines extracted from this research. These guidelines will enable designers