Exploring User Interface Improvements for Software Developers who are Blind (original) (raw)
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Designing Assistive Software for Blind Users Capstone Project Final Report
This project explores alternative design ideas for enhancing interactions between a person who is blind and everyday technological artifacts, such as wristwatches or cell phones. While many technological and household artifacts are constantly improved to enhance user experience, user interfaces usually create informational barriers for blind users. In response, the non-sighted user develops work-arounds, strategies to overcome the constraints of a physical and social world engineered for the sighted. This project uses a human-centered design process that transfers insights gained from interviews and observations of everyday artifact use to the design of artifacts that more closely mirror the user's needs. Structured around Blythe's Technology Biographies, these interview and observation sessions help provide a clearer understanding for the work-arounds employed. Data analysis yielded encapsulated descriptions of the small-scale actions and interactions that occur between user and artifact as specific tasks are undertaken. This analysis reveals that tactile and audio feedback, user independence, user control, and rudimentary (brute force) alternatives for software task failures may be significant factors for improving artifact design. Incorporating these insights into design possibilities using Blevis's PRInCiPleS framework for design explanation aims at eliminating unnecessary work-arounds and improving user interaction with specific artifacts.
Initial design and evaluation of an interface to hypermedia systems for blind users
Proceedings of the eighth …, 1997
Access to information in electronic forms is currently difficult for blind people, but electronic information, particularly hypermedia, provide great potential to overcome the difficulties that blind people have in accessing information. The E.U. funded ACCESS Project is developing tools to facilitate user interfaces which will be adaptable to the needs of different user groups. One demonstrator developed with these tools is a hypermedia system for blind students. This paper presents the initial designs for the hypermedia system which has a non-visual interface named DAHNI (Demonstrator of the ACCESS Hypermedia Non-visual Interface). DAHNI can be used with a variety of assistive input/output systems for blind users. Output from the system includes synthetic and digitised speech, non-speech sounds and refreshable Braille; input to the system can be via a small or large touchtablet, joystick, and/or conventional keyboard. This paper presents an evaluation of DAHNI by seven blind and partially sighted students. Plans for further development and evaluation of the system are also discussed.
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 1994
The use of modern computers and software by the visually handicapped has become more difficult over the past few years. In earlier systems the user interface was a simple character based environment. In those systems, simple devices like screen read-ers~ braille output and speech synthesizers were effective. Current systems now run Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) which have rendered these simple aids almost useless. In no area has this problem become more important than in technologies for the handicapped. What has become enabling technology for the sighted has become disabling technology for the visually impaired. In the current work we discuss new and innovative approaches to permit non-sighted users to interface with GUIs, having the salutary effect of gaining needed access to the most modern computing equipment for a subset of our population that is otherwise excluded from such access. Using our approach to integrating special interfaces into those already shipped by the manufacturer, the non-sighted user will no longer be isolated from the mainstream of the information world. The net effect of such an interface is to make computing and information resources available to the visually handicapped user at the cost as to the sighted user.
Training blind people in the use of graphical user interfaces
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 1994
Page 1. Training Blind People in the Use of Graphical User Interfaces Gerhard Weber 1,2 Helen Petrie 3, Dirk Kochanek 1, Sarah Morley 3 1 Universitht Stuttgart, Insfimt fiir Informatik, Breitwiesenstr. 20-22, 70565 Stuttgart, FR Germany 2 FH Papenmeier GmbH&Co., KG, Talweg 2, 58239 Sehwerte, FR Germany 3 Psychology Division, University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield ALl0 9AB, Hertfordshire, UK Abstract. The need for training of blind people to use graphical user interfaces has arisen since the first access systems became available. ...
User-Interface Modelling for Blind Users
Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2008
The design of a user interface usable by blind people sets specific usability requirements that are unnecessary for sighted users. These requirements focus on task adequacy, dimensional trade-off, behaviour equivalence, semantic loss avoidance and device-independency. Consequently, the development of human-computer interfaces (HCI) that are based on task, domain, dialog, presentation, platform and user models has to be modified to take into account these requirements. This paper presents a user interface model for blind people, which incorporates these usability requirements into the above HCI models. A framework implementing the model has been developed and implemented in an electronic speaking bilingual software environment for blind or visually impaired people and in an educational system for children with special educational needs.
Computing & Blindness in Education (COMBINE) Project
COMBINE studies: 1) strategies for programming without vision 2) how blind and visually impaired students imagine computer programs 3) interfaces that can be used by both blind and sighted users The fieldwork is/was conducted in two phases. The first phase was case studies of a number of programmers who were legally registered blind or visually impaired. The second phase is to be further interviews with computing and ICT teachers and students in schools for the blind or mainstream schools. Aims and Objectives The aim of this research is to produce a number of case studies that describe “non-visual" computing, in order to help teachers and educators understand the teaching of ICT and Computing to students who are blind and visually impaired The objective of this research is to inform a greater understanding of how the mind understands computer programs, and two-dimensional interfaces. This will ultimately inform better designed interfaces and more effective methodologies.
Toward Improving the Usability of Course Management Systems for Blind Users
2015
Usability is more than just accessibility. Whereas accessibility in the context of a Course Management System (CMS) is the basic capability of blind users to access CMS features, usability refers to the ease-of-use of CMS features. Despite improvements in accessibility, studies have found that the usability of CMSs systems for blind users is lagging behind. That is, blind users are still challenged using features of CMSs, even though they are accessible. Poor usability of CMSs puts blind users at risk of being excluded from desired learning experiences and outcomes. This study was motivated by the need to understand why CMSs are difficult to use by blind users, even though they comply with accessibility guidelines. Data was collected for this through usability testing with blind users using Moodle CMS. The usability testing revealed that that poor data presentation, poor elements layout, confusing feature functions, difficulty of finding relevant information, faulty link destination, complex page organization and structure, ambiguous task workflow, and lack of awareness of the system status present major challenges to blind users. Redesign solutions were suggested to help blind users overcome the identified usability problems, particularly with respect to navigation. These solutions went through another round of usability testing to ensure their effectiveness. The findings suggest that incorporating the suggested redesign solutions into the design of a CMS user interface have the potential to eliminate the navigation complexity experienced by blind users. Hence one contribution of this thesis is the development of design guidelines for CMS user interfaces for blind users. It is hoped that the redesigned Moodle user interface can better support blind users learning tasks in e-learning settings. Incorporating the developed design guidelines from this study is expected to improve the usability characteristics of other CMSs for blind users and hence improve their learning outcomes and experiences. iii Dedication أعوذ باهلل من الشيطان الرجيم This thesis is lovingly dedicated to my parents, Kalthhom and Hamza Obidat. Their support, encouragement, and constant love have sustained me throughout my life.
Development of interfaces for impaired users
pe.org.pl
Abstract. This paper presents EyeSEC, a project being conducted in DEE/ISEC in the area of Assistive Technology, which aims to create alternative technologies to compensate for functional limitations and facilitate the independence of elderly and impaired users. The ...