1,721,139 research outputs found
An accessible and usable e-book as educational tool: how to get it?
No full textAccessible electronic publications, such as electronic books, journals, and training tools, can be useful for disabled students and workers, particularly in an educational context. E-books are an important educational tool for supporting the real integration of disabled students into classroom activities or distance learning. This paper discusses the main features of an e-book which is appropriate for visually impaired readers. Developing useful educational e-books for blind and visually impaired students often requires the adaptation of e-texts for sighted readers and therefore a number of different factors needs to be considered. In this paper particular consideration is given to the development of e-books which are suitable for blind and visually impaired people
Criteria to improve web site usability and accessibility when interacting through screen readers: definition, application, and evaluation
No full textThis research is related to the usability and accessibility of Web sites. Guidelines for Web site usability already exist, but they only marginally consider the exigencies of "special users", such as blind people or subjects with high levels of vision deficit. This study specifically aimed at defining, in a more precise way, the usability of Web sites, in order to improve their accessibility for "special users", who are obliged to navigate on the internet through screen readers. First of all, 19 criteria (general principles) and 54 checkpoints defining each criterion (technical solutions) were proposed; then, possible ways of application of such criteria and checkpoints was specified. This represented the starting point to evaluate the usability of Web sites: in this work, the heuristic-based method was proposed and used in order to assign levels of usability to several Web sites of interest. A user testing was performed by 15 voluntary users, chosen among blind and low vision subjects. Two Web site prototypes were specifically designed for this purpose, only differing for the presence/absence of important usability criteria defined in this study. By comparing the time spent by users navigating and performing assigned tasks on the two Web site (with and without criteria), the impact of the application of the proposed criteria on the quality of the navigation was estimated. Finally, an automatic tool, whose implementation is in progress, is briefly presented at the end of this work. This tool is the first step toward a complete and definitive automatic procedure able to evaluate real Web site usability, especially considering blind and low vision people's constraints. Further studies are in progress to reach this final goal
Making an accessible forum more usable for vision impaired users: a case study
No full textIn this paper, we show in which way an accessible forum can be used as an educational tool and can be improved by making it more friendly to vision impaired users. For this purpose, we considered an online course for ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence), specifically addressed to blind and low vision people. First, we describe the use of an accessible forum during an online course for the ECDL and then we present a set of criteria created in order to improve Web site usability. Finally, we discuss in which way the application of our criteria can improve the navigation in the forum, once the forum has been accessed
Accessibility and usability in electronic texts: what does it mean?
No full textVisually impaired people have always experienced difficulties in reading texts, documents and books. However, the ability to obtain information independently is of crucial importance for visually impaired people, since it would give them access to a world which was previously closed to them in terms of access to educational tools, employment resources and information about personal interests and the latest information on a wide range of subjects. Electronic texts (e-texts) are potentially a viable solution. In this work we introduce the subject and describe the aim of the projec
La tecnologia a supporto della visita museale: opportunità e limitazioni
Full text linkCome accade ormai per molteplici attività quotidiane, anche in ambito museale, e più in generale in caso di accesso alla cultura, le tecnologie sono ampiamente utilizzate in supporto alla visita e per approfondimento dei contenuti. Siti Web, app, audioguide, e molto altro sono sempre più disponibili sul mercato per consentire al visitatore di potersi
preparare in vista di una visita ad un sito di cultura o un museo, approfondire dei contenuti durante e dopo la visita, e così via. Quanto però di tutto questo è realmente accessibile ha chi ha difficoltà di vista? Lo stesso dicasi soprattutto di tutti quei supporti tecnologici e digitali che sono in particolar modo disponibili per la persona che visita un museo in
autonomia. Tante sono le possibilità che sono offerte ai visitatori tali da far pensare che sicuramente qualcosa vi sia, tanto più che spesso si legge (o ci viene riferito) che presentano caratteristiche di accessibilità. Vediamo un po' meglio nel dettaglio fino a che punto la tecnologia può essere sfruttata per supportare il visitatore con disabilità visiva
Wikipedia, the open encyclopaedia: is it really open to blind users?
No full textNowadays Web 2.0 applications allow anyone to create, share and edit on-line content, but accessibility and usability issues still exist. In this direction, wikis are becoming increasingly widespread, and offer great benefits in a variety of collaborative environments. to be universally valuable, wiki systems should be easy to use for anyone, regardless of ability. This paper describes obstacles that a blind user may encounter when interacting via screen reader with Wikipedia. For instance, Wikipedia presents many difficulties for the blind, especially when they wish to edit articles. Based on these accessibility issues, our study is aimed at investigating on the W3C ARIA suite as possible solution to simplify the Wikipedia Editing Page when interacting via screen reader. At the end, a user testing conducted by involving a group of blind users is shortly described
Screen readers
No full textA screen reader is a kind of assistive technology so ware that assists people with little or no functional vision in interacting with computers. ere are various types of assistive technologies to support various types of disabilities. Some are purely so ware applications, while others require devices or provide options to use devices in addition to the so ware. A screen reader basically works as a so ware application using text-to-speech so ware, but a Braille pin-display1 can be added to generate real-time and refreshable Braille output. Screen readers were mainly developed for blind people, while screen magnifiers are for people with weak eyesight. e applicability of screen readers has been expanded, and they are o en used in combination with screen magnifying technology to assist people with weak eyesight (Paul and Dillin, 1998) or for people with cognitive and learning impairments
Distance learning: new opportunities for the blind
No full textThe rapid growth of the Internet has created extraordinary opportunities for distance learning, further enhanced by the diffusion of mobile learning systems. Even more than generic readers, students appreciate the portability and overall ubiquity of electronic content, but they also value legibility, presentation and good design (Wilson et al. 2002). Furthermore, smart searches and other dynamic features (such as tag clouds and semantic data navigation) make content exploration easier and faster. In this context, quality and enhanced facilities that are unavailable in paper format will fuel the future of electronic learning material.
Chats, blogs, Wikis, collaborative environments, assessment SW, podcasting, games, voting systems and more can be accessed on a laptop, palm device or cell phone—everywhere, anytime. Collaborative and cooperative technologies offer a particular contribution to the learning process. The trend is to create a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) where students can collaborate and cooperate. Thus, to allow all users to enjoy these services, accessibility and usability principles should be applied when preparing materials and developing the interactive environment. Unfortunately, accessibility and usability have not progressed at the same pace as technology, and special-needs users risk missing out on this great educational opportunity. In particular, visually-impaired students still encounter difficulties when using eLearning content, both on desktop computers and on mobile devices. Accessibility and usability are fundamental when designing any user interface, but they are crucial for e-Learning systems, since technological barriers can hinder learning. Technology can support learning if it does not require additional effort on the part of the user. Specifically, the interaction environment should be transparent for users in the sense that it should not interfere with the learning, or else the benefits of distance learning risk becoming worthless. When designing electronic learning materials (i.e. Learning Objects) and delivery systems (e.g. Learning Management Systems) it is crucial to identify the needs and requirements of the target community to create a system geared to the individual; based on user profiles, learning objects are delivered according to user ability). In this chapter we focus on the needs of blind persons who interact via screen reader with voice synthesizer. For effective, efficient and satisfactory design (i.e. usable according ISO 9241-11), developers must be aware of all the obstacles encountered by users aided by assistive technology and should map accessibility and usability criteria in eLearning systems from the very earliest stages of the design process
Google news
No full textBeing able to read text, find out information and know about the latest news has always been a challenge for those who cannot access the printed version, such as the visually-impaired. The advent of the Web has been a big step in the right direction for blind people to obtain up-to-date information on the internet. Many portals and Web sites offer online services for up-to-date news. In this paper our aim is to evaluate how easy and rewarding it is for blind people to access this. For this purpose, we are focusing on the well-known online service provided by Google, i.e. Google News as a case study. In order to truly benefit from access to the information available on the Web, the page interface must be simple and easy to use by everyone, including people who have to use assistive technologies. In this work we analyze not only the accessibility of the service offered by Google for its News, but also in particular the usability when interacting via screen reader
Visually-impaired people studying via ebook: investigating current use and potential for improvement
Full text linkEveryday activities and tasks should be easy to perform for everyone, especially in an educational context, in order to foster inclusivity and assure equal opportunities for all. In this paper, we investigate strategies and issues experienced by visually impaired people when studying via eBook. An online survey was designed to investigate preferences regarding the different formats and understand what types of actions are possible and desirable when using eBooks in an educational context. We collected the views and experiences of 75 visually-impaired people, which revealed the need to develop tools that can provide both full accessibility and high usability when reading for study. Visually impaired people would like to rely on the same widely used strategies that sighted people use when studying a text. In addition, 92% of the visually-impaired people participating in the online survey declared they were interested in a (new) reading app. The results could orient the design of new digital reading tools and functionalities that can improve interaction
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