Feeling what you hear: tactile feedback for navigation of audio graphs

Access to digitally stored numerical data is currently very limited for sight impaired people. Graphs and visualizations are often used to analyze relationships between numerical data, but the current methods of accessing them are highly visually mediated. Representing data using audio feedback is a common method of making data more accessible, but methods of navigating and accessing the data are often serial in nature and laborious. Tactile or haptic displays could be used to provide additional feedback to support a point-and-click type interaction for the visually impaired. A requirements capture conducted with sight impaired computer users produced a review of current accessibility technologies, and guidelines were extracted for using tactile feedback to aid navigation. The results of a qualitative evaluation with a prototype interface are also presented. Providing an absolute position input device and tactile feedback allowed the users to explore the graph using tactile and proprioceptive cues in a manner analogous to point-and-click techniques

Emotional well-being in people with sight loss: Lessons from the grey literature

Literature that is not peer-reviewed and distributed through a publisher is known as ‘grey’. As it is used to inform policy and practice we reviewed the grey literature concerning emotional well-being in people with sight loss. We consulted and searched the websites of UK voluntary organizations, and scanned reference lists of previous reviews for reports available from 2001 to 2008. We summarized 24 studies in two sections: observations that assessed psychosocial well-being or demand for support services (n = 15); and evaluations of interventions that aimed to improve emotional well-being (n = 9). Observations showed that people with sight loss can report low emotional well-being, but their statistical and clinical significance requires testing. Interventions showed promise for counselling but also require further evaluation. We encourage service providers and researchers to collaborate and produce high quality research to more persuasively inform policy and practice

Include 2011 : The role of inclusive design in making social innovation happen.

Include is the biennial conference held at the RCA and hosted by the Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design. The event is directed by Jo-Anne Bichard and attracts an international delegation

The health and social care information needs and behaviour of people with a visual impairment.

Background and purpose: There are currently almost two million people with a visual impairment in the United Kingdom, many of whom also experience other health conditions and/or disabilities. People with visual impairments are, therefore, often regular users of health and social care services. Information has an important role in helping support and improve people's health and social care. The purpose of this thesis was, therefore, to address an identified knowledge gap and undertake an in-depth study of the health and social care information needs and behaviour of people with a visual impairment. Design/ methodology/ approach: The research consisted of four interconnected studies: an interview study with 17 people with an age-related visual impairment and 14 people with a visual impairment since birth or early childhood; an audio diary study with seven older visually impaired people; a survey of managers of local societies for the blind and partially sighted; and an evaluation of the active involvement of visually impaired people in the design of this research. Findings: As a result of this research we now have a detailed understanding of the health and social care information needs of two groups of visually impaired people, in particular the types of information they require; the information sources they use, such as local societies for the blind and partially sighted; what factors potentially affect their information behaviour; the possible role of newer information sources, such as NHS Direct and the Internet; as well as the extent to which two established information models (Wilson, 1999 and Moore, 2002) can explain their information behaviour. Originality/ value: This research, the first of its kind, substantially increases our knowledge of the health and social care information needs and behaviour of visually impaired people by employing novel approaches, such as the adoption of audio diaries as a research method, and involving visually impaired people directly in the design of the research

Digital Media Usage of Sensory Impaired Users in Wales 2018 Report

What benefits have digital media brought to sensory impaired users in Wales and what are the barriers that affect people who have sensory loss in using digital technologies

Digital Media Usage of Sensory Impaired Users in Wales 2018 Report

This document reports the main statistical findings from a survey of digital media usage and attitudes of sensory impaired users in Wales. The report offers a comprehensive review of the benefits that digital media has brought to sensory impaired users in Wales and some of the barriers that affect people who have sensory loss. Reported data shows that although only used by half of the sight-impaired community, digital media is crucial to the wellbeing of the sight-impaired users. However, blind and partially sighted people who responded to the questionnaire demonstrate a disadvantaged level of digital media engagement. This report has identified a number of barriers facing people who are sensory impaired in Wales in accessing information, education and services. Barriers were identified mainly in the areas of financial restraints, access to training opportunities, and web accessibility. In addition to emphasise the importance of financial support, digital skills training and web accessibility, the report also recommend a new technology design agenda to the industry in both public and private sectors. Authors endorse what Graham Pullin (2009) suggests the ‘resonant design’ approach, which incorporates disabled and non-disabled users based on coincident needs. Design should emphasize on users and tailor the technology capacity around the need of the user, even such design might look like low-tech and long-lasting

Who is the average user? How people with visual impairments experience digital services

This thesis investigates the connections between the process of designing digital services on the one hand and the personal accounts of five people with visual impairment who use digital services on the other. Design plays a significant role in causing or mitigating disability in society through the shape and function of products, services, and the built environment. To better understand how products and services cause disability, I analyse disability as a multifactorial phenomenon which emerges through the interplay of personal, social, and environmental factors. I first review three models of disability from the field of disability studies, and, secondly, the design process through the review of inclusive design frameworks. Based on this analysis, I discuss how inclusive design frameworks fail to address the individual needs of people with impairments by generalising their challenges; and how the official interpretation of disability has developed into defining disability as a basic human experience. This research follows a grounded theory approach which utilises the accounts of five people with visual impairment to discuss their ability to access digital content, and, the role of design and technology in mitigating disability. Based on their accounts, I argue that design can mitigate disability and, thus, increase the independence of people with impairments. Furthermore, concrete examples of their interaction with digital services will help to organise factors that cause a positive or negative user experience for people with visual impairment. This thesis concludes with the suggestion of a new approach for designing inclusive products and services. This approach aims to consider the factors constituting the personal experience of accessibility, such as the use of assistive technology, the effects of physical impairments, and the availability of technology. Through this approach, designers can distinguish vulnerable user groups on a case-specific basis and, consequently, mitigate exclusion during the design process. In addition to improving the design process, this thesis argues that interacting with people with impairments, e.g., in the work environment, serves as an indispensable educative function to understand the requirements for building accessible products and services, and, thereby, develops an inclusive and diverse society

Empowering design through non-visual process: The blind add new vision to innovation

Currently, the design of products and services is focused on visual processes that exclude the other senses. The study herein presented explores the flaws of using a fully visual approach in the areas of education, product design and services. This paper also discusses the deficiencies of a first order thinking approach and presents an alternative based on second order thinking that can be used to overcome these weaknesses while at the same time nurturing innovation. Through this narrative Rachel Magario, a blind student in the business and interaction design graduate programs at the University of Kansas, shows how she was able to overcome the mechanical limitations inherent in a visually oriented academic world. Magario explains how a project to design a tactile map taught her to look for solutions through a second order thinking approach complemented by the use of low fidelity prototypes. In this process she was able to create audio and Velcro low fidelity prototypes to fill in the gaps of research for audio and haptic design. All this was achieved through a process of observing, reflecting, imagining and building to validate hypotheses that can be approached through second order thinking, frameworks and methods into the design process. The result is a process anchored in a human and activity centered design that accounts for all senses and can be used to achieve success in different areas of innovation