Percepção sonora : discutindo os limites e as possibilidades de interação e de interdependência positiva de pessoas com deficiência visual em sistemas Web síncronos

Atualmente vive-se em uma sociedade em rede na qual a informação é o principal ativo econômico e social. A interação e a interdependência positiva, elementos estruturantes de atividades cooperativas mediadas por computador são fundamentais para o desenvolvimento de competências cognitivas, interpessoais e intrapessoais. Práticas cooperativas mediadas por dispositivos tecnológicos devem levar em consideração diferentes perfis de usuários. A análise de sistemas Web síncronos, Google Docs e Word Online, evidenciaram fragilidades na acessibilidade e nas possibilidades de interação de pessoas com deficiência visual, ao revelar lacunas quanto à implementação de recursos de percepção sonora. Esses resultados, conduziram a proposição do objetivo deste estudo, analisar os limites e as possibilidades do uso de elementos de suporte à percepção sonora em sistemas Web síncronos como dispositivos de inserção de pessoas com deficiência visual em ações cooperativas. Visando validar os dispositivos tecnológicos e analisar a interação de sujeitos com deficiência visual foram desenvolvidos sistema Web de bate-papo e ferramenta de escrita cooperativa ambos com suporte à percepção sonora. Protocolos de pesquisa, complementados por entrevistas semiestruturadas, mapearam os dados de interação de cinco sujeitos com deficiência visual nos sistemas implementados, analisados por meio de categorias previamente estabelecidas: percepção no espaço de trabalho e cooperação. A análise e discussão de resultados revelou que o consorciamento dos elementos de percepção sonoro e as estratégias de navegabilidade tornaram os sistemas acessíveis e potencializaram a ação cooperativa de participantes com deficiência visual. A base conceitual utilizada, os sistemas desenvolvidos e a discussão dos resultados, disponibilizam um conjunto de informações relevantes para a qualificação e garantia de equidade em sistemas Web síncronos, estabelecendo as condições de possibilidade para novos estudos, visando um maior aprofundamento desse campo de conhecimento.We live in a network society information is the main economic and social asset. Interaction and positive interdependence, elements for cooperative computer activities are fundamental for the development of cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal skills. Computer-mediated cooperative practices should consider different user profiles. The analysis of synchronous Web systems, Google Docs and Word Online, showed weaknesses in the accessibility and possibilities of interaction of visually impaired users, revealing issues in the development of sound awareness features. These results led to the aim of this study, to analyze the limits and possibilities of the use of elements to support sound awareness in synchronous Web systems as tools for the insertion of visually impaired users in cooperative activities. In order to analyze the interaction of visually impaired subjects and validate the technological resources, a Web chat system and a cooperative writing tool were developed with support of sound awareness. Research protocols, complemented by semistructured interviews, mapping the interaction data of visually impaired users in the implemented systems were analyzed through previous categories: awareness in the workspace and cooperation. The analysis and discussion of results revealed that the elements of sound awareness and the navigability strategies made the systems accessible and enhanced the cooperative activities of visually impaired participants. The conceptual basis used, the systems developed, and the discussion of the results, provided a set of relevant information to qualify the equity participation of visually impaired users in synchronous Web systems, establishing the conditions for further studies, aiming a deep understanding of this area of knowledge

Multimodales kollaboratives Zeichensystem für blinde Benutzer

Bilder und grafische Darstellungen gehören heutzutage zu den gängigen Kommunikationsmitteln und Möglichkeiten des Informationsaustauschs sowie der Wissensvermittlung. Das bildliche Medium kann allerdings, wenn es rein visuell präsentiert wird, ganze Nutzergruppen ausschließen. Blinde Menschen benötigen beispielsweise Alternativtexte oder taktile Darstellungen, um Zugang zu grafischen Informationen erhalten zu können. Diese müssen jedoch an die speziellen Bedürfnisse von blinden und hochgradig sehbehinderten Menschen angepasst sein. Eine Übertragung von visuellen Grafiken in eine taktile Darstellung erfolgt meist durch sehende Grafikautoren und -autorinnen, die teilweise nur wenig Erfahrung auf dem Gebiet der taktilen Grafiktranskription haben. Die alleinige Anwendung von Kriterienkatalogen und Richtlinien über die Umsetzung guter taktiler Grafiken scheint dabei nicht ausreichend zu sein, um qualitativ hochwertige und gut verständliche grafisch-taktile Materialien bereitzustellen. Die direkte Einbeziehung einer sehbehinderten Person in den Transkriptionsprozess soll diese Problematik angehen, um Verständnis- und Qualitätsproblemen vorzubeugen. Großflächige dynamisch taktile Displays können einen nicht-visuellen Zugang zu Grafiken ermöglichen. Es lassen sich so auch dynamische Veränderungen an Grafiken vermitteln. Im Rahmen der vorliegenden Arbeit wurde ein kollaborativer Zeichenarbeitsplatz für taktile Grafiken entwickelt, welcher es unter Einsatz eines taktilen Flächendisplays und auditiver Ausgaben ermöglicht, eine blinde Person aktiv als Lektorin bzw. Lektor in den Entstehungsprozess einer Grafik einzubinden. Eine durchgeführte Evaluation zeigt, dass insbesondere unerfahrene sehende Personen von den Erfahrungen sehbehinderter Menschen im Umgang mit taktilen Medien profitieren können. Im Gegenzug lassen sich mit dem kollaborativen Arbeitsplatz ebenso unerfahrene sehbehinderte Personen im Umgang mit taktilen Darstellungen schulen. Neben Möglichkeiten zum Betrachten und kollaborativen Bearbeiten werden durch den zugänglichen Zeichenarbeitsplatz auch vier verschiedene Modalitäten zur Erzeugung von Formen angeboten: Formenpaletten als Text-Menüs, Gesteneingaben, Freihandzeichnen mittels drahtlosem Digitalisierungsstift und das kamerabasierte Scannen von Objektkonturen. In einer Evaluation konnte gezeigt werden, dass es mit diesen Methoden auch unerfahrenen blinden Menschen möglich ist, selbständig Zeichnungen in guter Qualität zu erstellen. Dabei präferieren sie jedoch robuste und verlässliche Eingabemethoden, wie Text-Menüs, gegenüber Modalitäten, die ein gewisses Maß an Können und Übung voraussetzen oder einen zusätzlichen technisch aufwendigen Aufbau benötigen.Pictures and graphical data are common communication media for conveying information and know\-ledge. However, these media might exclude large user groups, for instance visually impaired people, if they are offered in visual form only. Textual descriptions as well as tactile graphics may offer access to graphical information but have to be adapted to the special needs of visually impaired and blind readers. The translation from visual into tactile graphics is usually implemented by sighted graphic authors, some of whom have little experience in creating proper tactile graphics. Applying only recommendations and best practices for preparing tactile graphics does not seem sufficient to provide intelligible, high-quality tactile materials. Including a visually impaired person in the process of creating a tactile graphic should prevent such quality and intelligibility issues. Large dynamic tactile displays offer non-visual access to graphics; even dynamic changes can be conveyed. As part of this thesis, a collaborative drawing workstation was developed. This workstation utilizes a tactile display as well as auditory output to actively involve a blind person as a lector in the drawing process. The evaluation demonstrates that inexperienced sighted graphic authors, in particular, can be\-ne\-fit from the knowledge of a blind person who is accustomed to handling tactile media. Furthermore, inexperienced visually impaired people may be trained in reading tactile graphics with the help of the collaborative drawing workstation. In addition to exploring and manipulating existing graphics, the accessible drawing workstation offers four different modalities to create tactile shapes: text-based shape-palette-menus, gestural drawing, freehand drawings using a wireless stylus and scanning object silhouettes by a ToF-camera. The evaluation confirms that even untrained blind users can create drawings in good quality by using the accessible drawing workstation. However, users seem to prefer robust, reliable modalities for drawing, such as text menus, over modalities which require a certain level of skill or additional technical effort

Tabletop tangible maps and diagrams for visually impaired users

En dépit de leur omniprésence et de leur rôle essentiel dans nos vies professionnelles et personnelles, les représentations graphiques, qu'elles soient numériques ou sur papier, ne sont pas accessibles aux personnes déficientes visuelles car elles ne fournissent pas d'informations tactiles. Par ailleurs, les inégalités d'accès à ces représentations ne cessent de s'accroître ; grâce au développement de représentations graphiques dynamiques et disponibles en ligne, les personnes voyantes peuvent non seulement accéder à de grandes quantités de données, mais aussi interagir avec ces données par le biais de fonctionnalités avancées (changement d'échelle, sélection des données à afficher, etc.). En revanche, pour les personnes déficientes visuelles, les techniques actuellement utilisées pour rendre accessibles les cartes et les diagrammes nécessitent l'intervention de spécialistes et ne permettent pas la création de représentations interactives. Cependant, les récentes avancées dans le domaine de l'adaptation automatique de contenus laissent entrevoir, dans les prochaines années, une augmentation de la quantité de contenus adaptés. Cette augmentation doit aller de pair avec le développement de dispositifs utilisables et abordables en mesure de supporter l'affichage de représentations interactives et rapidement modifiables, tout en étant accessibles aux personnes déficientes visuelles. Certains prototypes de recherche s'appuient sur une représentation numérique seulement : ils peuvent être instantanément modifiés mais ne fournissent que très peu de retour tactile, ce qui rend leur exploration complexe d'un point de vue cognitif et impose de fortes contraintes sur le contenu. D'autres prototypes s'appuient sur une représentation numérique et physique : bien qu'ils puissent être explorés tactilement, ce qui est un réel avantage, ils nécessitent un support tactile qui empêche toute modification rapide. Quant aux dispositifs similaires à des tablettes Braille, mais avec des milliers de picots, leur coût est prohibitif. L'objectif de cette thèse est de pallier les limitations de ces approches en étudiant comment développer des cartes et diagrammes interactifs physiques, modifiables et abordables. Pour cela, nous nous appuyons sur un type d'interface qui a rarement été étudié pour des utilisateurs déficients visuels : les interfaces tangibles, et plus particulièrement les interfaces tangibles sur table. Dans ces interfaces, des objets physiques représentent des informations numériques et peuvent être manipulés par l'utilisateur pour interagir avec le système, ou par le système lui-même pour refléter un changement du modèle numérique - on parle alors d'interfaces tangibles sur tables animées, ou actuated. Grâce à la conception, au développement et à l'évaluation de trois interfaces tangibles sur table (les Tangible Reels, la Tangible Box et BotMap), nous proposons un ensemble de solutions techniques répondant aux spécificités des interfaces tangibles pour des personnes déficientes visuelles, ainsi que de nouvelles techniques d'interaction non-visuelles, notamment pour la reconstruction d'une carte ou d'un diagramme et l'exploration de cartes de type " Pan & Zoom ". D'un point de vue théorique, nous proposons aussi une nouvelle classification pour les dispositifs interactifs accessibles.Despite their omnipresence and essential role in our everyday lives, online and printed graphical representations are inaccessible to visually impaired people because they cannot be explored using the sense of touch. The gap between sighted and visually impaired people's access to graphical representations is constantly growing due to the increasing development and availability of online and dynamic representations that not only give sighted people the opportunity to access large amounts of data, but also to interact with them using advanced functionalities such as panning, zooming and filtering. In contrast, the techniques currently used to make maps and diagrams accessible to visually impaired people require the intervention of tactile graphics specialists and result in non-interactive tactile representations. However, based on recent advances in the automatic production of content, we can expect in the coming years a growth in the availability of adapted content, which must go hand-in-hand with the development of affordable and usable devices. In particular, these devices should make full use of visually impaired users' perceptual capacities and support the display of interactive and updatable representations. A number of research prototypes have already been developed. Some rely on digital representation only, and although they have the great advantage of being instantly updatable, they provide very limited tactile feedback, which makes their exploration cognitively demanding and imposes heavy restrictions on content. On the other hand, most prototypes that rely on digital and physical representations allow for a two-handed exploration that is both natural and efficient at retrieving and encoding spatial information, but they are physically limited by the use of a tactile overlay, making them impossible to update. Other alternatives are either extremely expensive (e.g. braille tablets) or offer a slow and limited way to update the representation (e.g. maps that are 3D-printed based on users' inputs). In this thesis, we propose to bridge the gap between these two approaches by investigating how to develop physical interactive maps and diagrams that support two-handed exploration, while at the same time being updatable and affordable. To do so, we build on previous research on Tangible User Interfaces (TUI) and particularly on (actuated) tabletop TUIs, two fields of research that have surprisingly received very little interest concerning visually impaired users. Based on the design, implementation and evaluation of three tabletop TUIs (the Tangible Reels, the Tangible Box and BotMap), we propose innovative non-visual interaction techniques and technical solutions that will hopefully serve as a basis for the design of future TUIs for visually impaired users, and encourage their development and use. We investigate how tangible maps and diagrams can support various tasks, ranging from the (re)construction of diagrams to the exploration of maps by panning and zooming. From a theoretical perspective we contribute to the research on accessible graphical representations by highlighting how research on maps can feed research on diagrams and vice-versa. We also propose a classification and comparison of existing prototypes to deliver a structured overview of current research