Computer Entertainment Technologies for the Visually Impaired: An Overview

Over the last years, works related to accessible technologies have increased both in number and in quality. This work presents a series of articles which explore different trends in the field of accessible video games for the blind or visually impaired. Reviewed articles are distributed in four categories covering the following subjects: (1) video game design and architecture, (2) video game adaptations, (3) accessible games as learning tools or treatments and (4) navigation and interaction in virtual environments. Current trends in accessible game design are also analysed, and data is presented regarding keyword use and thematic evolution over time. As a conclusion, a relative stagnation in the field of human-computer interaction for the blind is detected. However, as the video game industry is becoming increasingly interested in accessibility, new research opportunities are starting to appear

Designing and Evaluating Accessible E-Learning for Students with Visual Impairments in K-12 Computing Education

This dissertation explores the pathways for making K-12 computing education more accessible for blind or visually impaired (BVI) learners. As computer science (CS) expands into K-12 education, more concerted efforts are required to ensure all students have equitable access to opportunities to pursue a career in computing. To determine their viability with BVI learners, I conducted three studies to assess current accessibility in CS curricula, materials, and learning environments. Study one was interviews with visually impaired developers; study two was interviews with K-12 teachers of visually impaired students; study three was a remote observation within a computer science course. My exploration revealed that most of CS education lacks the necessary accommodations for BVI students to learn at an equitable pace with sighted students. However, electronic learning (e-learning) was a theme that showed to provide the most accessible learning experience for BVI students, although even there, usability and accessibility challenges were present in online learning platforms. My dissertation engaged in a human-centered approach across three studies towards designing, developing, and evaluating an online learning management system (LMS) with the critical design elements to improve navigation and interaction with BVI users. Study one was a survey exploring the perception of readiness for taking online courses between sighted and visually impaired students. The findings from the survey fueled study two, which employed participatory design with storytelling with K-12 teachers and BVI students to learn more about their experiences using LMSs and how they imagine such systems to be more accessible. The findings led to developing the accessible learning content management system (ALCMS), a web-based platform for managing courses, course content, and course roster, evaluated in study three with high school students, both sighted and visually impaired, to determine its usability and accessibility. This research contributes with recommendations for including features and design elements to improve accessibility in existing LMSs and building new ones

Virtual reality and its role in removing the barriers that turn cognitive impairments into intellectual disability

Early expectations of the contribution that virtual reality (VR) could make to education far exceeded actual applications. This was largely due to the initial immaturity of the technology and a lack of evidence base on which to base design and utilisation. While the early developments in computer based learning largely concentrated on mainstream education, leaving those with special needs behind, the potential of VR as an educational tool was exploited for those with intellectual disabilities right from the start. This paper describes the empirical evidence that has contributed to the development of educational virtual reality for those with intellectual disabilities: studies on transfer of learning from the virtual to the real world; how teachers might support those using VR; the design of virtual environments and what input/control devices best facilitate use of desktop VR. Future developments and ethical issues are also considered

Using Inclusive Design to Improve the Accessibility of Informal STEM Education, for Children with Visual Impairment

In this research paper, STEM workshops are designed to provide experiences for twenty-five blind and visually impaired children at a summer camp, with STEM activities that are engaging and fun as well as educational. The aspiration is that the participants should have equitable experiences to their peers without visual impairment, so that they may get the same enjoyment from the STEM workshops as any other participants. Another research goal is to investigate the accessibility features of various commercially available robots, and consider the stability of accessibility features as robots are updated and replaced over time. An analytical autoethnographic approach and an Inclusive Design Model are used, which employ the researcher’s experience as a blind person and children’s feedback to inform ongoing design revisions to the Informal STEM Education activities. Children experimented with playing with and programming robotic toys such as a Bee-bot, Cubetto, Cubelets and Lego Mindstorm EV3, using modified mats and building materials. Video recording, group interviews and direct observation were the data collection tools used. Although all of the STEM education tools used in this study required at least some modification to make them more accessible for the participants, the amount of modification needed varied widely. Some tools were nearly accessible out of the box, while others could not easily be made accessible at all. This suggests many avenues for future research into the accessibility of tools for STEM education, especially robots. The inclusive design of some potential STEM education activities which were not tested, for lack of time, are also described

Teaching Chemistry to Students with Disabilities: A Manual For High Schools, Colleges, and Graduate Programs - Edition 4.1

Ever since it was first published, Teaching Chemistry to Students with Disabilities: A Manual for High Schools, Colleges, and Graduate Programs has served as a vital resource in the chemistry classroom and laboratory to students with disabilities as well as their parents, teachers, guidance counselors, and administrators. The comprehensive 4th edition was last updated in 2001, so the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) Committee on Chemists with Disabilities (CWD) thought it prudent to update such a valuable text at this time. In a changing time of technology, rapid access to information, accessibility tools for individuals with disabilities, and publishing, Edition 4.1 is being published digitally/online as an Open Access text. Having Teaching Chemistry to Students with Disabilities: A Manual for High Schools, Colleges, and Graduate Programs in this format will allow for widespread dissemination and access by maximum numbers of readers at no cost- and will allow the text to remain economically sustainable.https://scholarworks.rit.edu/ritbooks/1001/thumbnail.jp

Instructional eLearning technologies for the vision impaired

The principal sensory modality employed in learning is vision, and that not only increases the difficulty for vision impaired students from accessing existing educational media but also the new and mostly visiocentric learning materials being offered through on-line delivery mechanisms. Using as a reference Certified Cisco Network Associate (CCNA) and IT Essentials courses, a study has been made of tools that can access such on-line systems and transcribe the materials into a form suitable for vision impaired learning. Modalities employed included haptic, tactile, audio and descriptive text. How such a multi-modal approach can achieve equivalent success for the vision impaired is demonstrated. However, the study also shows the limits of the current understanding of human perception, especially with respect to comprehending two and three dimensional objects and spaces when there is no recourse to vision

Integration of Assistive Technologies into 3D Simulations: Exploratory Studies

Virtual worlds and environments have many purposes, ranging from games to scientific research. However, universal accessibility features in such virtual environments are limited. As the impairment prevalence rate increases yearly, so does the research interests in the field of assistive technologies. This work introduces research in assistive technologies and presents three software developments that explore the integration of assistive technologies within virtual environments, with a strong focus on Brain-Computer Interfaces. An accessible gaming system, a hands-free navigation software system, and a Brain-Computer Interaction plugin have been developed to study the capabilities of accessibility features within virtual 3D environments. Details of the specification, design, and implementation of these software applications are presented in the thesis. Observations and preliminary results as well as directions of future work are also included

A Systematic Analysis of Accessibility Education Within Computing Disciplines

Accessible technologies improve the usability for all users, including 1 billion people in the world who have a disability. Although there is a demand for accessible technologies, there is currently no requirement for universities to integrate this content within the computing curriculum. A systematic comparison of teaching efficacy is important to effectively prepare future computing professionals with the skills to create accessible technologies. This dissertation contains a mixed-methods cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of undergraduate Software Engineering and Information Technology students’ learning of accessibility. Four teaching conditions were assessed at Rochester Institute of Technology: content lectures, projects, exposure to stakeholders with a disability, and collaboration with a team member who had a disability. Evidence of student learning was obtained through questionnaires, project reports, and interview data. Student learning was quantified by a knowledge of programming techniques, awareness of accessible technologies, and attitudes towards individuals with a disability. The cross-sectional analysis spanned three years (spring 2016-2019), fourteen courses, and seven distinct professors. We found that students in all conditions gained an increased knowledge of implementation methods. Students who were exposed to a stakeholder with a disability obtained significantly higher scores in their prosocial sympathetic attitudes, awareness of accessible technologies, and knowledge of programming techniques following the course. Students in the other conditions obtained significant changes in only a subset of these measures. While students in all conditions obtained significantly higher knowledge scores in the short term, only students who had a project or a team member with a disability sustained significantly higher knowledge scores two years after exposure. In interviews, senior-level students revealed that there were multiple factors outside the classroom that dissuaded them from furthering their learning of accessibility. Students mentioned a lack of person-centered topics in major software development processes (e.g., agile, waterfall) and workplace tasks. Without direct reinforcement, students focused on functional software requirements and expressed that accessibility would only be necessary in select front-end development career paths or domains. While current work in computer accessibility education evaluates learning during, or immediately following, one course, this dissertation provides a systematic comparison of student learning throughout multiple courses and instructors. The findings within this dissertation may be used to inform future curriculum plans and educational initiatives