Web-based multimodal graphs for visually impaired people

This paper describes the development and evaluation of Web-based multimodal graphs designed for visually impaired and blind people. The information in the graphs is conveyed to visually impaired people through haptic and audio channels. The motivation of this work is to address problems faced by visually impaired people in accessing graphical information on the Internet, particularly the common types of graphs for data visualization. In our work, line graphs, bar charts and pie charts are accessible through a force feedback device, the Logitech WingMan Force Feedback Mouse. Pre-recorded sound files are used to represent graph contents to users. In order to test the usability of the developed Web graphs, an evaluation was conducted with bar charts as the experimental platform. The results showed that the participants could successfully use the haptic and audio features to extract information from the Web graphs

Multimodal virtual reality versus printed medium in visualization for blind people

In this paper, we describe a study comparing the strengths of a multimodal Virtual Reality (VR) interface against traditional tactile diagrams in conveying information to visually impaired and blind people. The multimodal VR interface consists of a force feedback device (SensAble PHANTOM), synthesized speech and non-speech audio. Potential advantages of the VR technology are well known however its real usability in comparison with the conventional paper-based medium is seldom investigated. We have addressed this issue in our evaluation. The experimental results show benefits from using the multimodal approach in terms of more accurate information about the graphs obtained by users

ChUM: Chart Update Mashup

The Chart Update Mash up (ChUM™) consists of various APIs/Technologies that when brought together allow for intuitive georeferenced visualization of the Critical Chart Updates published by the Office of Coast Survey (OCS). Each component of ChUM™ will be described in this paper with an explanation of how each piece works together to form ChUM™. Figure 1 shows the basic building blocks that make up ChUM™. At the base of the structure (in blue) is the data that OCS disseminates to the public via its website/web-services: Raster Nautical Charts, the CRIT data (critical corrections to the chart), and the Coast Pilot. There are three 3rd party API’s (Application Programming Interface)/plug-ins that are used: the Google Maps API v3, the DataTables plug-in, and the NauticalChartsAPI (NCAPI). The NCAPI is an API created by the University of California, San Diego’s Coastal Observing Research and Development Center (CORDC) and it deals directly with fetching and preparing the Raster Nautical charts for use in Google Maps. The DataTables is a plug-in for the jQuery JavaScript library and it is populated with data from the OCS CRIT data. The NauticalChartsAPI UI (User Interface), NCAPIUI, was created by combining the NCAPI, DataTables, and the Coast Pilot data into one API that contained widgets for an intuitive interface that is similar in look and function as the Google Maps widgets. Google Map API is used for its geo-referenced environment and for its familiar controls that are built-in: namely, the panning, zooming, markers/info boxes and various background-overlay options

Analytics-Driven Digital Platform for Regional Growth and Development: A Case Study from Norway

In this paper, we present the growth barometer (Vekstbarometer in Norwegian), which is a digital platform that provides the development trends in the regional context in a visual and user-friendly way. The platform is developed to use open data from different sources that is presented mainly in five main groups: goals, premises or prerequisites for growth, industries, growth, and expectations. Furthermore, it also helps to improve decision-making and transparency, as well as provide new knowledge for research and society. The platform uses sensitive and non-sensitive open data. In contrast to other similar digital platforms from Norway, where the data is presented as raw data or with basic level of presentations, our platform is advantageous since it provides a range of options for visualization that makes the statistics more comprehensive.Comment: The Thirteenth International Conference on Digital Society and eGovernments (ICDS 2019

Exploring user and system requirements of linked data visualization through a visual dashboard approach

One of the open problems in SemanticWeb research is which tools should be provided to users to explore linked data. This is even more urgent now that massive amount of linked data is being released by governments worldwide. The development of single dedicated visualization applications is increasing, but the problem of exploring unknown linked data to gain a good understanding of what is contained is still open. An effective generic solution must take into account the user’s point of view, their tasks and interaction, as well as the system’s capabilities and the technical constraints the technology imposes. This paper is a first step in understanding the implications of both, user and system by evaluating our dashboard-based approach. Though we observe a high user acceptance of the dashboard approach, our paper also highlights technical challenges arising out of complexities involving current infrastructure that need to be addressed while visualising linked data. In light of the findings, guidelines for the development of linked data visualization (and manipulation) are provided

State Cost Competitiveness Dashboard

The goal of this project is to build and analyze the effects of an interactive web-based dashboard for the Massachusetts High Tech Council, a pro-technology advocacy and lobbyist organization. We conducted a survey of Massachusetts High Technology Council (MHTC) members about the perceived effectiveness of the dashboard as well as a usability study of the dashboard prototype to test the ease of use. This allowed us to better understand the impact of technology in policy making