Defining acceptable interaction for universal access

Many new assistive input systems developed to meet the needs of users with functional impairments fail to make it out of the research laboratory and into regular use by the intended users. This paper examines some of the reasons for this and focuses particular on whether the developers of such systems are focusing on the correct metrics for evaluating the functional attributes of the new input technologies. In particular, the paper focuses on the issue of benchmarking new assistive input systems against a baseline measure of interaction rate that takes allowance of factors such as input success/recognition rate, error rate, correction effort and input time. By addressing each of these measures, a more complete understanding of whether an input system is functionally acceptable can be obtained

Robotic assistants for universal access

Much research is now focusing on how technology is moving away from the traditional computer to a range of smart devices in smart environments, the so-called Internet of Things. With this increase in computing power and decrease in form factor, we are approaching the possibility of a new generation of robotic assistants able to perform a range of tasks and activities to support all kinds of users. However, history shows that unless care is taken early in the design process, the users who may stand to benefit the most from such assistance may inadvertently be excluded from it. This paper examines some of those historical missteps and examines possible ways forward to ensure that the next generation robots support the principles of universal access

The role of simulation in designing for universal access

It is known that the adoption of user-centred design processes can lead to more universally accessible products and services. However, the most frequently cited approach to user-centred design, i.e. participatory design, can be both problematic and expensive to implement., particularly over the difficulty of finding and recruiting suitable participants. Simulation aids offer a potentially cost-effective replacement or complement to participatory design. This paper examines a number of the issues associated with the use of simulation aids when designing for Universal Access. It concludes that simulation aids can play an effective role, but need to be used with due consideration over what insights they provide

When Universal Access does not go to plan: Lessons to be learned

While the theory of designing for Universal Access is increasingly understood, there remain persistent issues over realising products and systems that meet the goal of being accessible and usable by the broadest possible set of users. Clearly products or service that are designed without even considering the needs of the wider user base are implicitly going to struggle to be universally accessible. However, even products that have been designed knowing that they are to be used by broad user bases frequently still struggle to achieve the ambition of being universally accessible. This paper examines a number of such products that did not achieve, at least initially, the desired level of universal accessibility. Principal recommendations from each case study are presented to provide a guide to common issues to be avoided

The subject librarian and the virtual learning environment: A study of UK universities

Purpose: The prevalence of virtual learning environments (VLEs) in higher education is well documented and has been promoted in the UK by government funded projects, but there has been little empirical research on the level of involvement of subject librarians with VLEs. A survey was designed to investigate how VLEs are affecting the work of subject librarians and to examine factors influencing their use in providing electronic information resources and developing information skills. The aim of this paper is to document the results Design/methodology/approach: A questionnaire was distributed electronically to a purposive sample of 132 subject librarians at seven UK universities. The instrument contained mainly closed specified response questions with a few open questions and a response rate of 43 per cent (n=57) was achieved. Findings: Use of VLEs by subject librarians varies both between and within institutions. Factors affecting this include the subject area, co-operation of academic staff and attitudes of librarians towards technology-based teaching. JISC-funded projects have enabled better use of VLEs through the creation of re-usable learning objects and development of pedagogical understanding and skills. Recognition by academic staff of the teaching role of subject librarians has a critical impact on their involvement with VLEs. Research limitations/implications: The timeframe limited the scale of the study and size of the sample. The mainly quantitative approach limited the detail and depth of responses, but sufficient data were collected to establish broad trends, illuminate important factors and identify key issues. Originality/value: The paper provides empirical evidence of how VLEs are affecting the day-to-day activities of subject librarians and suggests areas where further research would be valuable. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Designer requirements for visual capability loss simulator tools: Differences between design disciplines

There is a low uptake of inclusive design tools in industry, partly due to a poor fit between design tools and the thought and work processes of designers. Simulating visual capability losses is a technique with great potential in helping designers improve inclusivity and accessibility. However, we need to understand the needs of designers from different disciplines to improve the fit of these tools and their uptake in industry. This study aims to determine designers’ needs for vision loss simulators, and how this varies between disciplines. Interviews were carried out with 15 designers from five disciplines. The results suggest that one tool is not suitable for all. The graphic and web designers interviewed required a tool to aid communication with clients, hoever, the industrial and engineering designers required two tools, depending on the stage of the design process. To increase their uptake, simulator tools should be used in education.We would like to thank the EPSRC for funding this work, and Wolfson College Cambridge for their support.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07437-5_

Assessing the number of users who are excluded by domestic heating controls

This is the pre-print version of the Article. This Article is also referred to as: "Assessing the 'Design Exclusion' of Heating Controls at a Low-Cost, Low-Carbon Housing Development". - Copyright @ 2011 Taylor & FrancisSpace heating accounts for almost 60% of the energy delivered to housing which in turn accounts for nearly 27% of the total UK's carbon emissions. This study was conducted to investigate the influence of heating control design on the degree of ‘user exclusion’. This was calculated using the Design Exclusion Calculator, developed by the Engineering Design Centre at the University of Cambridge. To elucidate the capability requirements of the system, a detailed hierarchical task analysis was produced, due to the complexity of the overall task. The Exclusion Calculation found that the current design placed excessive demands upon the capabilities of at least 9.5% of the UK population over 16 years old, particularly in terms of ‘vision’, ‘thinking’ and ‘dexterity’ requirements. This increased to 20.7% for users over 60 years old. The method does not account for the level of numeracy and literacy and so the true exclusion may be higher. Usability testing was conducted to help validate the results which indicated that 66% of users at a low-carbon housing development could not programme their controls as desired. Therefore, more detailed analysis of the cognitive demands placed upon the users is required to understand where problems within the programming process occur. Further research focusing on this cognitive interaction will work towards a solution that may allow users to behave easily in a more sustainable manner

On the breaking of collinear factorization in QCD

We investigate the breakdown of collinear factorization for non-inclusive observables in hadron-hadron collisions. For pure QCD processes, factorization is violated at the three-loop level and it has a structure identical to that encountered previously in the case of super-leading logarithms. In particular, it is driven by the non-commutation of Coulomb/Glauber gluon exchanges with other soft exchanges. Beyond QCD, factorization may be violated at the two-loop level provided that the hard subprocess contains matrix element contributions with phase differences between different colour topologies.Comment: Version 2: minor improvements for journal publicatio

Jet vetoing and Herwig++

We investigate the simulation of events with gaps between jets with a veto on additional radiation in the gap in Herwig++. We discover that the currently-used random treatment of radiation in the parton shower is generating some unphysical behaviour for wide-angle gluon emission in QCD 2 to 2 scatterings. We explore this behaviour quantitatively by making the same assumptions as the parton shower in the analytical calculation. We then modify the parton shower algorithm in order to correct the simulation of QCD radiation.Comment: 18 pages, 11 figure

Space-like (vs. time-like) collinear limits in QCD: is factorization violated?

We consider the singular behaviour of QCD scattering amplitudes in kinematical configurations where two or more momenta of the external partons become collinear. At the tree level, this behaviour is known to be controlled by factorization formulae in which the singular collinear factor is universal (process independent). We show that this strict (process-independent) factorization is not valid at one-loop and higher-loop orders in the case of the collinear limit in space-like regions (e.g., collinear radiation from initial-state partons). We introduce a generalized version of all-order collinear factorization, in which the space-like singular factors retain some dependence on the momentum and colour charge of the non-collinear partons. We present explicit results on one-loop and two-loop amplitudes for both the two-parton and multiparton collinear limits. At the level of square amplitudes and, more generally, cross sections in hadron--hadron collisions, the violation of strict collinear factorization has implications on the non-abelian structure of logarithmically-enhanced terms in perturbative calculations (starting from the next-to-next-to-leading order) and on various factorization issues of mass singularities (starting from the next-to-next-to-next-to-leading order).Comment: 81 pages, 5 figures, typos corrected in the text, few comments added and inclusion of NOTE ADDED on recent development