AssistiveTechnology.ppt

8/10/2019 AssistiveTechnology.ppt

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Universal Design and Assistive

Technology

Providing access and assistanceto people with special needs.


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Motivations

Legal Requirements Section 508 1973/1986 Rehabilitation

Act

1990 Americans with Disabilities Act 1/5 Americans have a disability,

1/10 have a severe disability*

Everyone is impaired sometimes

Intriguing interface challenges

*2000 US Census Brief


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Universal Design

Universal design is the design of products andenvironments to be usable by all people, tothe greatest extent possible, without theneed for adaptation or specialized design

Variety of users: Age, expertise, language, education, physical

abilities, cognitive abilities

Helps everyone, not just those with adisability.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_design


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Universal design principles

equitable use

flexibility in use

simple and intuitive to use

perceptible information

tolerance for error

low physical effort

size and space for approach and use

http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/univ_design/princ_overview.htm


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Example: Multi-Modal Systems

More than one sensory channel ininteraction

e.g. sounds, text, hypertext,

animation, video, gestures, vision

Provides flexibility in input

Redundant output


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Accessible design

Make accessible to as wide a group ofpeople as possible, particularly those withdisabilities

Provide equal access Example: Web accessibility

Challenge:

Very hard to design a product for everyone

Design for all vs. Design for most


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Users with disabilities

visual impairment Blindness, low vision, color blindness

hearing impairment Deafness, partial hearing loss

physical impairment Difficulty or inability to use hands, such as

tremors, loss of muscle control, or paralysis

Cognitive

Learning disabilities such as dyslexia, memory,attention, problem-solving impairments


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and different needs

age groups

older people e.g. disability aids, memory aids,communication tools to prevent social isolation

children e.g. appropriate input/output devices,

involvement in design process cultural differences

influence of nationality, generation, gender, race,sexuality, class, religion, political persuasion etc. oninterpretation of interface features

e.g. interpretation and acceptability of language,cultural symbols, gesture and colour


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Were all disabled sometimes

Environment

Fatigue

Injury Aging

Changing role of informationtechnology


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Example:

Sheila the programmer. She was diagnosed withmuscular dystrophy in her early 20's. This condition,which results in progressive loss of muscularstrength, means that she works from her motorized

wheelchair, and is unable to sit upright for morethan a brief time. As a result, she works in areclined position, leaning back almost horizontally.Her vision problems limit the amount of time shecan focus on the screen, and her muscular weakness

prevents her from handling paper manuals.

http://www.sun.com/access/developers/updt.HCI.advance.html#design


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Another example:

Carla the secretary. She has no vision in one eyeand "tunnel vision" in the other and preparesdocuments using a standard PC and screenmagnification software. Sometimes she is unable

to tell the difference between old and new emailmessages, because her mail application uses colorto distinguish old from new. Like many users withlow vision, she has problems working withcolumns, because it is difficult for her to see iftext is aligned.



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Assistive Technology

Any item, equipment or system, that isused to increase, maintain, or improvefunctional capabilities of a person with adisability

Understand technology in order to designwith it in mind

Create new technology to aid users

Examples: http://www.enablemart.com/


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Vision

Color blindness

Low-vision

The vast majority of visually disabledpeople have some sight

Blindness


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Color blindness

Remember: 8% of population!

Use good color contrast

Color is not the only way ofdistinguishing information

Check your pages with simulator Such as http://www.vischeck.com/index.php


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Myopia and Hypermetropia

Myopia Hypermetropia

(short-sighted) (far-sighted)


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Macular degeneration


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Diabetic retinopathy


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Cataracts


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Tunnel vision


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Accommodating Partial Sight

Large monitor, high resolution,glare protection

Control of color and contrast

Control of font size everywhere

Keyboard orientation aids


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Hardware or Software

Magnification

2 to 16 times

Virtual screen

Viewport, control

Notification of outside events

CRTs for physical items

Software:

Zoomtext MAGic

http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=4&TopicID=31&DocumentID=1387


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Accommodating Blind Users

Screen Readers

Read GUI out loud

Cursor-tracking, routing

Dialogue focus

View areas

Braille display

Braille embosser


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Design implications

Text alternatives for non-textcontent

Information and structure separatefrom presentation

All functionality available viakeyboard

Make placement and functionality ofcontent predictable


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Hearing

Redundant output

hardware (flashing title bar)

software (text to speech)

An increasing problem?

Population

Phone interfaces


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Assistive Technology

Amplification systems

TDD/TTYs

Deaf relay centers Communication aids

SMS: most significant communicationdevice for deaf recently

Sign language translator

Speech training


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Physical Impairments

Complete lack of function

absence of a limb

paralysis

Lack of strength

Tremor/lack of accuracy

Slowness


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Keyboard Modifications

Keyguards

Alternative layouts

Reduce movement

One-handed keyboards, possiblechords

Membrane surfaces (minimize

required pressure)


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Software Modifications

Sticky keys

Slow keys or disable auto-repeat

Modify keyboard mappings On-screen keyboards


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Alternative Input Devices

Speech input

Dictation versus control

Switches

Keyboard has approx 50 switches

Scanning interfaces


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Mouse alternatives

Trackball

Proportional joystick

Switched joystick or cursor keys Head sensor or mouth stick

Eye-gaze

Keyboard only


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Possible Switches

Foot pedal

Leaf switch highly sensitive

Sip and puff

Dual switch (can be used for Morse code) Joy stick

Muscle switch

Neural implant

Eye gaze


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Scanning Interfaces

J

A B C D E F

G H I J K L

M N O P Q R

S T U V W X

Y Z . ,

A B C D E F

(a)

J

A B C D E F

G H I J K L

M N O P Q R

S T U V W X

Y Z . ,

M N O P Q R

(b)

A B C D E F

G H I J K LM N O P Q R

S T U V W X

Y Z . ,

M

(c)

A B C D E F

G H I J K LM N O P Q R

S T U V W X

Y Z . ,

P

(d)


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Acceleration Techniques

Control macros

Word prediction

Abbreviations


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On the horizon: Brain-computer

interfaces

Sensing neural activity tocontrol a device

Communication for severelyparalyzed

Control prosthetic or

paralyzed limb


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Impaired Mental Capabilities

Memory Short or long term, recall and recognition

Perception Attention, discriminating sensory input

Problem Solving Recognizing the problem, implementing

solutions and evaluation

Concepts

Generalizing, skill development Learning

Autism


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Design Guidelines

Input / Interface Control Change colors/contrast for easy reading

Presentation Format blank space to focus attention turn off moving images

Informational Content and Prompting match vocabulary level to user

Infinite patience and risk-free environment


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Who are older people?

People who have been alive forlonger

Thats about all they have incommon


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Potential Declining Abilities

Physical

Sensory

Cognition Retrospective memory

Computing no longer limited to theworkplace


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Assistive Uses

Sensory aids

Memory aids

Mobile emergency alerts Information access

ThirdAge (www.thirdage.com)

Social communication

SeniorNet (www.seniornet.com)


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Guideline summary



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Sources for guidelines

Web accessibility:

http://www.w3.org/WAI/ http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=57&TopicID=167

www-306.ibm.com/able/guidelines/web/accessweb.html
http://www.w3.org/WAI/http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=57&TopicID=167http://www-306.ibm.com/able/guidelines/web/accessweb.htmlhttp://www-306.ibm.com/able/guidelines/web/accessweb.htmlhttp://www-306.ibm.com/able/guidelines/web/accessweb.htmlhttp://www-306.ibm.com/able/guidelines/web/accessweb.htmlhttp://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=57&TopicID=167http://www.w3.org/WAI/


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Take home points

Think about universal design principles helps all users, not just disabled

Technology can help provide access andcontrol of computer

Technology can also help people functionbetter in everyday world

Solutions include wide range of physicaland software solutions

Work with users! You cant understand what its like

AssistiveTechnology.ppt

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