Accessible Tutoring Platform Using Audio-Tactile Graphics Adapted for Visually Impaired People

Abstract

One of the problems faced by people with blindness is access to materials presented in graphical form. There are many alternative forms of providing such information, but they are very often ineffective or have certain limitations. The development of mobile devices and touch sensors enabled the development of new tools to support such people. This study presents a solution called an accessible tutoring platform, using audio-tactile graphics for people with blindness. We aimed to research the influence of the developed platform for the alternative presentation of graphics information on better memorizing, recognizing, and learning. Another goal of the research was to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method for the alternative presentation of audio-tactile graphics. The effectiveness of the proposed solution was verified quantitatively and qualitatively on two groups of blind students from primary and secondary schools with the use of a developed platform and prepared materials for learning mathematics. The obtained research results show that the proposed method of verifying students’ knowledge and auto-selecting exercises with adapted audio description positively influences the improvement of learning effectiveness.

An Alternative Audio-Tactile Method of Presenting Structural Information Contained in Mathematical Drawings Adapted to the Needs of the Blind

“…The image can be customized by adjusting parameters such as the ranges of the axes, the function parameters, the lengths of the sides, and the angles of the figures. An advantage of the prepared editor is the ability to add additional characteristic points in areas that should be highlighted and are important from the perspective of a blind person [37]. Such a prepared exercise could be used to create a basic version of the adapted image, but additional optional transformations are required to fully adapt the graphics to the needs of a person with blindness.…”

Design and Psychophysical Evaluation of a Novel Wearable Upper-Arm Tactile Display Device

“…A tactile display device allows users to feel and reproduce the sensation of tactility through a series of actions, such as force and vibration [ 6 ]. With the support of such devices, people can enjoy a sense of realism and immersion in the game world [ 7 , 8 ]; ensuring the timely and accurate completion of operational tasks in the field of teleoperation [ 9 ]; providing tactile navigation for firefighters in low-vision environments in disaster relief missions; enabling silent command in the battlefield; in the field of car driving, it can provide tactile warning for drivers and passengers to improve driving safety [ 10 ]; and enabling blind people to access a large amount of information, read newspapers [ 11 ], walk and execute simple self-care through tactile functions [ 12 ], which greatly improves their quality of life and reduces the burden on society.…”