Designing Media for Visually-Impaired Users of Refreshable Touch Displays: Possibilities and Pitfalls

Abstract

This paper discusses issues of importance to designers of media for visually impaired users. The paper considers the influence of human factors on the effectiveness of presentation as well as the strengths and weaknesses of tactile, vibrotactile, haptic, and multimodal methods of rendering maps, graphs, and models. The authors, all of whom are visually impaired researchers in this domain, present findings from their own work and work of many others who have contributed to the current understanding of how to prepare and render images for both hard-copy and technology-mediated presentation of Braille and tangible graphics.

A review of principles in design and usability testing of tactile technology for individuals with visual impairments

“…provide more abstract tactile information that the user must learn to interpret.Benefits include rapid rendering, three dimensional renditions, and presentation of both static and dynamic effects(O'Modhrain et al, 2015).3.Tablets and touch screens, which combine vibration and/or auditory feedback with standard visual displays. Currently, many touch screens are limited by their resolution, single point of contact, and the inability to provide stimulus when the user's finger is not in motion on the screen.…”

“…Currently, many touch screens are limited by their resolution, single point of contact, and the inability to provide stimulus when the user's finger is not in motion on the screen. They are promising in that they are quickly refreshable and less expensive than pin matrices(O'Modhrain et al, 2015).People with visual impairments have used all three types of devices successfully, and each has its advantages in communicating information quickly and efficiently. The hardware components of the devices reviewed varied widely in complexity.…”

Automatic (Tactile) Map Generation—A Systematic Literature Review

“…For example, blind and visually impaired people who suffer from diabetes have decreased tactile sensitivity and thus require different materials than those with high tactile acuity [6]. Simple conversion of the visual image into tangible form, regardless of the methodology used, would most probably lead to meaningless output [7]. Thankfully, along with the growing social awareness of the problems of disabled people, an increasing number of materials and solutions making their lives easier are appearing.…”

“…These interactive solutions involve finger tracking systems or use touch-enabled surfaces [14]. A nice overview of refreshable touch displays was presented by O'Modhrain et al [7]. However, all these methods might benefit from improvements in production processes.…”

Pictures in Your Mind

“…• two-dimensional (2D) objects [1,13], such as tactile diagrams, line drawings or plans -e.g., on embossed paper, swell paper, and increasingly also with vibro-tactile cues [26,38]; • fully 3D objects [39,44,52,57], such as anatomical models, 3D-printed reproductions, or everyday objects; and • the 2.5D realm in-between, i.e., "height fields, [or relief] surfaces that can be represented by a function z = f (x, y), giving every point above a plane a single height value" [44].…”