| Design for Adaptive Content Processing: Introduction to the Special Thematic Session | | BIBA | Full-Text | 1-4 | |
| David Crombie | |||
| The Special Thematic Session (STS) on Design for Adaptive Content Processing (ACP) is intended to provide a focus for different but related activities that can be described as having an emphasis on the design process rather than the end product of that process. The European Accessible Information Network (EUAIN) was established to bring together the different stakeholders in the accessible content processing chain and to build on common concerns. The parallel PRO-ACCESS project sought to build on this work and provide ISO 9001 industry-faced guidelines. The mainstreaming of adaptive content processing has also been given an added spur at a European level with the establishment of a high-level stakeholders group which is examining the needs of print impaired people and significantly increasing the current levels of provision. | |||
| Generating DAISY Books from OpenOffice.org | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 5-11 | |
| Christophe Strobbe; Jan Engelen; Vincent Spiewak | |||
| odt2daisy is an open-source extension for OpenOffice.org Writer that
converts word processing files into digital talking books in the DAISY format
(ANSI/NISO Z39.86). odt2daisy produces Full DAISY 3 (text synchronised with
audio), DAISY 3 XML (text without audio) and Full DAISY 2.02 (for compatibility
with older DAISY players). The extension also supports mathematical content
(MathML). odt2daisy works on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Solaris.
For the production of audio, odt2daisy relies on the DAISY Pipeline Lite, an
open-source software developed by the DAISY Consortium, the LAME MP3 encoding
technology, and the operating system's text-to-speech (TTS) engine(s). The
supported languages depend on the TTS engines available on the user's system.
On Unix-based systems odt2daisy relies on the open-source eSpeak TTS engine,
which supports 27 languages. odt2daisy enables the production of DAISY books
with only open-source software. Vincent Spiewak started working on odt2daisy at
the Université Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris, France) and continued the
work at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Leuven, Belgium) in the framework
of ÆGIS, a research and development project co-financed by the European
Commission's 7th Framework Programme. Keywords: digital talking book; DAISY; OpenDocument Format; ODF; OpenOffice.org; open
source | |||
| Combining Web Services and DAISY for the Production and Delivery of Audio Tactile Diagrams | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 12-19 | |
| Declan McMullen; Donal Fitzpatrick | |||
| In recent years audio tactile diagrams have emerged as a viable method of
providing blind learners with access to diagrammatical material. It has proven
beneficial, but obstacles remain to its widespread adoption, especially in
situations where a teacher may not be skilled in tactile production. Current
approaches to audio tactile production contain limitations in various areas
namely reusability, producer support and interoperability.
This paper discusses the Audio Tactile Construction and Delivery Framework (ATCDF), which is a service based approach for the production and delivery of audio tactile diagrams. The approach separates audio tactile diagrams into their component parts, which are then stored independently of one another in repositories. The content in the repositories can be searched for, retrieved and reused independently of one another. Completed audio tactiles can be exported for delivery using the DAISY 3 standard, forming a DAISY based audio tactile. The approach has benefits in areas of reusability, interoperability and producer support. Keywords: blind students; web services; daisy; audio tactiles; tactile graphics;
e-learning | |||
| Wiki, a New Way to Produce Accessible Documents | | BIBA | Full-Text | 20-26 | |
| Alex Bernier; Dominique Burger; Bruno Marmol | |||
| Adapting complex documents to make them accessible for print disabled persons is an iterative process which involves various skills and requires the intervention of several people. Collaborative approaches are well suited, especially those based on Wikis which are now widely used to edit contents on the Web. A Wiki offers useful features to overcome some of the difficulties encountered when using word-processors. MediaWiki is a popular Wiki software which can be extended to allow users to import, edit and export contents using XML DTBook, the format designed by the DAISY Consortium for structuring text in an accessible way. | |||
| Guided Generation and Evaluation of Accessible Scalable Vector Graphics | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 27-34 | |
| Bernhard Dürnegger; Christina Feilmayr; Wolfram Wöß | |||
| Web content, such as text, graphics, audio and video, should be available
and accessible for everybody, but especially for disabled and elderly people.
Graphics (like figures, diagrams, maps, charts and images), above all graphics
with a high explanatory and content value, still may constitute massive
barriers for specific user groups. Using Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), an
open standard published by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), provides new
possibilities for the accessibility of web sites. SVG is based on XML and
consequently gains important advantages like search and index functions.
Moreover, SVG files can be processed by tactile displays or screen readers. To
support the authoring process of graphics in order to make them accessible
guidelines are developed, which empower the authors to detect and evaluate
potential barriers in their own SVGs. An additional software-based evaluation
tool conducts the authors in fulfilling the accessibility guidelines and
simplifies the process of making SVG documents usable and valuable for as many
people as possible. Keywords: Graphics Accessibility; Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG); Accessibility
Guidelines; Software-Supported Evaluation | |||
| Improving the Re-digitisation Process by Using Software with Automatic Metadata Detection | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 35-42 | |
| Reinhard Ruemer; Klaus Miesenberger; Franz Kummer; Claus Gravenhorst | |||
| The provision of electronic documents for print-disabled persons is a key
service of many institutions like libraries for the blind, educational
facilities and other service providers for people with disabilities. Generally
speaking all these institutions have defined a common internal workflow for
providing these documents. A large amount of work falls on the task of
restructuring the text and adding structural metadata for navigation. In this
paper we describe the use of the commercial product docWORKS[e] by German
company CCS and the challenges and benefits in terms of time and output quality
we encountered by using this tool. Keywords: documents processing; OCR; service provision; digitisation; conversion;
workflow; metadata; print-disabled persons; accessible publishing; ebooks | |||
| New Production and Delivery System for Pupils with Disabilities in Austria as Chance for Higher Quality Output | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 43-46 | |
| Reinhard Ruemer; Klaus Miesenberger | |||
| The educational sector is a very diverse field when it comes to the type of
content that is being used in the teaching of school pupils. To make these
documents accessible and usable needs much more work than just to create a
structured document that is readable and navigable for blind and visually
impaired pupils. Often, exercise types especially in the first few grades at
school very much rely on visual activities for example colour matching, naming
of things etc. To make these types of exercises accessible additional work
needs to be done. In the last years we have improved the production process of
schoolbooks inasmuch as we were able to provide a solid basic accessibility now
on which special education teachers can now work on the adaptation of specific
exercise types like the above mentioned. Keywords: documents processing; OCR; service provision; workflow; metadata; print
disabled persons; accessible publishing; ebooks | |||
| A Flexible Software Architecture Concept for the Creation of Accessible PDF Documents | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 47-52 | |
| Alireza Darvishy; Hans-Peter Hutter; Alexander Horvath; Martin Dorigo | |||
| This paper presents a flexible software architecture concept that allows the
automatic generation of fully accessible PDF documents originating from various
authoring tools such as Adobe InDesign [1] or Microsoft Word [2]. The
architecture can be extended to include any authoring tools capable of creating
PDF documents. For each authoring tool, a software accessibility plug-in must
be implemented which analyzes the logical structure of the document and creates
an XML representation of it. This XML file is used in combination with an
untagged non-accessible PDF to create an accessible PDF version of the
document. The implemented accessibility plug-in prototype allows authors of
documents to check for accessibility issues while creating their documents and
add the additional semantic information needed to generate a fully accessible
PDF document. Keywords: Document accessibility; automatic generation of accessible PDF; screen
reader [3]; visual impairment; accessibility; tagged PDF; software architecture | |||
| DAISY Kindergarten Books and Rocket Science Journals | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 53-56 | |
| John A. Gardner; Carolyn K. Gardner; Vladimir Bulatov; Blake Jones; Elizabeth Jones; et al | |||
| ViewPlus is creating universally-usable DAISY math and science supplementary
curricula for United States kindergarten and first grade children. These books
are rich in interactive, fully accessible graphics and may be read with modern
DAISY software readers. Graphics are accessed by audio/touch using the ViewPlus
IVEO technology. ViewPlus is also collaborating with the American Physical
Society (APS) to permit APS journals to be published in this text+graphics
DAISY format. APS is the leading publisher of professional physics journals in
the world. Examples of a DAISY first grade science book and an APS journal
article will be demonstrated at the conference. Keywords: DAISY; IVEO; math/science; children; professional; graphics | |||
| Exploiting the Daisy Format for Automated, Single-Source Braille Publishing | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 57-61 | |
| Lars Ballieu Christensen | |||
| This paper presents the background and status of the projects and discusses
opportunities and challenges of the AutoBraille/NorBraille approach of using
Daisy talking books as the foundation for creating well-formatted, multi-volume
Braille books ready for embossing. Whereas the current R&D projects are
limited to relatively simple document structures, preliminary research suggests
that it will be possible to automatically process even complicated math and
science titles. Keywords: Braille transcription; Daisy; DTB; RoboBraille; single-source publishing;
accessibility; visual impairment | |||
| Rapid Listening of DAISY Digital Talking Books by Speech-Rate Conversion Technology for People with Visual Impairments | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 62-68 | |
| Naoyuki Tazawa; Shinichi Totihara; Yukio Iwahana; Atsushi Imai; Nobumasa Seiyama; et al | |||
| We have performed studies and evaluation experiments of more acceptable
rapid speech, aimed at implementation in applications such as installation in
commercial devices designed for visually impaired persons. Although our
method's playback time is same as the conventional High-speed playback
technology, listener might feel playing in slower speeds and listen words
clearer. Our proposal technology makes it possible to adaptive speech rate
control in utterance position and pitch/power in the speech information,
instead of changing the speed of the utterance uniformly. We performed an
experiment in Japanese and American subject with visual impairments
respectively to compare the conventional high-speed playback technology and
that of our adaptive high-speed playback technology in terms of
"Listenability". The reaction to our proposal method from subjects with visual
impairments has been very positive underscoring its potential as an effective
tool for listening to high-speed speech. Keywords: DAISY; digital talking books; Visual impairment; Rapid listening; Assistive
Technology | |||
| E-Books and Audiobooks: What about Their Accessibility? | | BIBA | Full-Text | 69-73 | |
| Jan Engelen | |||
| Widespread distribution of electronic book readers, commonly called "e-readers" seems to have taken off seriously over the last year. Although the first e-readers popped up almost twenty years ago, last year's market appearance of a completely reworked Amazon Kindle 2, a new series of Sony PRS readers and several Bookeen & Cybook devices made e-books quite popular. All of them can store thousands of books, are extremely light weight and very mince. Many of them however present problems for persons with low vision or blindness. We will discuss briefly the situation and possible solutions. | |||
| E-Books and Inclusion: Dream Come True or Nightmare Unending? | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 74-77 | |
| Alistair McNaught; Shirley Evans; Simon Ball | |||
| Nine e-book delivery platforms were tested for various aspects of
accessibility. The results of this testing are discussed in terms of the roles
and responsibilities in creating an accessible e-book delivery platform. The
e-Book Access Bridge Model is introduced as a potential means of explaining to
publishers the importance of ensuring every step in the process is
barrier-free. Keywords: accessibility; usability; e-books; inclusion; platforms; publishing | |||
| Collaboratively Generated Content on the Audio-Tactile Map | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 78-80 | |
| Armin B. Wagner | |||
| The objective of the present study was to investigate the usage of
audio-tactile maps in an educational context with visually impaired users, to
pinpoint problem areas and to enhance or re-design a suitable system
correspondingly. The gained insights led to the design of a modular e-learning
tool, based on playful exploration, expression and participation. This is
accomplished by harnessing recent advancements in collaborative content
generation and geo-localized data available online. Keywords: visual impairment; e-learning; collaboration; tactile map | |||
| Generating Braille from OpenOffice.org | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 81-88 | |
| Bert Frees; Christophe Strobbe; Jan Engelen | |||
| Odt2Braille is an open-source extension to OpenOffice.org with the goal to
generate Braille from an office suite. It is powered by liblouisxml, a library
intended to provide complete Braille transcription services for XML documents.
Odt2Braille will enable authors to print their document to an embosser or to
export a Braille file. The output is well-formatted and highly customizable.
The work is part of the European R&D project ÆGIS. Keywords: Braille; OpenOffice.org; extension; odt; liblouis; accessibility; ÆGIS | |||
| Sonification of ASCII Circuit Diagrams | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 89-91 | |
| Angela Constantinescu; Karin Müller | |||
| Graphics and diagrams can be made available to blind users mainly in two
ways: via speech descriptions or tactile printing. However, both approaches
require help from a sighted, well instructed third party. We propose here a
fast and inexpensive alternative to making graphics accessible to blind people,
using sound and a corpus of ASCII graphics. The goal is to outline the
challenges in sonifying ASCII diagrams in such a way that the semantics of the
graphics is successfully brought to their users. Additionally, the users should
have the possibility to perform the sonifications themselves. The concept is
exemplified using circuit diagrams. Keywords: Sonification; ASCII graphics; accessibility; blind | |||
| Accessing Google Docs via Screen Reader | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 92-99 | |
| Maria Claudia Buzzi; Marina Buzzi; Barbara Leporini; Giulio Mori; Victor M. R. Penichet | |||
| Groupware systems allow remote collaboration via computer in a simple,
economic and efficient way. However, to be universally valuable, groupware
systems must be accessible and usable for all, including the differently-abled.
In this paper we discuss the results of testing the accessibility and usability
of Google Docs (http://docs.google.com) when using a screen reader and a voice
synthesizer, and suggest some basic guidelines for designing effective,
efficient and satisfactory User Interfaces (UIs). Keywords: Accessibility; usability; groupware; screen reader; blind | |||
| Making Digital Maps Accessible Using Vibrations | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 100-107 | |
| Bernhard Schmitz; Thomas Ertl | |||
| In order to allow blind and deafblind people to use and explore
electronically available maps, we have developed a system that displays maps in
a tactile way using a standard rumble gamepad. The system is intended for both
on-site and off-site use and therefore includes mechanisms for getting
overviews of larger regions as well as for the exploration of small areas. Keywords: Haptic Maps; Vibrating Maps; Blind Users | |||
| Non-visual Navigation of Spreadsheet Tables | | BIBA | Full-Text | 108-115 | |
| Iyad Abu Doush; Enrico Pontelli | |||
| This paper presents a new system for non-visual navigation of tables located within a spreadsheet. The purpose is to provide a novel hierarchical non-visual navigation of tabular structures. The hierarchical view of the spreadsheet content, along with the user ability to select the desired table within a complex spreadsheet, provides greater flexibility than what offered by current assistive technologies. The proposed system allows the user to select a table and choose between different navigation strategies. The proposed approach introduces the solution in two stages: (i) table detection and recognition and (ii) non-visual navigation of the selected table. The system is provided as a plug-in for MS Excel™. | |||
| New Testing Method for the Dyslexic and the Newly Blind with a Digital Audio Player and Document Structure Diagrams | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 116-123 | |
| Mamoru Fujiyoshi; Akio Fujiyoshi; Toshiaki Aomatsu | |||
| A new testing method with a digital audio player and document structure
diagrams is developed for the dyslexic and the newly blind, who have
difficulties with reading in braille or print. Since documents in the National
Center Test for University Admissions are very long and have very complicated
document structure, ordinary auditory testing media such as human reader or
audio cassette are not appropriate. The new testing method can be administrated
only with a digital audio player with 2-dimensional code reader and sheets of
paper on which document structure diagrams and corresponding invisible
2-dimensional codes are printed. Keywords: university admissions; testing method; the newly blind; the dyslexic;
auditory testing media | |||
| Annotating and Describing Pictures -- Applications in E-Learning and Accessibility of Graphics | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 124-130 | |
| Ivan Kopecek; Radek Ošlejšek | |||
| The paper describes the ontology based approach to the annotation of
graphical objects in relation to the accessibility of graphics. Some
applications in e-leaning are also discussed. The problem concerning the
optimality of graphical ontologies in relation with the annotation process is
addressed and an optimality measure enabling algorithmic solution of this
problem is proposed. Finally, an approach to generating picture description is
presented. Keywords: Accessibility of graphics; picture annotation; e-learning; ontology | |||
| New Concepts of PC Interaction for Blind Users Based on Braille Displays with ATC Technology (Active Tactile Control) | | BIBA | Full-Text | 131-134 | |
| Siegfried Kipke | |||
| Braille presented as a combination of raised dots is a very important way of accessing information for blind computer users offering crucial advantages compared to speech output. The ATC (Active Tactile Control) technology allows new PC interactions based on detecting the tactile reading position in real-time on a Braille display. Reading position sensitive assistant functions and context depended controls, like task overview and Braille frames, are introduced. | |||
| Inclusive E-Services for All: Identifying Accessibility Requirements for Upcoming Interaction Technologies | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 135-138 | |
| Alejandro Rodriguez-Ascaso; Erik Zetterström; Martin Böcker; Helge Hüttenrauch; et al | |||
| Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have the potential of
facilitating the lives of citizens. However, experience consistently shows that
user-interface innovations for consumer products are being researched and
developed without taking into account the needs of people with disabilities.
This situation is not helped by the fact that product and service developers
can be unaware of the requirements of customers with impairments and therefore
lack the insight into appropriate design solutions that may not be very
demanding in terms of R&D and production costs. ETSI, the European
Telecommunications Standards Institute, has established a Specialist Task Force
(STF) 377 on "Inclusive eServices for all: Optimizing the accessibility and use
of upcoming user interaction technology". The aim of this working group is to
systematically evaluate ongoing and forthcoming interaction technologies to
sketch a 10-year roadmap of foreseen technological enablers. Keywords: Design for All; Accessibility; User Interaction; HCI and Non Classical
Interfaces; Technology Roadmap; Standardisation; ETSI | |||
| HAIL: Hierarchical Adaptive Interface Layout | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 139-146 | |
| John Magee; Margrit Betke | |||
| We present a framework to adapt software to the needs of individuals with
severe motion disabilities who use mouse substitution interfaces. Typically,
users are required to adapt to the interfaces that they wish to use. We propose
interfaces that change and adapt to the user and their individual abilities.
The Hierarchical Adaptive Interface Layout (HAIL) model is a set of
specifications for the design of user interface applications that adapt to the
user. In HAIL applications, all of the interactive components take place on
configurable toolbars along the edge of the screen. We show two HAIL-based
applications: a general purpose web browser and a Twitter client. Keywords: Adaptive User Interfaces; Video-Based Interfaces; Camera Mouse; Web
Browsers; Social Networking | |||
| Customizable Software Interface for Monitoring Applications | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 147-153 | |
| Manuel Merino; Isabel Gómez; Octavio Rivera; Alberto J. Molina | |||
| In this paper we propose an application based on virtual keyboard and
automatic scanning to communicate with a PC and the others people. The aim
users are the people with disabilities. A high degree of customization is
possible in the software. So the user can selected the color of buttons,
position of system on screen, the kind of scanning, timer, the interface of
communication, etc. Five people without disabilities tested our system. The
results of the tests show the application reduce the fatigue of user and
increased the text entry rate. Keywords: interface; prediction system; control system; disability | |||
| Towards to Real-Time System with Optimization Based Approach for EOG and Blinking Signals Separation for Human Computer Interaction | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 154-161 | |
| Robert Krupinski; Przemyslaw Mazurek | |||
| Electrooculography (EOG) systems could be used for Human Computer
Interaction but measurements with minimal number of electrodes and appropriate
signals processing algorithms for the separation of EOG and blinking signals
are required. Median filter with a carefully selected mask size could be used
for the initialization of the evolution-based algorithm, which is used for the
estimation and separation of EOG and blinking signals. Keywords: Biomeasurements; Biosignals; Electrooculography | |||
| Towards Accessible Interactions with Pervasive Interfaces, Based on Human Capabilities | | BIBA | Full-Text | 162-169 | |
| Matthew Tylee Atkinson; Yunqiu Li; Colin H. C. Machin; David Sloan | |||
| We draw on the literature, established standards and practices, contemporary funded projects and ongoing proof-of-concept work to argue for accessibility advocates to capitalise on the current paradigm shift towards ubiquitous, distributed and collaborative information systems. We discuss the contemporary interaction trends and accessibility challenges that give rise to our proposal; describe and provide an argument for capability-based development over the current, more device-focused, approach and document ongoing proof-of-concept and funded development work in this area. | |||
| Accelerometer & Spatial Audio Technology: Making Touch-Screen Mobile Devices Accessible | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 170-177 | |
| Flaithri Neff; Tracey J. Mehigan; Ian Pitt | |||
| As mobile-phone design moves toward a touch-screen form factor, the visually
disabled are faced with new accessibility challenges. The mainstream
interaction model for touch-screen devices relies on the user having the
ability to see spatially arranged visual icons, and to interface with these
icons via a smooth glass screen. An inherent challenge for blind users with
this type of interface is its lack of tactile feedback. In this paper we
explore the concept of using a combination of spatial audio and accelerometer
technology to enable blind users to effectively operate a touch-screen device.
We discuss the challenges involved in representing icons using sound and we
introduce a design framework that is helping us tease out some of these issues.
We also outline a set of proposed user-studies that will test the effectiveness
of our design using a Nokia N97. The results of these studies will be presented
at ICCHP 2010. Keywords: Spatial Audio; Accelerometers; Vision Impaired; Mobile Devices | |||
| An Open Source / Freeware Assistive Technology Software Inventory | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 178-185 | |
| Alexandros Pino; Georgios Kouroupetroglou; Hernisa Kacorri; Anna Sarantidou; et al | |||
| Assistive Technology (AT) software market is expensive, and related products
are hard to find, especially for non-English speaking users. Open Source and
free AT software partially solve the cost problem, and online inventories
facilitate the search for the appropriate product. Even so, users don't have
all the information gathered and systematically organized in one place.
Furthermore, free software often needs to be tested and reviewed by computer
and AT experts in order to detect and point out reliability, installation, and
compatibility issues. We propose a methodology for creating web-based free AT
software inventories, which will make the search and selection of such products
straightforward. The methodology is based on the systematic organization and
consistency of the information available for each product, and its effective
presentation; the goal for the users is to be able to quickly find, compare and
understand the functionality and features of each product. We have applied this
methodology to create the Open Source / Freeware AT software inventory
http://access.uoa.gr/fs. Keywords: Open Source; Assistive technology; Accessibility | |||
| Designing and Developing Accessible Java Swing Applications | | BIBA | Full-Text | 186-188 | |
| Theofanis Oikonomou; Konstantinos Votis; Dimitrios Tzovaras; Peter Korn | |||
| Existing development tools provide little out-of-the-box assistance in order to design and develop accessible ICT Java solutions for impaired users. Two new approximation simulation tools are presented in an attempt to achieve accessibility design and development of Java Swing applications. | |||
| Effects of Visual Stimuli on a Communication Assistive Method Using Sympathetic Skin Response | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 189-192 | |
| Fumihiko Masuda; Chikamune Wada | |||
| We propose a communication assistive method that uses sympathetic skin
response (SSR) as the input indicator for a device that will assist the
disabled. To develop this method, we investigated the influence of optimal
display conditions. SSR evokes visual stimuli. Therefore, we first clarified
the optimal combination of background and character colors. The results show
that the perception of conspicuousness increased as the contrast ratio
increased. Then we investigated the change in the SSR appearance ratio in the
conspicuous display condition; the result showed that the contrast had no
influence on the SSR appearance ratio. In the future, we will conduct
experiments on more subjects and further clarify the influence of visual
stimuli. Keywords: sympathetic skin response; disabled; communication assistive method; visual
stimuli; contrast | |||
| Computerized Assessing the Mouse Proficiency through Multiple Indicators | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 193-199 | |
| Ming-Chung Chen; Yun-Lung Lin; Chien-Chuan Ko | |||
| This study presents a computerized assessment tool which provides multiple
parameters for evaluating a subject's pointing and selecting proficiency. The
Mi-CAT system could provide effect parameters, quality parameters, and visual
information that serve as the multiple indicators for clinical professionals to
decide whether a pointing device or a setting is proper for a client. Besides
introducing the Mi-CAT system, this study also explore the effectiveness of
applying Mi-CAT in identifying a proper pointing device for a 7-year-old girl.
The results reported that the multiple indicators generated from Mi-CAT system
would pinpoint a better device or setting for this girl. Keywords: mouse proficiency; people with disabilities | |||
| PUIR: Parallel User Interface Rendering | | BIBA | Full-Text | 200-207 | |
| Kris Van Hees; Jan Engelen | |||
| While providing non-visual access to graphical user interfaces has been the topic of research for over 20 years, blind users still face many obstacles when using computer systems. The higher degree of flexibility for both developers and users poses additional challenges. Existing solutions are largely based on either graphical toolkit hooks, queries to the application and environment, scripting, or model-driven user interface development or runtime adaptation. Parallel user interface rendering (PUIR) is a novel approach based on past and current research into accessibility, promoting the use of abstract user interface descriptions. PUIR provides the mechanism to render a user interface simultaneously in multiple forms (e.g. visual and non-visual). | |||
| Transient Cooperation in Social Applications for Accessibility Mapping | | BIBA | Full-Text | 208-215 | |
| Harald Holone; Jo Herstad | |||
| Collecting, disseminating and maintaining accessibility information about the physical world is a daunting task. Through the OurWay concept, end users are involved to provide feedback on suggested routes in a route planning system, thereby solving both their own navigational tasks at hand, and helping other users by leaving behind traces of their activity. We define and explore Transient Cooperation, the type of cooperation we have observed in a prototype evaluation of the concept. This exploration is undertaken in the light of established research on accessibility, cooperation and social software. We also suggest implications this type of cooperation can have for accessibility mapping. | |||
| A Social Approach to Accessible Social Networking Using the CAT Model | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 216-223 | |
| Jennifer George; Gilbert Cockton; Thomas Greenough | |||
| The social model of disability looks beyond medical and technical solution
moving towards social approach. This paper applies the label and table
attributes of the CAT models to understand the social setting of the child with
the disability together with the care circle. It goes on to understand their
social needs and identifies accessibility challenges in communication between
members of the care circle. Evaluation is carried out in both a computer and
Internet based environment and a traditional communication environment. Finally
brief guidelines are drawn upon which an accessible social network based design
solution could be built for the reduction of disability of children with motor
impairment. Keywords: Social model; CAT Model; Accessibility; Social Networking; Social Inclusion | |||
| Entertainment Software Accessibility: Introduction to the Special Thematic Session | | BIBA | Full-Text | 224-226 | |
| Dominique Archambault | |||
| This year will see the fifth edition of this Special Thematic Session. In ten years we have seen the growing awareness of game accessibility in our community of people who aim at helping other people with digital devices, and in the same time in the community of games designers. But this is not enough. Indeed in the real market there is about no accessible game in the blockbusters. For readers interested in this topic, more information can be found in [3], an extensive State of-the-Art paper about Computer Games and Visually Impaired People. | |||
| User Interface Evaluation of Serious Games for Students with Intellectual Disability | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 227-234 | |
| Cecilia Sik Lanyi; David J. Brown; Penny Standen; Jacqueline Lewis; Vilma Butkute | |||
| We have designed and evaluated around 10 serious games under the EU Leonardo
Transfer of Innovation Project: Game On Extra Time (GOET) project
http://goet-project.eu/. The project supports people with learning disabilities
and additional sensory impairments in getting and keeping a job by helping them
to learn, via games-based learning; skills that will help them in their working
day. These games help students to learn how to prepare themselves for work,
dealing with everyday situations at work, including money management,
travelling independently etc. This paper is concerned with the potential of
serious games as effective and engaging learning resources for people with
intellectual disabilities. In this paper we will address questions related to
the design and evaluation of such games, and our design solutions to suit the
individual learning needs of our target audiences. Keywords: intellectual disability; serious games; user interface testing | |||
| Making Mainstreaming Videogames More Accessible: A Pilot Study Applied to Buzz!™ Junior Monster Rumble for PlayStation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 235-242 | |
| Elena Laudanna; Maria Bulgheroni; Francesca Caprino; Serenella Besio | |||
| In this article the authors analyse the critical factors concerning
accessibility of the videogame Buzz!™ Junior Monster Rumble for the
Playstation console. The objective of the study is to propose a series of
modifications that, on the one hand, do not change the graphic and playability
features of the game and, on the other, expand the target of users to include
children with cognitive and/or motor disabilities. If this method turns out to
be feasible and applicable it could also be extended to more complex games in
terms of functions and required skills, contributing to a more inclusive
approach within the research and study of videogame accessibility. The reasons
for choosing this particular game are an essential precondition for a
comprehensive study. Keywords: Mainstream videogames; ICF-CY; accessibility | |||
| Accessibility of a Social Network Game | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 243-246 | |
| Roland Ossmann; Klaus Miesenberger | |||
| The social network Facebook is one of the largest social communities in the
internet, where people meet online to post messages and pictures, chat and play
games. While Facebook is accessible, Framville, the most played online game,
embedded in Facebook, is not accessible for several user groups. This work will
give a short overview about state of the art in games accessibility and will
give a detailed view about accessibility issues in Fameville and the used
technology, Flash. Additionally, possible improvements for Farmville and
positive examples of accessible Flash games will be shown. Keywords: Games Accessibility; Flash Accessibility; Farmville Accessibility | |||
| Using Placement and Name for Speaker Identification in Captioning | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 247-254 | |
| Quoc V. Vy; Deborah I. Fels | |||
| The current method for speaker identification in closed captioning on
television is ineffective and difficult in situations with multiple speakers,
off-screen speakers, or narration. An enhanced captioning system that uses
graphical elements (e.g., avatar and colour), speaker names and caption
placement techniques for speaker identification was developed. A comparison
between this system and conventional closed captions was carried out deaf and
hard-of-hearing participants. Results indicate that viewers are distracted when
the caption follows the character on-screen regardless of whether this should
assist in identifying who is speaking. Using the speaker's name for speaker
identification is useful for viewers who are hard of hearing but not for deaf
viewers. There was no significant difference in understanding, distraction, or
preference for the avatar with the coloured border component. Keywords: speaker identification; captioning; subtitles; universal design | |||
| A Real-Time Network Board Game System Using Tactile and Auditory Senses for the Visually Impaired | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 255-262 | |
| Daisuke Nagasaka; Naoki Kaneda; Kazunori Itoh; Makoto Otani; Michio Shimizu; et al | |||
| In this paper, we introduce an interactive board game system using tactile
and auditory senses for the visually impaired. Reversi was implemented because
it has relatively simple rules. We performed experiments to evaluate the system
with visually impaired and sighted persons. Results show that the visually
impaired could play Reversi smoothly using the interactive system. Keywords: visually impaired person; Reversi; tactile guide; speech guide; auditory
display; vibrating stimulus | |||
| Realizing Accessible Tourism by Matching Stakeholders: Introduction to the Special Thematic Session | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 263-265 | |
| Kerstin Matausch; Franz Pühretmair | |||
| The following paper discusses the necessity for a tourism for all which is
realized along the whole tourism service chain and the need to match various
stakeholders. It points out that policy- and management-driven activities are
advantageous and that the achievement of ambitious goals has to be realized by
single steps. Keywords: accessible tourism; tourism for all; stakeholder interests | |||
| Planning of Inclusive and Accessible Events | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 266-272 | |
| Kerstin Matausch; Klaus Miesenberger | |||
| This paper presents a "Handbook for Accessible Events" providing structured
advice to prepare and run events which are accessible and inviting to a divers
set of participants including in particular those with disabilities. This
handbook has been created with the goal to be adaptable to different kind and
scales of events and, besides general accessibility requirements, to
specifically address selected target groups. The "Handbook for Accessible
Events" is available on an open source basis to support as many as possible
event organizers but in particular also to invite to contribute out of own
experiences and expertise to brush up the tool. Keywords: accessibility; inclusion; events; accessible events | |||
| User Feed-Back in the Development of an Information System for Public Transport | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 273-279 | |
| Christian Bühler; Helmut Heck; Christian Radek; Rainer Wallbruch; Josef Becker; et al | |||
| Within the German projects BAIM and BAIM plus, information services for
people with reduced mobility have been developed. These accessible and
adaptable services provide information on public transport. The challenge was
to provide sufficient information so that accessible, barrier free journeys can
be planned in advance and undertaken in real life. These services are available
on the internet and on telephones (mobile phones) prior to and while
travelling. User evaluation of these developed and implemented services lead to
notable suggestions for further development activities. Keywords: accessible public transport; people with reduced mobility; user involvement;
information services; barrier-free travelling | |||
| User-Specific Web-Based Route Planning | | BIBA | Full-Text | 280-287 | |
| Bettina Pressl; Christoph Mader; Manfred Wieser | |||
| A web-application for route planning should allow users with special requirements like blind or visually impaired people, and wheelchair users to increase their mobility in urban areas. Especially when visiting an unknown city as a tourist, detailed information is needed. Based on a developed digital map for these special user groups, route planning of barrier-free routes with additional information and pre-trip training will be provided. Moreover, public transport is essential for these user groups. Individual user profiles enable the definition of preferences for every single user which will influence route planning and visualization. The upcoming challenges in data modeling and route planning by using time schedules of public transport and multi-criteria optimization are discussed in this article. | |||
| Results of a Workshop Series on Ambient Assisted Living | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 288-291 | |
| Martin M. Morandell; Erwin Fugger | |||
| Within a series of four workshops selected topics of the research field
Ambient Assisted Living are discussed with the relevant stakeholders. The aim
is to bring experts with different points of view together. Thus, new ideas for
projects should be generated, experiences exchanged and barriers and possible
attempts to overcome them identified. Furthermore the workshop series aims to
make the possibilities of Ambient Assisted Living more transparent. Keywords: Ambient Assisted Living; ICT; Workshops | |||
| Challenges for Norwegian PC-Users with Parkinson's Disease -- A Survey | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 292-299 | |
| Miriam Eileen Nes Begnum | |||
| This paper presents the results from a Norwegian survey on the computer use
of people with Parkinson's disease (PD), conducted through the PIKT project in
the summer of 2008. The study shows that nearly 80% of the user population has
significant and severe PD related challenges using a computer. Frequent problem
areas include inertia, muscle stiffness, using a computer mouse, tremor and
issues related to keyboard and ergonomics. Assistance in optimizing computer
use is severely lacking, non-systematic and coincidental, and the employment
rate among the respondents is about half of the national average. This paper
describes the main findings from this study. It highlights main challenges for
the user group in question, confirms national findings on gender, computer
illiteracy and usage aspects, paints a picture of the current situation for
PC-users with Parkinson's disease in Norway and discusses the implications of
the findings. Keywords: Computer adaptation; Parkinson's disease | |||
| Usability and Usefulness of GPS Based Localization Technology Used in Dementia Care | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 300-307 | |
| Øystein Dale | |||
| Dementia is a chronic brain disease affecting cognitive functioning. People
with dementia have a higher risk of getting lost. In recent years GPS based
technology has been utilised to locate lost persons with dementia. We
interviewed six families using such technology focusing on perceived usability,
user-friendliness and usefulness. The informants also completed the QUEST 2.0
questionnaire which measures satisfaction with assistive technology. By and
large the informants found the equipment easy to use, and it was viewed by all
as being very useful. There were a number of usability issues which adversely
affected usage, e.g. system stability, secure fastening, size, user interface
issues and varying GPS-reception. The QUEST 2.0 results corresponded with the
findings in the interviews. Further usability studies, as well as R&D to
address issues such as security and privacy protection and use in the public
health sector are needed. Keywords: Dementia; localization; assistive technology; GPS; usability | |||
| Development of Universal Communication Aid for Emergency Using Motion Pictogram | | BIBA | Full-Text | 308-311 | |
| Mari Kakuta; Kaoru Nakazono; Yuji Nagashima; Naotsune Hosono | |||
| VUTE is a communication aid technology that aims to take away the communication barrier for people with hard of hearing related to old age, deaf people and people traveling abroad. VUTE uses motion pictograms and can be used without prior training. We created a prototype of VUTE (VUTE 2009), a system that can be used in emergency situations. This paper describes the design concept, overview and evaluation of VUTE 2009. | |||
| Friendly Human-Machine Interaction in an Adapted Robotized Kitchen | | BIBA | Full-Text | 312-319 | |
| Joan Aranda; Manuel Vinagre; Enric X. Martín; Miquel Casamitjana; Alicia Casals | |||
| The concept and design of a friendly human-machine interaction system for an adapted robotized kitchen is presented. The kitchen is conceived in a modular way in order to be adaptable to a great diversity in level and type of assistance needs. An interaction manager has been developed which assist the user to control the system actions dynamically according to the given orders and the present state of the environment. Real time enhanced perception of the scenario is achieved by means of a 3D computer vision system. The main goal of the present project is to provide this kitchen with the necessary intelligent behavior to be able to actuate efficiently by interpreting the users' will. | |||
| Audio Classification Techniques in Home Environments for Elderly/Dependant People | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 320-323 | |
| Héctor Lozano; Inmaculada Hernáez; Artzai Picón; Javier Camarena; Eva Navas | |||
| The study of techniques and algorithms for "non-speech" sounds analysis and
processing can be foreseen as a technological progress bringing important
benefits to disadvantaged groups. This article focuses on finding solutions
which allow the detection and classification of household sounds with two
clearly defined objectives: 1) Helping people with hearing impairment to
overcome daily situations which they have to deal with, such as
warnings/alarms, door bells or telephones ringing, alarm clocks, etc. 2) To
collect information from the environment which may be used to track the
behavior pattern of an individual. Keywords: Sound Classification; Signal Processing; Assistive Technology | |||
| Autonomamente: Using Goal Attainment Scales to Evaluate the Impact of a Multimodal Domotic System to Support Autonomous Life of People with Cognitive Impairment | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 324-331 | |
| Thimoty Barbieri; Piero Fraternali; Antonio Bianchi; Clarissa Tacchella | |||
| The Autonomamente project developed a highly customizable application based
on multimodal communication (speech, icons, text) to support autonomous living
of persons with cognitive disabilities in special apartments fitted with
domotic sensors. Its functionalities are designed to support everyday social
activities of the users: using the telephone in a simple way, schedule
appointments, keep track of time and organize personal finances and savings.
This paper aims to explain the evaluation performed using the Goal Attainment
Scale Method, whereby each person agrees with his/her trainer upon at least one
specific goal related to the application in order to improve his/her results. Keywords: Ambient Assisted Living; Assessment and Profiling; Augmented and Alternative
Communication (AAC); Cognitive Disability | |||
| PMD: Designing a Portable Medicine Dispenser for Persons Suffering from Alzheimer's Disease | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 332-335 | |
| Roel de Beer; Roy Keijers; Suleman Shahid; Abdullah Al Mahmud; Omar Mubin | |||
| In this paper we present the user-centred design of a medicine dispenser for
persons suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The prototype was evaluated in two
phases with two caregivers and two Alzheimer's patients. Caregivers evaluated
the device positively. The Alzheimer's patients faced usability problems while
completing tasks due to the virtual interaction medium of the medicine
dispenser. However, patients and caregivers found the concept useful for
medication intake. Keywords: User-centred design; prototype; alzheimer's disease; memory impairment;
older adults; medicine dispenser | |||
| Merging Web Accessibility and Usability by Patterns | | BIBA | Full-Text | 336-342 | |
| Helmut Vieritz; Daniel Schilberg; Sabina Jeschke | |||
| Nowadays, usability and accessibility are two important quality aspects of
user interfaces (UIs). But in research and development, both are sometimes
accounted as unity and sometimes as contradiction. Understanding Web
accessibility as an essential part of usability, here an approach is given to
clarify the relationship of both. Therefore,
* a pattern approach was chosen to meet the practical requirements of UI
designers which are often not familiar with accessibility needs, * a collection of patterns for human-computer interaction (HCI) has been extended with accessibility requirements and * finally a pattern example illustrates the cooperation of usability and accessibility in detail. | |||
| Towards the Convergence of Web 2.0 and Semantic Web for E-Inclusion | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 343-350 | |
| Laura Burzagli; Andrea Como; Francesco Gabbanini | |||
| The paper discusses a research approach to achieve the "wider inclusion
objectives" reported in the second part of the Riga declaration. The approach
is based on the convergence of two forms of intelligence on the web, given by
Web 2.0 and the Semantic Web. While Web 2.0 encompasses social phenomena, often
undervalued in the field of e-Inclusion (exchange and collection of large
amount of information), Semantic Web is designed for interlinking and reusing
structured information. The paper outlines a software architecture for the
exploitation of the above concepts and gives an example of a possible
application built on top of the architecture, in the domain of inclusive
e-Tourism, enlightening benefits that come by the adoption of the approach,
with respect to current trip planning systems. Keywords: Web 2.0; Semantic Web; e-Inclusion; Ontology; Design for All | |||
| Beyond a Visuocentric Way of a Visual Web Search Clustering Engine: The Sonification of WhatsOnWeb | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 351-357 | |
| Maria Laura Mele; Stefano Federici; Simone Borsci; Giuseppe Liotta | |||
| It is widely accepted that spatial representation is processed by an amodal
system. Recent studies show that blind subjects have a better motion ability
than sighted people in performing spatial exploration guided only by auditory
cues. The sonification method offers an effective tool able to transmit graphic
information, overcoming the digital divide risen by a visuocentric modality in
which contents are conveyed. We present a usability evaluation aiming at
investigate the interaction differences between both blind and sighted users
while surfing WhatsOnWeb, a search engine that displays the information by
using graph-drawing methods on semantically clustered data. We compare the
visual presentation of three different layouts with the sonificated ones,
demonstrating both qualitatively and quantitatively that blind and sighted
users perform with no significant differences the interaction. These results
remark that the digital divide could be decreased by going beyond the
visuocentric way of the commonly adopted visual content representation. Keywords: Sonification; Information visualization; Accessibility; Usability | |||
| Editing Web Presentations by Means of Dialogue | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 358-365 | |
| Ludek Bártek | |||
| The number of web pages is growing fast [1] and the ability to create and
maintain their own web presentation became an important skill not only for IT
professionals but for the common users as well.
This paper deals with modification of a web presentation content by means of dialogue which can allow the web presentation content maintenance to visually and motoric impaired users, to users non-familiar with the underlying technologies, etc. Keywords: web modification; dialogue; accessibility | |||
| Fast Access to Web Pages with Finger Reading | | BIBA | Full-Text | 366-367 | |
| Toshihiro Kanahori | |||
| We can access to large amounts of information on the web. Searching and getting information has become much more important. Using assistive products, visually impaired people also can access to a goodly portion of them, but getting information they need still takes long time. We introduce our software "Finger Skitter", which is being developed not for reading a document but for getting information with voice navigation. This software provides 2 types of user interface to rapidly get "what the document is written about" and "where is the information in the document". We implement a prototype of the software with JavaScript, which uses live-regions supported in WAI-ARIA to control a speech engine. | |||
| The Evaluations of Deletion-Based Method and Mixing-Based Method for Audio CAPTCHAs | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 368-375 | |
| Takuya Nishimoto; Takayuki Watanabe | |||
| Audio CAPTCHA systems, which distinguish between software agents and human
beings, are especially important for persons with visual disability. The
popular approach is based on mixing-based methods (MBM), which use the mixed
sounds of target speech and noises. We have proposed a deletion-based method
(DBM) which uses the phonemic restoration effects. Our approach can control the
difficulty of tasks simply by the masking ratio.
According to our design principle of CAPTCHA, the tasks should be designed so that the large difference of performance between the machines and human beings can be provided. In this paper, we show the experimental results that support the hypotheses as follows: (1) only using MBM, the degree of task difficulty can not be controlled easily, (2) using DBM, the degree of task difficulty and safeness of CAPTCHA system can be controlled easily. Keywords: Security; Visual Impalement; Speech Recognition; CAPTCHA; Mixing-based
Method; Deletion-based Method | |||
| Integrating Semantic Web and Folksonomies to Improve E-Learning Accessibility | | BIBA | Full-Text | 376-383 | |
| Iyad Abu Doush; Enrico Pontelli | |||
| The purpose of this project is to investigate ways of leveraging the collaborative and multi-user nature of modern Learning Management Systems (LMSs) to enhance accessibility of online courses for individuals with visual disabilities. The underlying principle of the project is the generation of semantics annotation for all components of an online course -- that can be used to guide assistive devices. The semantic information can be added in a three different forms (a predefined ontology class, user tags, and annotations). This semantic information is used by assistive technologies (e.g., screen readers) to help visually impaired students when they acquire knowledge from the on-line course materials. | |||
| Simple Browser Construction Toolkit | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 384-391 | |
| Osamu Miyamoto | |||
| A special browser is a specialized browser designed only for a specific
website, providing a very comfortable user interface for that website. However,
it is usually necessary to update the special browser when there is a design
change to the website. Therefore, a special browser should be easy to update. I
propose such a browser here. The proposed browser also has robustness, meaning
that it does not need to be updated for a small change to the website. abstract
environment. Keywords: Visually impaired person; Special browser; Web harvesting | |||
| Organizational Motivations for Web Accessibility Implementation -- A Case Study | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 392-399 | |
| Marie-Luise Leitner; Christine Strauss | |||
| Universal access to information and communication technologies represents an
indispensable prerequisite for people with impairments' equal participation in
societal life. Despite legal regulations and economic advantages, accessible
web sites are rarely implemented in private sector organizations. This paper
introduces a holistic, managerial approach to identify business experiences
with web accessibility implementation in three industry sectors. The findings
of this case study research include organizations' motivations for web
accessibility implementation and therefore generate a sound basis for
management decision recommendations. Keywords: web accessibility; design for all; case study research; business approach;
motivation; change management | |||
| Using Collaborative Learning to Teach WCAG 2.0 | | BIBA | Full-Text | 400-403 | |
| Fernando Alonso; José L. Fuertes; Ángel L. González; Loïc Martínez | |||
| Version 2.0 of the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) was published in December 2008. WCAG 2.0 has a different language, a different structure and a different rationale to WCAG 1.0. All of these influence how to teach web accessibility. In this paper we present an innovative approach that we have followed in a web accessibility module that is taught at the UPM's School of Computing as part of the BEng degree in Computer Science. Our approach combined several teaching methods: traditional lectures, collaborative learning sessions, a short exercise on web site evaluation and, finally, a short project consisting of the development of an accessible web site. In the paper we describe the methods used and the results. | |||
| Web_Access: Education on Accessible Web Design | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 404-407 | |
| Klaus Miesenberger; Barbara Hengstberger; Mario Batusic | |||
| This paper presents the international study programme on accessible web
design which has been developed by a multinational partnership in the framework
of an EU -- Erasmus Project. The paper will outline specific results and
findings of the project, the curriculum and contents of the study programme,
teaching and eLearning tools, the realisation and the additional benefit of the
programme. Keywords: Accessible Web Design; Education and Training; eLearning | |||
| Assessing WCAG 2.0 Conformance in Practice | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 408-412 | |
| Sylvie Duchateau; Denis Boulay; Dominique Burger | |||
| On December 11, 2008, the W3C published the Web Content Accessibility
Guidelines 2.0 as the new W3C recommendation. WCAG 2.0 aims to be more flexible
and does not rely on a specific technology. Moreover W3C/WAI claims that WCAG
2.0 has been designed to be testable as to respond to multiple demands from
stakeholders. However, few implementations have been completed yet providing
enough feedback about WCAG 2.0 conformance systems over a long period. This
paper will discuss the need for a methodology to ensure conformance to WCAG 2.0
that takes the new constraints of this standard into account. It will propose a
process for developing this assessment methodology according to specific
requirements. It identifies several steps that proved to be essential towards
operational results. Finally, it discusses the possible benefits of such a
methodology. Keywords: WCAG 2.0; evaluation; conformance; accessibility; implementation; checklist | |||
| Is the Accessibility Audit Dead? | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 413-416 | |
| Joshue O. Connor | |||
| The Accessibility Audit has long been a staple of the usability professional
and web accessibility specialists' toolkit. An audit is where problematic
issues that limit the accessibility of a web site or application can be
highlighted in a granular fashion, solutions outlined and statements of
conformance to accessibility guidelines, like WCAG, teased out. However, in
practice is the accessibility audit really the right tool for the job? As a
methodology does it efficiently help to advance the cause of improving the
accessibility of web sites and applications? Or effectively raise awareness of
inclusive design amongst developers? Or is it merely an inert rubber-stamping
exercise that could be replaced or enhanced by more progressive methods? [1] Keywords: (e)Accessibility and Usability; eGovernment; eInclusion; Policies and
Legislation; User Centered Design and User Involvement | |||
| Evaluating Conformance to WCAG 2.0: Open Challenges | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 417-424 | |
| Fernando Alonso; José L. Fuertes; Ángel L. González; Loïc Martínez | |||
| Web accessibility for people with disabilities is a highly visible area of
work in the field of ICT accessibility, including many policy activities in
several countries. The commonly accepted guidelines for web accessibility (WCAG
1.0) were published in 1999 and have been extensively used by designers,
evaluators and legislators. A new version of these guidelines (WCAG 2.0) was
published in 2008. In this paper we point out the main challenges that WCAG 2.0
raises for web accessibility evaluators: the concept of "accessibility
supported technologies"; success criteria testability; technique and failure
openness, and the aggregation of partial results. We conclude the paper with
some recommendations for the future. Keywords: Web accessibility; Web accessibility evaluation | |||
| Automatic Checking of Alternative Texts on Web Pages | | BIBA | Full-Text | 425-432 | |
| Morten Goodwin Olsen; Mikael Snaprud; Annika Nietzio | |||
| For people who cannot see non-textual web content, such as images, maps or audio files, the alternative texts are crucial to understand and use the content. Alternate texts are often automatically generated by web publishing software or not properly provided by the author of the content. Such texts may impose web accessibility barriers. Automatic accessibility checkers in use today can only detect the presence of alternative texts, but not determine if the text is describing the corresponding content in any useful way. This paper presents a pattern recognition approach for automatic detection of alternative texts that may impose a barrier, reaching an accuracy of more then 90%. | |||
| OASES: Online Accessibility Self Evaluation Service -- A Web-Based Tool for Education Institutions to Self-Assess the Accessibility of Their Practice | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 433-436 | |
| Simon Ball; Alistair McNaught; Sue Watson; Andrew Chandler | |||
| The JISC TechDis service identified a need to move institutions forward in
their accessibility 'maturity'. An 'Accessibility Maturity Model' was developed
to highlight the stages of development that different institutions were
exhibiting. In order to move institutions forward an Online Accessibility Self
Evaluation Service (OASES) was created. OASES allows key managers in education
institutions to evaluate their own practice, and to benchmark that practice
against the anonymised results of their peers. This information can then be
used to affect institutional policy and strategy to move their institution to a
higher degree of 'accessibility maturity'. Keywords: Online; accessibility; inclusion; self-evaluation; benchmarking | |||
| Analysis and Evaluation of the Accessibility to Visual Information in Web Pages | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 437-443 | |
| Youssef Bou Issa; Mustapha Mojahid; Bernard Oriola; Nadine Vigouroux | |||
| Blind persons do not get any information related to the visual arrangement
or the design of objects in a web page. The objective of this paper is to
identify this information and to prove that the lack of access to this visual
information leads consequently to a lack of access to the informational
content. We call "enhanced accessibility" accessibility to this type of
information. Keywords: Web Accessibility; visual information; enhanced accessibility; WCAG2.0 | |||
| User Testing of Google Reader and RIA Complexity -- A Warning | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 444-448 | |
| Joshue O. Connor | |||
| There are many APIs and toolkits available in the wild today that allow
developers to build rich sophisticated Web Applications. There are a variety of
frameworks and toolkits at use in the wild. While these platforms -- in
principle -- offer the promise of greater functionality and more robust
interoperability they also cast a potential shadow of greater complexity and
how will this complexity then impact on the user experience for people with
disabilities? In tandem, there are many guidelines designed to help make
inclusive, accessible and usable designs a reality such as the principles of
Universal Design, the WCAG and other international usability standards.
[1][2][3].
So how can we ensure that when we build complex Rich Internet Applications (RIAs) that they can be easily used by the widest possible audience, including older people and people with disabilities? A well-established method is to conduct a user test. Keywords: (e)Accessibility and Usability; eInclusion; HCI and Non Classical
Interfaces; User Centered Design and User Involvement | |||
| Analyzing Effects of Web Accessibility -- A Framework to Determine Changes in Website Traffic and Success | | BIBA | Full-Text | 449-455 | |
| Rudolf Hartjes; Christine Strauss | |||
| The potential of web accessibility to boost a website's traffic numbers and quality is believed to be a major motivation for website operators to implement web accessibility. In this paper we present a long-term framework for the measurement of such improvements, relying on multiple examination objects. This paper comprises a detailed specification of relevant key performance indicators, relevant traffic sources, a monitoring and evaluation schedule as well as an outlook on the strategic values of this framework. | |||
| Implementation Concept for an Accessible Web CMS | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 456-463 | |
| Dietmar Nedbal; Gerald Petz | |||
| The number of Austria's municipalities that maintain WAI-compliant websites
is increasing. Even though the Web Content Management Systems (CMS) are able to
generate accessible Web content, accessibility within the administrative
backend itself is hardly considered. The paper describes an implementation
concept for accessible Web CMS authoring tools. The implementation concept is
derived from a criteria catalog that merged several accessibility and usability
guidelines and a qualitative analysis of the Web CMS RiS-Kommunal. The paper
includes the methodology used, the key findings of the analysis and the
implementation concept. Keywords: e-Government; accessible Web CMS; administrative backend; accessible
software; WAI | |||
| Requirements of the Vision Impairments for E-Government Services in Taiwan from Accessibility to Efficiency | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 464-467 | |
| Chi Nung Chu | |||
| According to W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0, there were 37
government department websites in Taiwan that were evaluated in this paper.
Websites were investigated for the presence of various features dealing with
information availability, service delivery, and public access. Features
assessed include online publications, online database, audio clips, video
clips, premium fees, user payments, disability access, security features,
presence of online services, digital signatures, credit card payments, email
address, and an English version of the website. The results of this survey
provide suggestions for the development of e-government services in Taiwan. Keywords: E-Government Program; Global e-Government Survey; Vision Impairments | |||
| Accessibility of eGovernment Web Sites: Towards a Collaborative Retrofitting Approach | | BIBA | Full-Text | 468-475 | |
| Annika Nietzio; Morten Goodwin Olsen; Mandana Eibegger; Mikael Snaprud | |||
| Accessibility benchmarking is efficient to raise awareness and initiate competition. However, traditional benchmarking is of little avail when it comes to removing barriers from eGovernment web sites in practice. Regulations and legal enforcement may be helpful in a long-term perspective. For more rapid progress both vendors and web site maintainers are willing to take short-term action towards improvements, provided that clear advise is available. The approach of the eGovernment Monitoring project (eGovMon) integrates benchmarking as a central activity in a user-driven project. In addition to benchmarking results, several other services and background information are provided to enable the users -- in this case a group of Norwegian municipalities who want to improve the accessibility of their web sites -- to gain real added value from benchmarking. | |||
| Improving the Accessibility of Fabasoft Folio by Means of WAI-ARIA | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 476-483 | |
| Mario Batusic; Daniela Steiner | |||
| A lot of web applications already use AJAX to give the user the feeling of a
desktop application. To make these applications more accessible for people with
disabilities, the code can be enriched with WAI-ARIA roles, states and
properties. This paper presents a practical case study, where an AJAX-based web
application -- Fabasoft Folio -- has been evaluated and a solution through
WAI-ARIA enrichment has been proposed and will be implemented for different
widgets used in the application. Keywords: AJAX; WAI-ARIA; Fabasoft Folio; Fabasoft eGov-Suite | |||
| Accessibility of Blended and E-Learning for Mature Age and Disabled Students and Staff: Introduction to the Special Thematic Session | | BIBA | Full-Text | 484-485 | |
| Helen Petrie; Christopher Power; Carlos A. Velasco; Jesus G. Boticario | |||
| Blended learning, the use of a combination of face-to-face and distance learning techniques, is becoming very common in all educational sectors. Almost all educational institutions now use websites to communicate with students, provide them with learning resources and, increasingly, allow students and staff to collaborate with each other. Many institutions use their own websites, others use virtual learning environments (VLEs) or learning management systems (LMSs). The transition of institutions to all learning being through electronic channels, or e-learning, is also becoming increasingly prevalent, particularly in the higher and further education domains. Even in primary and secondary school systems, the integration of virtual classrooms, multimedia resources and electronic whiteboards have further blurred the lines between the virtual and the physical world. | |||
| Understanding and Supporting the Needs of Educational Professionals Working with Students with Disabilities and Mature Age Students | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 486-491 | |
| David Swallow; Helen Petrie; Christopher Power | |||
| This study investigated the knowledge of educational professionals on the
needs and preferences of disabled and mature age students in further and higher
education. 102 Interviews and 6 focus groups were conducted in 4 European
countries (Austria, Italy, Spain, and the UK) as well as in New Zealand and the
USA. An online survey was publicised worldwide and 343 educational
professionals from 21 countries responded. The results indicated a lack of
standardisation in training and gaps in the knowledge and attitudes of
educational professionals regarding how to appropriately support disabled and
mature age in higher and further education. The use of e-learning technologies
to address these issues is highlighted, as well as what is needed in future to
better support not only disabled and mature age students but also the
educational professionals who support them. Keywords: Students with disabilities; mature age students; educational professionals;
e-learning | |||
| Institutional Conditions for the Implementation of Accessible Lifelong Learning (ALL) Based on the EU4ALL Approach | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 492-494 | |
| Cäcilia Weiermair-Märki; Elisabeth Unterfrauner | |||
| The project EU4ALL aims at researching and developing technologies and
conceptual frameworks to make lifelong learning accessible to everyone. Within
this project the conditions at higher education institutions necessary to
introduce a service architecture as conceptual and technical framework such as
the one developed within the project was studied. Beyond the project the
results presented might be equally be applied to other innovations to be
introduced in institutions in order to make lifelong learning more accessible
while the introduction of the EU4ALL architecture might serve as example.
Interviews with decision makers in Higher Education Institutions led to four
different types of institutions with different levels of accessibility practice
in place. Keywords: Higher Education Institutions; accessibility; legal frameworks; social
innovation; lifelong learning | |||
| Design Guidelines for Developing Curriculum-Focused ICT Materials for Diverse Students | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 495-502 | |
| Cara Nicole Greene | |||
| This paper presents design guidelines for developing curriculum focused
Information Communication Technology (ICT) materials for diverse students with
special needs in the inclusive secondary school setting. Mainstream and
learning support teachers and students who developed these guidelines first
took part in 'use of ICT' questionnaires and took part in a three-month study
investigating how these ICTs impacted on their classroom teaching. The teachers
and students involved then took part in evaluation questionnaires and focus
groups to develop design guidelines and good practice for developing
curriculum-focused ICTs for diverse students. The guidelines were used to
develop curriculum-focused materials for aspects of the Irish Junior
Certificate (JC) English and History curricula [2]. English and History
teachers and learning support teachers used the materials for three months with
their classes and carried out an evaluation. Results showed that while
mainstream teachers and students found the materials useful for enhancing the
curriculum, the real benefit was for the learning support teachers and
students. Keywords: Specific learning difficulties; ICT; inclusive; second level;
curriculum-focused; questionnaires | |||
| A Framework to Support Development of Learning Applications for Disabled Children | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 503-510 | |
| José L. Fuertes; Ángel L. González; Gonzalo Mariscal; Carlos Ruiz | |||
| Multimedia resources are an important tool that can be used by teachers in
the classroom as a learning aid for learners with disabilities or by parents
and children at home. However, disabled children are not always able to use
existing assistive technologies because they are not experienced enough, suffer
from medium/profound disability, or simply do not have the financial resources
to buy commercial tools. Additionally, today's adapted tools are not always
valid for a broad spectrum of disabled users and often focus on a user group.
We claim that potential applications and resources for people with special
needs must self-adapt to user capabilities and skills, reducing the use of
external assistive technologies. In this paper, we present a guide for
developers to create accessible applications and resources that reduce
workload. Keywords: Accessibility; human-computer interaction; education; assistive technology;
children; special educational needs | |||
| Using Robots in Education and Therapy Sessions for Children with Disabilities: Guidelines for Teachers and Rehabilitation Professionals | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 511-518 | |
| Francesca Caprino; Serenella Besio; Elena Laudanna | |||
| Within the co-funded European pr4oject IROMEC (IST-FP6-045356), aiming at
developing and experimenting an innovative robotic toy to be used in play
intervention addressed to children with motor-based, cognitive and
developmental disabilities, specific guidelines for using robots in educational
and rehabilitation environments have been developed. The guidelines are
addressed to therapists, teachers and researchers aiming to promote inclusion
in play of children with disabilities and are meant as a tool to apply robotics
in play-based intervention. Keywords: Rehabilitation Robotics; Guidelines; ICF-CY | |||
| Virtual Learning Environments: Another Barrier to Blended and E-Learning | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 519-526 | |
| Christopher Power; Helen Petrie; Vasily Sakharov; David Swallow | |||
| With online and blended learning now commonplace, it is surprising that the
research regarding the accessibility of virtual learning environments and other
collaborative learning management systems is relatively sparse. This paper
provides an initial empirical investigation into the accessibility problems
that are present in 3 different virtual learning environments. This
investigation demonstrates that there are a number of places where virtual
learning environments can present barriers to learning for students with
disabilities. Keywords: Accessibility; virtual learning environment; VLE; elearning; blended
learning; empirical investigation | |||
| ICT for Persons with Disabilities: Bridging the Digital Divide in Bangladesh | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 527-530 | |
| Mahjabeen Khaled Hossain | |||
| In the last two decades, the disability situation has undergone substantial
change globally due to international initiatives supporting the UN declared
World Decade of Disabled Persons. However, these progressive steps are yet to
reach millions of disabled persons in rural Bangladesh. Around 13 million
people in Bangladesh are physically handicapped of which 3 million are
children. Disability is increasing with population growth and ageing.
Disability on this scale represents not only a major health issue but also a
prime cause of poverty and underdevelopment. Information and Communication
Technology (ICT), opens up great opportunities to improve the quality of life
of disabled people failing which will further the digital divide. This paper
proposes to discuss the importance of ICT development and accessibility for
persons with disabilities in Bangladesh and elaborate on how ICT has been
utilized thus far and how we can further these initiatives towards development. Keywords: Disability; Bangladesh; digital divide; poverty; ICT | |||
| Success through Exchange: The Higher Education Accessibility Guide (HEAG) | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 531-536 | |
| Andrea Petz; Klaus Miesenberger | |||
| This paper presents the work carried out within the HEAG framework amongst a
joint European group of service providers for people with disabilities in
Higher Education. Higher Education institutions from all over Europe were
screened following a standardized questionnaire on their activities for
students with disabilities and services provided. The gained data was published
online and provides up to date information on studying in a specific country at
a specific institution and has the potential to foster European exchange and
students mobility even amongst students with disabilities, a group under
represented in Higher Education mobility programs so far. Keywords: Higher education; disability; mobility; exchange; support; service
provision; survey | |||
| Linking Instruments and Documenting Decisions in Service Delivery Guided by an ICF-Based Tool for Assistive Technology Selection | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 537-543 | |
| Emily Steel; Gert Jan Gelderblom; Luc de Witte | |||
| This paper demonstrates how information from existing instruments can be
linked within a new framework and tool for AT selection, using the
International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). A
case study is presented to illustrate how this might work in practice, and
describes the steps followed by practitioners using the tool and gathering
assessment data through links to existing instruments. The potential added
value of using the ICF in AT service delivery is discussed, and planned
developments for the tool outlined. Keywords: Assistive Technology; ICF; service delivery; framework; selection;
instrument | |||
| Easy-to-Use Social Network Service | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 544-549 | |
| Niina Sillanpää; Sami Älli; Timo Övermark | |||
| Social media have become important tools for social networking. However,
most services are too complicated for people with learning disabilities or
cognitive impairments. The problems are mostly related to understanding the
different concepts of the environment and related special terminology, but
accessibility and usability problems common to all internet services also
apply. To tackle these problems, a project was started, aiming to create an
easy-to-use social network service for the above mentioned target group by
applying user-centered design methods. This paper explains the rationale for
starting the project and also describes the some of the implementation methods
used. Keywords: social media; social network services; accessibility; cognitive
disabilities; Facebook | |||
| Standards Are Drivers for Accessibility and Usability: Introduction to the Special Thematic Session | | BIBA | Full-Text | 550-552 | |
| Jan Engelen; Christian Bühler | |||
| Standardisation of products and services developed with a Design for All or Universal Design perspective in mind has been a recurrent theme at the ICCHP conferences. Since the 2008 edition a special thematic session has been organised, bringing together the different contributions in this field. We will describe briefly the 2010 STS. Furthermore as this year's theme of the World Standards Day (organised by ISO, ITU and IEC) will be "Accessibility", some background information on this important issue will be given. | |||
| International AT and DfA Standardisation: What Is in the Pipeline? | | BIBA | Full-Text | 553-560 | |
| Jan Engelen | |||
| In this contribution several recent actions in the field of Standardisation related to Assistive Technology and Design for All are reported. The main focus will be on several CEN initiatives, the status of Mandate 376 and the current EU Commission's plans for issuing a new mandate on the inclusion of "Design for All" in relevant standardisation initiatives. | |||
| Redefining Assumptions: Accessibility and Its Stakeholders | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 561-568 | |
| Rui Lopes; Karel Van Isacker; Luís Carriço | |||
| Accessibility is becoming more and more relevant in Information
technologies, such as the Web and software applications, particularly due to
the push on legislation to make public services accessible to everyone. While
most accessibility issues are envisioned by the developer-user dichotomy,
several stakeholders are responsible for the successful implementation of
accessible software and services for all users.
In this paper we present an exploratory study on the current state of accessibility as perceived by its main stakeholders: developers, service providers, public bodies, accessibility assessors, and elderly and people with disabilities. By surveying more than 400 individuals, we have confirmed some of the expectations and results from other surveys, such as the perception about the lack of understanding and application of Web accessibility guidelines. We have found that this issue gets even worse outside the scope of the Web, for all stakeholders. Another eye-opening finding is that all stakeholders are welcome to the simulation of assistive technologies, in order to widen the perception and involvement of accessibility in the software development process. Keywords: Accessibility; Stakeholders; Survey | |||
| Stand4All: Promoting More Accessible Standards through Training of Stakeholders | | BIBA | Full-Text | 569-572 | |
| Christophe Strobbe; Charlotte Mosies; Christian Bühler; Jan Engelen | |||
| The Stand4All project is a response to a call for tenders by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. Its goal is to increase the use of CEN/CENELEC Guide 6, which contains guidance on the inclusion of the needs of elderly persons and persons with disabilities during the standards development process. To reach this goal, the project consortium has developed and delivered training on standardisation in several locations in Europe and for two types of audience: persons with disabilities and members of standardisation committees. The training for persons with disabilities is meant to increase their effective participation in the standardisation process. The training for committee members is meant to increase their awareness and knowledge of accessibility issues faced by persons with disabilities. | |||
| Standards-Based Content Resources: A Prerequisite for Content Integration and Content Interoperability | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 573-579 | |
| Christian Galinski; Karel Van Isacker | |||
| Standardized content repositories (and content repositories based on
international standards) for structured content are becoming increasingly
important for ICT-assisted communication among users, between users and their
devices, and among these devices. Given the increasing ubiquity and
pervasiveness of ICTs -- especially in the communication with and around people
with disabilities -- it should be assured that ICTs are accessible and
inclusive and that they and the standards-compliant data models used facilitate
content interoperability. If not, remedial or additional programming may become
necessary, which tend to be very costly or even impossible at times. Content
interoperability (of structured content) as defined in this article also means
-- especially if the content itself is collectively developed and maintained on
the basis of international standards -- that effective methods and efficient
tools can be conceived for verification, validation and certification. Keywords: international standards; content repositories; structured content;
standardized data models; standardized content; content interoperability;
verification; validation; certification; accessibility | |||
| Standardization and Sustainability of Open Source Products -- Barriers and Conflicts Demonstrated with the Linux Screenreader SUE -- | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 580-582 | |
| Andrea Gaal; Gerhard Jaworek; Joachim Klaus | |||
| SUE is an open source screenreader developed for the graphical interface
using Linux. The screenreader allows the visually impaired to work with Linux
for typical office tasks and the desktop (GNOME) itself. A special training
course will instruct teachers and pupils at institutions for the blind and the
partially sighted in using the screenreader. This presentation will focus on
SUE and screenreader solutions for Linux. In addition it will discuss the
problems of sustainability and standardization in an open community. Keywords: SUE; Screenreader & Usability Extensions; blind; partially sighted; low
vision; accessibility; Open Source; GNOME; Linux; training programme; ECDL | |||
| The Challenge of Mainstreaming ICT Design for All | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 583-590 | |
| Gill Whitney; Suzette Keith; Barbara Schmidt-Belz | |||
| The education and training of ICT students and professionals with respect to
Design for All is a vital part in the process of achieving eInclusion
throughout Europe. This paper outlines the latest activity on the development
of a curriculum in Design for All in ICT in higher education and professional
development, and discusses some of the challenges of mainstreaming ICT Design
for All. Concepts have been devised to introduce Design for All at
bachelor-level of mainstream ICT education, to implement a masters degree in
Design for All, and to provide training for professionals in ICT industry. Keywords: Design for All; eAccessibility; eInclusion; Digital Inclusion; ICT
(Information and Communication Technology) | |||
| Evaluating the Users' Satisfaction Using Inclusive Initiatives in Two Different Environments: The University and a Research Conference | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 591-594 | |
| Ana Iglesias; Lourdes Moreno; Javier Jiménez; Pablo Revuelta | |||
| This paper presents evaluation results of the user's satisfaction using the
APEINTA project which main aim is to provide accessibility in education, in and
out of the classroom. APEINTA is the Spanish acronym for "Aiming for an
Inclusive Education based on Assistive Technology". The APEINTA project is
focused in two main inclusive proposals: first, it deals with eliminating hard
of hearing students' communication barriers in the classroom, providing them
automatic real-time captioning and other mechanisms for making easy the
communication with the teacher and others students; and second, it deals also
in providing an accessible Web learning platform with accessible digital
resources, so every student can access them in and out of the classroom. Keywords: Inclusion; Web Accessibility; E-learning; Special Needs; Assistive
Technology; Real-time Captioning | |||
| ICCHP Keynote: Recognizing Silent and Weak Speech Based on Electromyography | | BIBA | Full-Text | 595-604 | |
| Tanja Schultz | |||
| In the past decade, the performance of automatic speech processing systems, including speech recognition, spoken language translation, and speech synthesis, has improved dramatically. This has resulted in an increasingly widespread use of speech and language technologies in a large variety of applications. However, speech-driven interfaces based on conventional acoustic speech signals still suffer from several limitations. | |||
| CanSpeak: A Customizable Speech Interface for People with Dysarthric Speech | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 605-612 | |
| Foad Hamidi; Melanie Baljko; Nigel Livingston; Leo Spalteholz | |||
| Current Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) systems designed to recognize
dysarthric speech require an investment in training that involves considerable
effort and must be repeated if speech patterns change. We present CanSpeak, a
customizable speech recognition interface that does not require automatic
training and uses a list of keywords customized for each user. We conducted a
preliminary user study with four subjects with dysarthric speech. Customizing
the keyword lists doubled the accuracy rate of the system for two of the
subjects whose parents and caregivers participated in the customizing task. For
the other two subjects only small improvements were observed. Keywords: Speech Recognition; Web Accessibility; Dysarthric Speech | |||
| Adding Voice to Whisper Using a Simple Heuristic Algorithm Inferred from Empirical Observation | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 613-620 | |
| Rüdiger Heimgärtner | |||
| The aim of the work described in this paper is to allow people that are
enforced to use "whispery voice" to be endowed with "voiced voice". A very
simple method and algorithm obtained by empirical observation of corresponding
speech signals is presented and discussed. Only well-known methods like FFT,
interpolation, normalization, and formant shifting are used. It turned out that
the quality of the processed speech signal is adequate to be understood by
hearers. The approach can also be used to replace normal speaking or singing
voices. Keywords: whisper; voice; speech signal; vowel; speech processing; phonetics;
converting speech signals; HCI; voiceless; formant analysis; FFT; singing | |||
| LIPPS -- A Virtual Teacher for Speechreading Based on a Dialog-Controlled Talking-Head | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 621-629 | |
| Hermann Gebert; Hans-Heinrich Bothe | |||
| People with decreasing hearing ability are more dependent on alternative
personal communication channels. To read the visible articulator movements of
the conversation partner is one possible solution for understanding verbal
statements. After giving an introduction to the principals of speech, visual
speech & speechreading, we demonstrate the conception and implementation of
a language laboratory for speechreading that is meant as an effective
audio-visual complement and extension of classroom teaching. Further we show
results of evaluation experiments and explain the functionality and interaction
of the modules, the interaction between student, teacher, and virtual teacher
and the structure of the pedagogical approach to teach speechreading with the
help of a virtual teacher. Keywords: speechreading; lipreading; language tutor; embodied conversational agent;
facial animation; audio-visual; training-aid; hard-of-hearing; deaf; sudden
deafness | |||
| Easy-to-Web: Introduction to the Special Thematic Session | | BIBA | Full-Text | 630-633 | |
| Cordula Edler; Birgit Peböck | |||
| The needs of people with cognitive and learning disabilities are still underrepresented in the current scientific discussion. The STS Easy-to-Web tends to find a remedy. It aims to bring together web accessibility experts and experts for accessible information in order to bring together guidelines on Easy-to-Read and web accessibility guidelines. The main goal is a better integration of guidelines for accessible information to the World Wide Web, especially considering the needs of people with learning disabilities. | |||
| The Need for Easy-to-Read Information on Web Sites | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 634-640 | |
| Ulla Bohman | |||
| Internet as a media for transmitting information requires higher reading
skills from the user than information presented on paper. Therefor it is a
great need of easy-to-read information on web sites in order to make the
internet accessible for people with reading problems. For the web-information
to be accessible, it must be easy to find, the web site easy to navigate and
the text must be readable and understandable. The information should be in
easy-to-read language and presented in a separate web-room. Keywords: Accessibility; Usability; Easy-to-Read; Web-room; Reading Problems; Target
Groups | |||
| EasyWeb -- A Study How People with Specific Learning Difficulties Can Be Supported on Using the Internet | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 641-648 | |
| Kerstin Matausch; Birgit Peböck | |||
| This paper presents a study on Easy-to-Read and its impacts on the support
of people with specific learning difficulties. Research unveiled a lack of
scientific research concerning Easy-to-Read but various scientific issues which
interrelate with the underlying topic. Although having based on heuristic
experiences the study represents a deep investigation concerning Easy-to-Read
principles for print and online materials and what is more represented a signal
for ongoing ambitious efforts to involve people with specific learning
difficulties to all areas of life. Keywords: Easy-to-Read; learning disabilities; learning difficulties; internet usage
of people with learning disabilities; Easy-to-Read and WCAG | |||
| Supporting the Web Experience of Young People with Learning Disabilities | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 649-656 | |
| Harald Weber; Cordula Edler | |||
| The paper describes a test setup to survey the needs of young people with
learning disabilities with regard to additional functions that could support
their use of the web. Via an HTML mock-up, different iconic representations of
buttons to invoke these additional functions as well as different placements of
the buttons were explored. Results with N=34 indicate that study participants
preferred button locations on the right side of web pages and prefer icons with
associative symbols and analogy symbols for text sizing functions and
low-iconic images, associative symbols and arbitrary symbols for text reading
functions. Keywords: Learning disabilities; special educational needs; SEN; button design; button
placement | |||
| Easy-to-Web Search for People with Learning Disabilities as Part of an Integrated Concept of Cognitive Web Accessibility | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 657-660 | |
| Stephan Bergmann; Markus Erle | |||
| Accessible web for people with cognitive or learning disabilities doesn't
only mean easy-to-read and font size magnification. Every interaction has to be
reflected according to the needs of this target group. This paper describes the
first step towards an easy-to-web search user interface which helps people with
learning disabilities to start a query with a correct written and meaningful
search word. It is also a suggestion how the guideline 3.3 "Input assistance"
of the WCAG 2.0 could be fulfilled in the field of search function and
cognitive accessibility. Keywords: cognitive accessibility; cognitive disabilities; easy-to-read; learning
disabilities; search user interface; spelling mistakes | |||
| Adaptive Reading: A Design of Reading Browser with Dynamic Alternative Text Multimedia Dictionaries for the Text Reading Difficulty Readers | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 661-664 | |
| Chi Nung Chu; Yao-Ming Yeh | |||
| The effectiveness of reading comprehension on a Reading Browser with Dynamic
Alternative Text Multimedia Dictionaries was explored in this paper. Students
with text decoding difficulty (N=62) were randomly assigned to one of three
modes: auditory mode, pictorial mode, 5 full functions mode. A
quasi-experimental design was used to measure reading comprehension. Although
differences were not significant among all of the modes, the findings indicate
that all modes of Reading Browser with Dynamic Alternative Text Multimedia
Dictionaries were successful in promoting reading. Keywords: Reading Browser with Dynamic Alternative Text Multimedia Dictionaries; Text
Decoding Difficulty; Adaptive reading Mode | |||
| In-Folio: An Open Source Portfolio for Students with Learning Disabilities | | BIBAK | Full-Text | 665-668 | |
| Simon Ball; Andrew Chandler; Emma Millard; John Sewell | |||
| In-Folio is an Open Source e-Portfolio application developed to address the
specific needs of the Independent Specialist Colleges sector. This sector
caters for students with wide ranging learning difficulties and disabilities,
often profound and multiple, and while currently available applications do
address accessibility well they were not felt to be suitable for this group of
learners. An e-Portfolio application that would meet the specifications of this
sector was developed, with further modifications in process. Keywords: accessibility; e-portfolio; e-learning | |||