Designing Accessible Course Registration for Users with Visual Impairments

According to the World Health Organization the number of people with visual impairments worldwide in 2002 was in excess of 161 million, of whom about 37 million were blind (Resnikoff et al., 2004). Although the visually impaired population is not uniformly distributed over the world, estimates for the developed countries, including the United States of America and European Union countries, go up to more than 20 million visually impaired people. Even if considering only the numbers for the developed countries, there are large numbers of population being prevented to fully access, depending on the severity of their visual impairment, today’s software applications, which are mostly based on visual interaction. The limitations to the visually impaired population caused by this reliance on visual interaction are felt both on the input and output ends of the interaction spectrum. Considering the use of visual output modalities, the limitations can range from total content inaccessibility felt by blind users, to minor limitations that are still detrimental to the user experience. These include small font sizes that make it hard to read, colour selections disregarding the problem of the colour blind population, and other presentation related issues. Input modalities are also extremely reliant on visual interaction. Although even the blind population is capable of using the traditional keyboard, pointing devices, like the mouse, are unusable by people with serious visual limitations, which hinder their perception of the pointer representation on screen. In order to improve accessibility, alternative modalities must be considered. Audio interaction is the most promising alternative to visual interaction for visually impaired users, as the recommendations toward using screen readers and voice recognition software show (W3C, 2008; Sutton, 2002). It can be used alone for users with severe visual impairments who won’t benefit from any kind of visual representation, or it can be used as a complementary or redundant modality for visual interaction, assuming greater or lesser relevance in accordance to the visual impairment level of the user population. This chapter reflects on how audio interaction can improve interface accessibility, and shows its usefulness by describing the development of an audio based interface for Digital Talking Book (DTB) listening. DTBs are primarily targeted at blind and vision impaired users, but their development under the Universal Accessibility (Stephanidis & Savidis, 2001) umbrella can extend their usage to settings where sighted users operate in constrained environments that restrict visual interaction. The chapter begins with a short summary of the issues pertaining to DTB presentation. This is relevant since a DTB player will be the application used to illustrate how audio interaction

The paper presents estimates of the relative excess of students per 1,000 population in Federal Districts and regions over the Russian Federation as a whole. Student youth and graduates of higher education institutions in modern Russia exhibit low interregional mobility. This determines the need to train specialists with higher education in the regions in accordance with regional needs for such specialists. However, the number of students per 1,000 populations and the number of students per 1,000 corresponding jobs in the regions vary greatly and are unstably high. Many regions are experiencing a significant shortage of students. The number of students in state universities is determined by the number of jobs that must be filled by people with higher education only by 16%. The total number of students in universities is determined by the number of jobs that must be filled by people with higher education only by 21%. The obtained results show that the system of planning the contingent of students communicating in universities of the country's regions is imperfect and is not capable of meeting the economy's needs for specialists with higher education.

Visually-impaired (VI) students still face unusual difficulties in accessing library resources although there are several assistive technologies and devices being available to help them to get access to information resources. Equality in services mandates libraries to strive for their best to assist these special-need users by examining and mitigating the challenges faced by them. In this regard, a case study was carried out at the Main Library of the University of Colombo, where 42 visually-impaired students were interviewed using a set of semi-structured interview questions. The study population constituted totally blind and partially impaired students. Issues facing by the respondents were identified over institutional, personal and technological factors. Out of different challenges they mentioned, lack of appropriate resources was drawing primary concern. Problems relevant to use of the Internet were identified based on 5 aspects: social, institutional, financial, personal, and technical issues. Those challenges significantly affected VI users having access to their learning resources. It was found that VI users were largely left out in the mainstream student community since they make up a very miniscule faction of the entire student population. Hence, it is recommended to establish a special assistance mechanism for VI users of the library, meanwhile training both VI students and library staff on finding information resources specifically intended for VI users, and using the assistive technologies and equipment.

I. Introduction Studies reveal that often group members collaborate when searching for information even if they were not explicitly asked to collaborate [1]. The activity that involves a group of people engaging in a common information seeking task is called Collaborative Information Seeking (CIS). Over the past few years, CIS research has focused on providing solutions and frameworks to support the process [2]. However, work in this field to date has always assumed that information seekers engaged in CIS activity are using the same access modality, the visual modality. The attention on this modality has failed to address the needs of users who employ different access modalities such as haptic and/or audio. Visual Impaired (VI) employees in a workplace may often have to collaborate with their sighted team members when searching the web. Given that the VI individual's search behaviour is challenged by poor web design and the shortcomings of current assistive technology [3][4]; collaboratively engaging in w...

This article questions the limits and possibilities of interaction between blind users and cooperative Web text editors. The study is a qualitative, exploratory/explanatory research which has as the object of study the implementation of live regions, accessibility tools that increases interaction possibilities and positive interdependence between blind user and Web applications. Based o the sociocultural scene of the affirmation of the difference and the cooperative contexts established by the Web 2.0, this investigation consists in discussing the potential of collaboration and individual and collective authorship on Groupware tools when interacting with visual impaired users. The results of the experiments performed show some weaknesses concerning the availability of the awareness elements aimed at people with visual impairment, among them the user identification resources in synchronous and asynchronous actions, and the feedback strategies for the awareness and dialogue among the participants.

Current research on “Usable Security” provides security solutions designed without giving impotance to human disabilities. This paper focus on filling this void in the realm of blind or visually impaired computer users. More specifically, this work is towards developing an authentication technology, which is free from shoulder surfing and key board hacking suitable for the visually impaired or blind computer users. To address this problem, we propose this new Hybrid Numerical Authentication System which basically is based on sounds. It also makes use of the memorizing and computing capability of the blind users. The blind user has to set numeric values for each sound clip at the time of registration. These values are homomorphically encrypted and stored in the server. User should remember this as their password. Once these values are set, a secret expression (a two variable algebraic expression) is provided as the second level security which completes the registration process. During login the system randomly plays the sound clips. The user should identify the value of each sound clip and evaluates their secret expression with values of consecutive sound clip pairs. This value is entered as their session passwords. The system validates this session password after encrypting homomorphically with the system evaluated password corresponding to encrypted data in the server. As the order of sound clips played varies with each session, along with the secure secret expression, it becomes difficult for a third person to hack this security system. This two level security system can hence be used effectively by blind or visually impaired computer users for their Personal Digital Assistant. Also the incorporation of homomorphic encryption enhances the server level security of the system.

Initiatives have been undertaken in Europe in order to increase the number of university students and graduates. Initiatives have been made undertaken in Europe in order to increase the number of university students and graduates from higher education institutions. Each country emphasizes different aspects of the problem. However, it is common to stress the need for the higher number of university students from “non-traditional” environments, and from the standpoint of both European and world universalism, the environment of the deaf should be considered as such. Study aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate adjustments made at universities to aid the educational process of people with hearing impairments in comparison to adjustments introduced for other forms of disability. The study was based on a diagnostic survey. The exclusion criterion concerned only the universities that did not agree to participate and/or had never educated students with disabilities. The results of the study did not support the research thesis showing that the profile of a university is a significant factor of choice for people with hearing impairments. It was demonstrated that the number of deaf university students is decreasing with time despite statutory deregulation which involved a removal of certain legal barriers. The amendment to the Higher Education Act eliminated legal barriers, but the universities are challenged with the implementation of the regulations in the academic practice.

<p>本研究旨在透過桌上遊戲融入社會技巧教學，以改善國小視障學童與明眼同儕相處時不適當之行為並增進其互動。採用行動研究方式，以一名國小四年級就讀特教班視障學童與六名明眼同儕透過三款桌上遊戲進行互動，進行兩次循環共八週16堂課的桌上遊戲融入社會技巧教學。教學活動後，研究者進入視障學童進行融合課程之普通班級觀察兩週，了解教學實施後人際互動的應用成效。資料蒐集包含：「國民中小學社交技巧行為與特徵檢核表」分數、觀察記錄表、教學省思日誌以及訪談資料等。研究結論顯示，（一）社交技巧直接教學並搭配桌上遊戲實際互動，透過循環調整教學目標之課程方案為可行之教學方式；（二）視障學童在「提升挫折容忍力」、「不誤解他人意思」、「不隨意碰觸他人物品」等社會技巧能力有所改善，並增進了在普通班的人際互動；（三）行動研究有助於提升研究者在應用桌上遊戲融入課程規劃與教學成長、教學溝通與協調等教師專業知能。最後，根據本研究的發現與結論，提出相關建議供未來教學與研究參考。</p> <p> </p><p>Purpose</p> <p>In Taiwan, special education is committed to promoting inclusive education. Therefore, students in centralized special education classes in many schools are assigned part of the time to ordinary classes, so that students in special education classes have the opportunity to interact and communicate with teachers and students in ordinary classes. However, it was found that special students lack social skills, and there are still many difficulties in interacting with ordinary class students. In order to solve the problems observed by researchers in the teaching field, the purpose of this study is as follows. (1) To develop the teaching of social skills of board games for the student with visual impairment. (2) To explore whether the teaching of board game integration and social skills to the student with visual impairment can improve inappropriate behaviors in interpersonal interaction, and whether it can enhance interpersonal interaction with sighted peers. (3) To understand the researcher’s teaching growth and reflection in the process of teaching research. Literature review: Social skills of visually impaired students: Many studies had pointed out that in addition to systematic curriculum planning, the curriculum design of providing social skills for visually impaired students pays more attention to providing opportunities to interact with sighted peers during the curriculum, so as to increase the experience of practical interpersonal interaction. In Taiwan, relevant research on the intervention of social skills teaching for visually impaired students mainly focuses on improving social skills of visually impaired students through direct teaching or group training to cope with their interpersonal challenges. However, the research design of interacting with discerning peers had not been introduced into the curriculum. Application of board games in special education and considerations for visually impaired students: In recent years, board games have been paid more and more attention to and widely used in the teaching of special students. In terms of the objects of empirical research, most of them focused on teaching interventions to improve the interpersonal interaction of students with autism, intellectual disability, ADHD, etc. At the same time, in recent years, we have also begun to see the design and research of board games targeting the visually impaired. However, they were still lack of relevant empirical research on how to improve the interpersonal interaction of visually impaired students by teaching courses through board games. Therefore, this study intends to develop and revise the teaching plan of integrating board games into social skills. At the same time, evaluate the implementation effect of board games integrating social skills teaching on the interpersonal interaction between the student of visual impairment and discerning students. And analyze the impact of the implementation process on teachers’ professionalism Intellectual growth and reflection.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Action research: This study adopted the action research method to explore the practice and effect of integrating board games into the teaching of social skills for the student of visual impairment. Participants: A fourth-grade visually impaired student in a centralized special education class in an ordinary school, and six discerning board game interactive students. These six students had no disability qualifications, were recommended by teachers to be emotionally stable, and had no interaction experience with the visually impaired student in this study. In addition, this study also included other relevant participants, including researchers, teacher assistants, teachers in integrated classes, students in integrated classes, etc. Curriculum design: This study designed 8 weeks and 16 lessons for teaching intervention, the first four weeks as the first round, and the last four weeks as the second round. Each lesson lasts forty minutes, and there were two classes a week. The first class of the week was teaching social skills through direct teaching; the second class was board game activities, inviting students with discerning eyes to participate in the board game together, if the student of visual impairment had inappropriate behavior during the process, teacher paused the game immediately and taught the appropriate method at the same time. The table games in this study were: “Arabian Pot” for hearing, “UNO” for vision, and “Star Trek” for touch. At the same time, when interacting with the table games, adjust the playing methods and rules of the board games in a timely manner according to the characteristics of the visually impaired students and the relevant precautions in the teaching of the student of visual impairment. Research tools: The research tools in this study included: Social Skills Behavior and Characteristics Checklist for Primary and Secondary Schools, Board Game Social Skills Record Form, Integration Class Behavior Observation Record Form, Interview Record, Teaching Reflection Log. Research process: The research processes were divided into three stages. The first stage was the preparatory stage. The second stage was the teaching practice stage. This implementation plan was not a one-way straight line. If new problems or teaching difficulties were discovered during the research process, the solution would be rethought and new action strategies would be implemented. The third stage was the data processing and analysis stage after teaching. Data processing and analysis: This research used different sources to collect data, including teaching reflections, text files translated from teaching videos, standardized assessment tests, board game social skills record sheets, fusion class behavior observation record sheets, and interview data of different subjects. At the same time, triangular cross-validation was carried out to check the consistency and reliability of the data. Research ethics: In this study, informed consent was obtained from the research subjects and relevant participants.</p> <p>Results </p> <p>The results showed that, (1) The developed curriculum plan was a feasible teaching method; (2) The student with visual impairment had improved social skills such as “improving frustration tolerance”, “not misinterpreting other people’s meaning”, “not touching other people’s objects casually”, and he enhanced the interpersonal interaction in ordinary classes; (3) The action research helped to increase teacher’s professional knowledge.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The teaching suggestion is to establish opportunities for ordinary students and special students to study together, and for special education teachers to take the initiative. Suggestions for future research include increasing the duration of social skills lessons and using board games to train other social skills.</p> <p> </p>

It is known that blind and visually impaired (VI) students avoid choosing the Sciences and Technologies track in Secondary Education due to the inclusion challenges they faced in Basic Education, particularly the lack of adapted materials. To overcome this situation, investment in the development of tailored science materials is essential. This paper presents a study on the use of inclusive educational resources for sighted, blind, and VI students in a Portuguese middle school. The school integrates students with multiple disabilities alongside sighted students. The research focused on evaluating how 8th-grade students perceive the contents of sound waves using three inclusive educational resources. These resources were based on multisensory didactics—a tactile model, a slinky spring model, and a Swell paper model—and developed with inputs from VI students, blind students and teachers. These resources were tested with sighted students to assess their effectiveness in an inclusive setting. A questionnaire was administered to sighted students to analyse their perceptions of the inclusion of these materials in the classroom. The results revealed a high level of satisfaction, demonstrating that the multisensory approach enhanced students’ understanding of their own learning. Based on the findings, the study suggests expanding the research to include more blind and VI students and additional Physics resources.

Semantic Web accessibility network services (SWANS) is a research project which explores ways of transforming the lives of visually impaired (VI) users. This article presents the development process of a prototype SWANS-M (Mobile) which is evolved from SWANS-W(Wireless) prototype to enhance the physical mobility of VI users using mobile devices. In this prototype we have particularly evaluated the uses of portable screen reader (JAWS) to increase the physical mobility of VI users. The prototype was designed and developed using pocket PC 2003 second edition Emulator available in the Microsoft Visual Studio 2005. SWANS-M prototype was examined in order to assess how confident and independent VI users are in their daily lives. This research was conducted in collaboration with the Cambridge On-line Pathways Project United Kingdom. A qualitative approach was used to test the usability of this new prototype with our focus group. This study was carried out through direct observations and informal interviews conducted over a year. The sample size consisted of fifteen VI users. All participants were adults. It was observed that more than 60% of the participants felt confident regarding to their physical mobility using this new prototype. SWANS-M prototype can help VI users to explore new opportunities for education, employment and leisure, not only through independent, but also productive living.

Prior research into using social networking sites (SNSs) by visually impaired (VI) users has focused primarily on their competencies and accessibility barriers in its usage. We argue, however, that there exists insufficient research into the daily pattern of use of SNSs by VI users and benefits unique to this population. To address these limitations, we conducted two empirical studies, a diary study and a follow-up in-depth interview study, to further explore the social experiences of VI users’ everyday Facebook engagement. Our findings show that VI users were motivated to use Facebook by the prospect of connecting with family and friends and that Facebook offers unique benefits to VI users in terms of improved quality-of-life through social capital building, knowledge obtainment, and entertainment.

Lists, Spatial Practice and Assistive Technologies for the Blind

This study aims at finding needs and expectations for designing a user-friendly textbook of English syntax which can be used by university students with visual impairment in inclusive learning. English syntax learning is chosen because of its certain difficulties undergone by visually-impaired students, particularly those dealing with syntactic analysis which is commonly visualized in a tree diagram notation. The subjects of this study were those involved in English syntax learning including visuallyimpaired students, lecturers, and Pertuni (Indonesian Blind Union). Three lecturers, six visually-impaired students, and three Pertuni staffs participated in the focus group. The study was conducted in Semarang City by including all the English departments which have students with visual impairments and offer English syntax course in their curricula as well as implement it in inclusive learning. The data were collected by observation, in-depth interview, and focus group discussion. The findings show that a user-friendly textbook of English syntax for visually-impaired students should accommodate the following main needs and expectations: (1) the textbook is presented in digital format to be easily accessed by a visually-impaired student using a screen reader, such as JAWS (Job Access with Speech), (2) the text book is supplemented with an add-ons programcalled English Syntactic Analyzerthat can guide a visuallyimpaired student in analyzing a syntactic unit, and (3) the textbook enables visually-impaired students to have the same access to learning activities and success as the normal students in the class.

Interest in the problem of the participation of people with disabilities in public, social, professional and, in particular, educational life has increased over the past few years both worldwide and in Poland. The literature on the subject includes numerous publications concerning the education of children and youth with disabilities. This is not surprising since education at the primary as well as secondary school level is obligatory in Poland. It is also a condition for taking up higher education. The functioning of students with disabilities in higher education institutions is not so widely commented on in the literature. According to the data by the Central Statistical Office (GUS), the number of university students with disabilities amounted to 22,988 in 2007, and it increased to 31,613 by 2012. However, there has been a decline in the number of university students with disabilities since 2013. There were 28,940 university students with disabilities in 2013, while only 25,121 strived to receive third-level education in 2016, which constituted 1.86% of the total number of students in Poland. The fact that only 4.6% of people with disabilities had third-level education in 2002 is also worth noting. Since 2006, the number of students with disabilities at Pope John Paul II State School of Higher Education in Biała Podlaska has maintained a relatively permanent level of 50 people, representing 1.7% of the total number of students at the school. The objective of the study was to define the specificity of the functioning of the students with disabilities at Pope John Paul II State School of Higher Education in Biała Podlaska in the context of educational conditions offered to them by the school. The findings show that students with disabilities point to their difficult individual situation rather than to the conditions provided by the university as the source of their difficulties in studying.

Background: In recent years, the perception of an individual with a disability like visual impairment has been slowly evolving from the “forgotten” person to one who is recognized as needing treatment. Aim: The aim is to assess the self-perception and orthodontic treatment need in visually impaired (VI) students and to compare these with the control group (CG), and also to create awareness about malocclusion and orthodontic treatment in both groups. Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted in the special schools for the VI in the North Karnataka region. The CG was from the local schools in the same region. A total of 125 VI, 162 control students aged 11–19 years were included in the study. Determination of Esthetic Component (AC) and dental health component (DHC) in VI and control students were done. Chi-square test and Kappa statistics were used to compare between the study and the CG and to find out the agreement between the subjects and the orthodontist respectively. APvalue of <0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. Results: About 24% of VI and 6.1% of the control perceived to be in need of orthodontic treatment according to the AC. However, 24% of VI and 20.9% of control showed “definite need” of treatment based upon the DHC. The AC when compared between study and CG by Chi-square test, was found to be highly significant statistically with aP< 0.001. Conclusions: High percentage of VI students perceived a “definite need” as compared to control students based on AC. The data of the present study suggest that the VI students are more concerned about their malocclusion and perceive that they need orthodontic treatment.