Low Vision Boxing: Participatory Design of Adaptive Kickboxing Experiences with Low Vision Person

Current low-tech Orientation & Mobility (O&M) tools for visually impaired people, e.g. tactile maps, possess limitations. Interactive accessible maps have been developed to overcome these. However, most of them are limited to exploration of existing maps, and have remained in laboratories. Using a participatory design approach, we have worked closely with 15 visually impaired students and 3 O&M instructors over 6 months. We iteratively designed and developed an augmented reality map destined at use in O&M classes in special education centers. This prototype combines projection, audio output and use of tactile tokens, and thus allows both map exploration and construction by low vision and blind people. Our user study demonstrated that all students were able to successfully use the prototype, and showed a high user satisfaction. A second phase with 22 international special education teachers allowed us to gain more qualitative insights. This work shows that augmented reality has potential for improving the access to education for visually impaired people.

Indoor navigation systems with prebuilt maps have shown great potential in navigating blind people even in unfamiliar buildings. However, blind people cannot always benefit from them in every building, as prebuilt maps are expensive to build. This paper explores a map-less navigation system for blind people to reach destinations in unfamiliar buildings, which is implemented on a robot. We first conducted a participatory design with five blind people, which revealed that intersections and signs are the most relevant information in unfamiliar buildings. Then, we prototyped PathFinder, a navigation system that allows blind people to determine their way by detecting and conveying information about intersections and signs. Through a participatory study, we improved the interface of PathFinder, such as the feedback for conveying the detection results. Finally, a study with seven blind participants validated that PathFinder could assist users in navigating unfamiliar buildings with increased confidence compared to their regular aid.

Various assistive technologies such as haptic technology are used to help people with visual impairments comprehend complex information. Yet there is likely to be a misconception that users with the same disability category share the same user interface needs; furthermore, the majority of the literature has been oriented toward total blindness rather than low vision, possibly leading to dissatisfaction with assistive technologies and discontinuation of its use by those with low vision. The aim of this article is to advance the understanding of the needs of those with low vision especially in relation to haptic-incorporated multimodal user interfaces. A scenario-based, participatory design approach was used to explore their needs. A total of 19 user needs were systematically documented under three categories: audition (n = 5), touch (n = 11), and vision (n = 3). This article focuses on qualitatively exploring their needs and theoretically interpreting the needs in the light of previous studies.

This paper has the goal of demonstrating the development of a design process based on the concepts of ergonomics, interdisciplinary and participatory design in order to aid the respiratory physiotherapy treatment of children with acquired and congenital visual disability. This process was conducted in a referential physiotherapy treatment center in Niteroi city, Brazil. The public Brazilian healthcare system has several problems to afford medical equipment to public hospitals and physiotherapy centers. Thus, this kind of facilities is hardly accessible for the majority of population, specially failing to attend the needs of the visually disabled. Therefore, providing an affordable product truly efficient to be used in the respiratory treatment for children with visual disability was a significantly relevant goal. Through an ergonomics approach with participation of many specialists from different fields of knowledge and user-centered design concepts, it was possible to design a facilitating tool to stimulate a playful and more active attitude from the blind child patient during the treatment. The process’ development consisted of systematic observation, interview, brainstorming sessions and meetings with experts from several different disciplines such as physiotherapy, physics, engineering, psychology and industrial design. Finally, a respiratory physiotherapy equipment was designed and tested with the final user.

Participatory Design is a process for the design of interactive systems integrating the user in all design phases. However it is based on the assumption that users are in possess of their full physical capabilities, in particular the visual sense, and thus is for the most part not adapted for working with visually impaired people. In this article we present an approach for using participatory design when working with blind people. We start with an analysis of the existing methods, in which we discuss their limits concerning accessibility for the blind, and the peculiarities of blind users. Afterwards we present how we have adapted the classical design methods during our design process and we show the results of our project. We conclude with some recommendations and future working propositions.

People who are blind or low vision may have a harder time participating in exercise classes due to inaccessibility, travel difficulties, or lack of experience. My dissertation research will attempt to lower the barrier between people who are blind or low-vision and exercising independently. Three new fitness technologies will be developed: Eyes-Free Yoga, Eyes-Free Rock Climbing, and Eyes-Free Track Running. In addition, I plan on collaborating with the visually impaired and those who are involved in their fitness. This will materialize into a focus group and a list of priorities for Eyes-Free Exercise Technology. So far, I have completed Eyes-Free Yoga and completed formative work toward Eyes-Free Rock Climbing. With participatory design and collaboration, I hope to design and develop technologies that will be beneficial for blind and low-vision wellness.

Online learning (or e-learning) has seen a significant rise in popularity and ubiquity, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the convenience and flexibility for learners and cost-effectiveness to institutions. Advances in e-learning technologies, such as learning management systems (LMS), provide teachers and students with new modalities and formats for engagement in teaching and learning, respectively. However, there are growing concerns surrounding the accessibility of such technologies, especially LMSs, for learners with disabilities (LWD). Issues such as navigation, information access, and non-descriptive web graphics present barriers that severely impact the learning progression of LWDs. While past work has examined solutions for improving existing LMS accessibility, there are still barriers present that limit the complete online experience for LWDs, such as working with complex user interfaces (UI). We argue for more research that looks at design and interaction requirements from the perspectives of both teachers and learners to fully understand what it would take to design more usable and accessible LMSs. Our work details a participatory design (PD) study conducted with two user groups: one for teachers and one for students with vision impairments (i.e., blindness, low vision). Since we are working with blind and visually impaired (BVI) participants, we utilized a method called co-constructing stories that combines verbal storytelling with PD. This approach allows us to 1) gain a better understanding of the experiences of using LMS technology from our design groups and 2) provide a more accessible experience in collaborative technology design. Each group participated in three design workshops. The first workshop included developing a story where the participants were the main characters in a scenario using a conceptual LMS that they would imagine and come up with initial features and design requirements. In the second design workshop, the groups collaboratively refined the initial features and designs and developed additional design ideas. The third workshop was done in one-on-one sessions where participants would engage in a think-aloud session, navigating and using a prototype LMS we developed with their input.The teachers brought up their experiences teaching online courses to BVI students. They desired the ability to customize the course pages, such as typography, font size, UI control sizes, and color. Students wanted better semantics of the UI for improved translation of the web page components from their screen readers and a more simplistic layout. The think-aloud sessions yielded satisfactory results as both groups found the initial prototype to be accessible, easy to use, and an improvement over existing LMSs. While there were some suggestions for improvements, our work showed the effectiveness of empowering teachers and LWDs to co-design technology. We believe this work may benefit instructional designers, researchers, and educational technology developers looking to design more accessible e-learning systems to accommodate a broad range of disabilities.

The lack of access to visual information like text labels, icons, and colors can cause frustration and decrease independence for blind people. Current access technology uses automatic approaches to address some problems in this space, but the technology is error-prone, limited in scope, and quite expensive. In this paper, we introduce VizWiz, a talking application for mobile phones that offers a new alternative to answering visual questions in nearly real-time - asking multiple people on the web. To support answering questions quickly, we introduce a general approach for intelligently recruiting human workers in advance called quikTurkit so that workers are available when new questions arrive. A field deployment with 11 blind participants illustrates that blind people can effectively use VizWiz to cheaply answer questions in their everyday lives, highlighting issues that automatic approaches will need to address to be useful. Finally, we illustrate the potential of using VizWiz as part of the participatory design of advanced tools by using it to build and evaluate VizWiz::LocateIt, an interactive mobile tool that helps blind people solve general visual search problems.

Building service robots-robots that perform various services in buildings-are becoming more common in large buildings such as hotels and stores. We aim to leverage such robots to serve as guides for blind people. In this paper, we sought to design specifications that detail how a building service robot could interact with and guide a blind person through a building in an effective and socially acceptable way. We conducted participatory design sessions with three designers and five non-designers. Two of the designers and all of the non-designers had a vision disability. Primary features of the design include allowing the user to (1) summon the robot after entering the building, (2) choose from three modes of assistance (Sighted Guide, Escort, and Information Kiosk), and (3) receive information about the building's layout from the robot. We conclude with a discussion of themes and a reflection about our design process that can benefit robot design for blind people in general.

Building service robots-robots that perform various services in buildings-are becoming more common in large buildings such as hotels and stores. We aim to leverage such robots to serve as guides for blind people. In this paper, we sought to design specifications that detail how a building service robot could interact with and guide a blind person through a building in an effective and socially acceptable way. We conducted participatory design sessions with three designers and five non-designers. Two of the designers and all of the non-designers had a vision disability. Primary features of the design include allowing the user to (1) summon the robot after entering the building, (2) choose from three modes of assistance (Sighted Guide, Escort, and Information Kiosk), and (3) receive information about the building's layout from the robot. We conclude with a discussion of themes and a reflection about our design process that can benefit robot design for blind people in general.

Navigating indoors is challenging for blind people and they often rely on assistance from sighted people. We propose a solution for indoor navigation involving multi-purpose robots that will likely reside in many buildings in the future. In this report, we present a design for how robots can guide blind people to an indoor destination in an effective and socially-acceptable way. We used participatory design, creating a design team with three designers and five non-designers. All but one member of the team had a visual impairment. Our resulting design specifies how the robot and the user initially meet, how the robot guides the user through hallways and around obstacles, and how the robot and user conclude their session.

Self-driving vehicles are the latest innovation in improving personal mobility and road safety by removing arguably error-prone humans from driving-related tasks. Such advances can prove especially beneficial for people who are blind or have low vision who cannot legally operate conventional motor vehicles. Missing from the related literature, we argue, are studies that describe strategies for vehicle design for these persons. We present a case study of the participatory design of a prototype for a self-driving vehicle human-machine interface (HMI) for a graduate-level course on inclusive design and accessible technology. We reflect on the process of working alongside a co-designer, a person with a visual disability, to identify user needs, define design ideas, and produce a low-fidelity prototype for the HMI. This paper may benefit researchers interested in using a similar approach for designing accessible autonomous vehicle technology.

For people with visual impairment, environmental features create barriers to inclusion and participation in public places such as museums. This study gathered direct feedback on accessibility from people with visual impairment to inform a major renovation at the Grand Rapids Public Museum. This study used a participatory action research design. Data collection included a guided walk and semi-structured interviews. A descriptive numerical summary and qualitative thematic analysis were used to summarize the results. Twelve participants were assigned to three categories of visual impairment: low vision, legally blind, and totally blind. The primary barriers to accessibility included inaccessible signage, lack of multi-sensory information, and staff training. Suggestions for improving accessibility include adding assistive technology and increased staff involvement. Identifying barriers to accessibility requires involving people with visual impairment in the decision making process. Understanding the unique needs of people with visual impairment will promote inclusion and participation in museum settings.

(The Maharaja, the Elephant and the Quality of (e)Learning) Starting from a metaphor coming from the story «The six blind men and the elephant», this paper introduces the most significant results of a study carried out over the last ten years on the topic of the quality of (e)Learning. Overall, it focuses on the four levels through which quality can be analyzed: epistemological, theoretical, methodological and of method. Furthermore, it identifies the categories that constitute the basis of such an analysis: dimensions, levels, stakeholders and time. Accordingly, the paper highlights the characteristics of the quality of (e)Learning on the basis of the authors’ empirical research work: the term «mediated quality» is presented as a concept that encompasses a participatory, trans/formative and open quality. Therefore, the paper illustrates the specific results, from the processes to the instruments adopted to mediate the quality of the empirical study,. The authors come up with the following reflection: if the quality of (e)Learningif is to be based on a constructivist epistemology, a pedagogical vision and a mixed methodological approach with a strong qualitative orientation, and if quality is to be mediated with instruments that enhance participation, transformation and openness, then a scholarship, iterative, participatory, open and eclectic learning design is required. To conclude, the authors hope, with the maharaja of the story, that research collaboration, as proposed in this paper, will lead to improve further results regarding the quality of (e)Learning.

We conducted interviews with blind and deaf-blind people to understand how they use the public transit system. In this paper, we discuss key challenges our participants faced and present a tool we developed to alleviate these challenges. We built this tool on MoBraille, a novel framework that enables a Braille display to benefit from many features in an Android phone without knowledge of proprietary, device-specific protocols. We conducted participatory design with a deaf-blind person and describe the lessons learned about designing an interface for a deaf-blind person.