Abstract
Having a disability does not mean being away from major technologies present today; even people with visual impairment or blindness use different options to access technological information. Recent studies have shown that using tangible user interfaces and gamification techniques brings considerable benefits to learning and the understanding of essential topics for these people. Therefore, METUIGA methodology has been developed to facilitate digital content creation that mixes both characteristics and seeks to take advantage of the primary means of knowledge that these people have as their sense of touch, enriched with techniques that encourage them to use applications more frequently. For this reason, novelties are shown within the requirements and the design stages to implement these techniques. This work shows prototypes that have been made following METUIGA methodology to help teach geometry and mathematical lessons for blind people. In addition, a third prototype focused on children with an autism spectrum disorder demonstrates how METUIGA methodology can be applied in a variety of subjects and for a number of disabilities. Finally, an analysis of the software methodology evaluation is presented to show the initial perceptions of software developers toward METUIGA methodology, where important results were obtained in relation to the software engineering process application.
Highlights
Throughout history, disability has been considered through different points of view and the ways of approaching it have changed radically, in each historical stage there have been supportive or discriminatory attitudes towards people with disabilities [1].According to the World Health Organization, a disability refers to persons who have one or more impairments, whether physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory, which, due to their interaction with different environments in the social setting, may impede their full and effective participation on equal terms [2,3].It is estimated that more than 1 billion people live with some form of disability
Tangible User Interfaces (TUIs) were defined as devices that shape digital information, using physical objects as representations and controls of computational data led by the Tangible Media Group of the MIT Media
Due to the user-centered design (UCD) approach followed by METUIGA methodology, tangible interfaces were designed in close collaboration with educators and blind people
Summary
Throughout history, disability has been considered through different points of view and the ways of approaching it have changed radically, in each historical stage there have been supportive or discriminatory attitudes towards people with disabilities [1].According to the World Health Organization, a disability refers to persons who have one or more impairments, whether physical, mental, intellectual, or sensory, which, due to their interaction with different environments in the social setting, may impede their full and effective participation on equal terms [2,3].It is estimated that more than 1 billion people live with some form of disability. METUIGA is the first methodology that mixes tangible user interfaces and gamification techniques within its development process. Definitions of these characteristics are shown below. Drawing upon users’ knowledge and skills of interaction with the real non-digital world, TUIs show potential to enhance the way in which people interact with and leverage digital information [13]. These interfaces were identified by Fitzmaurice, he called them “manipulable user interfaces” [14]. TUIs were defined as devices that shape digital information, using physical objects as representations and controls of computational data led by the Tangible Media Group of the MIT Media
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