The Preliminary Study of a Mobile Health Application for Visual Impaired Individual

Abstract

Statistics of Malaysia Social Welfare Department reported that the majority of persons with visual impaired are adults. This group is more susceptible towards the main chronic illnesses in Malaysia. Support ought to be provided through various platforms, and one of the potential medium is through mobile application or specifically known as mobile assistive technology. This paper reports the preliminary study which investigates the development of a mobile health application which was designed to disseminate information regarding major chronic illness in Malaysia; diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and kidney disease. The interface developed is compatible with renowned software; JAWS and NVDA which can support the navigation for those with visual impairment. 2 respondents are chosen in this preliminary study. 1 respondent who is totally blind and 1 respondent with low vision were interviewed. The evaluation revealed that this mobile application fulfilled the usability aspect; it was confirmed to be easy to use and supported with suitable multimedia elements. As there is no existing mobile health application to support visual impaired audience in Malay Language, this study could be considered a groundbreaking attempt to provide the mechanism. It is with the aim of the study that the mobile health application would have the potential to be used to support this group.