User-interface design: A case study of partially sighted children in Malaysia

Abstract

A study to investigate partially sighted children's preferences for font type, font size, font colour and background colours when reading texts from computer screen had been conducted at special integration classes for the visually impaired in public primary schools in Malaysia. A prototype of reading application with flexible user interface was developed for the purpose of the study. Four types of fonts, namely Times New Roman, Courier New, Arial and Comic Sans MS at various font sizes were tested. As for the font and background colours, black, white, red and attractive colours such as blue, green, yellow and pink were examined. The results of the study indicated that partially sighted children have their own preferences for font type, font size and foreground and background colour when reading texts from computer screens due to their differences in visual problem and visual acuity. The flexible user interface, indeed, had enabled the children to access and read the contents of the application easily. This study suggests the importance of considering these children in the user interface design.