▶ Addresses the accessibility, usability, and, ultimately, acceptability of Information Society Technologies by anyone, anywhere, at anytime, and through any media and device. ▶ Focuses on theoretical, methodological, and empirical research, of both technological and non-technological nature. ▶ Features papers that report on theories, methods, tools, empirical results, reviews, case studies, and best-practice examples.

Universal access in the information society

The usefulness of mobile devices has increased greatly in recent years allowing users to perform more tasks in a mobile context. This increase in usefulness has come at the expense of the usability of these devices in some contexts. We conducted a small review of mobile usability models and found that usability is usually measured in terms of three attributes; effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. Other attributes, such as cognitive load, tend to be overlooked in the usability models that are most prominent despite their likely impact on the success or failure of an application. To remedy this we introduces the PACMAD (People At the Centre of Mobile Application Development) usability model which was designed to address the limitations of existing usability models when applied to mobile devices. PACMAD brings together significant attributes from different usability models in order to create a more comprehensive model. None of the attributes that it includes are new, but the existing prominent usability models ignore one or more of them. This could lead to an incomplete usability evaluation. We performed a literature search to compile a collection of studies that evaluate mobile applications and then evaluated the studies using our model.

/pdf/usability-of-mobile-applications-literature-review-and-2sgkvggy18.pdf

Usability of mobile applications: literature review and rationale for a new usability model

Symposium on Haptic Interfaces for Virtual Environment and Teleoperator Systems 参加報告

This paper describes an empirical study of the problems encountered by 32 blind users on the Web. Task-based user evaluations were undertaken on 16 websites, yielding 1383 instances of user problems. The results showed that only 50.4% of the problems encountered by users were covered by Success Criteria in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0). For user problems that were covered by WCAG 2.0, 16.7% of websites implemented techniques recommended in WCAG 2.0 but the techniques did not solve the problems. These results show that few developers are implementing the current version of WCAG, and even when the guidelines are implemented on websites there is little indication that people with disabilities will encounter fewer problems. The paper closes by discussing the implications of this study for future research and practice. In particular, it discusses the need to move away from a problem-based approach towards a design principle approach for web accessibility.

http://www-course.cs.york.ac.uk/advt/classes/class03/materials/Power,%20Freire,%20Petrie,%20Swallow%202012.pdf

Guidelines are only half of the story: accessibility problems encountered by blind users on the web

Over the last 20 years, cultural heritage has been a favored domain for personalization research. For years, researchers have experimented with the cutting edge technology of the day; now, with the convergence of internet and wireless technology, and the increasing adoption of the Web as a platform for the publication of information, the visitor is able to exploit cultural heritage material before, during and after the visit, having different goals and requirements in each phase. However, cultural heritage sites have a huge amount of information to present, which must be filtered and personalized in order to enable the individual user to easily access it. Personalization of cultural heritage information requires a system that is able to model the user (e.g., interest, knowledge and other personal characteristics), as well as contextual aspects, select the most appropriate content, and deliver it in the most suitable way. It should be noted that achieving this result is extremely challenging in the case of first-time users, such as tourists who visit a cultural heritage site for the first time (and maybe the only time in their life). In addition, as tourism is a social activity, adapting to the individual is not enough because groups and communities have to be modeled and supported as well, taking into account their mutual interests, previous mutual experience, and requirements. How to model and represent the user(s) and the context of the visit and how to reason with regard to the information that is available are the challenges faced by researchers in personalization of cultural heritage. Notwithstanding the effort invested so far, a definite solution is far from being reached, mainly because new technology and new aspects of personalization are constantly being introduced. This article surveys the research in this area. Starting from the earlier systems, which presented cultural heritage information in kiosks, it summarizes the evolution of personalization techniques in museum web sites, virtual collections and mobile guides, until recent extension of cultural heritage toward the semantic and social web. The paper concludes with current challenges and points out areas where future research is needed.

/pdf/personalization-in-cultural-heritage-the-road-travelled-and-35wrqofbvf.pdf

Personalization in cultural heritage: the road travelled and the one ahead

In this paper we analyze the interaction of blind users with Apple touchscreen devices iPad, iPhone and iPod touch, accessible to the visually-impaired thanks to their pre-installed VoiceOver screen reader or magnifier. Specifically, we focus on the gestures offered by VoiceOver to simplify interaction for blind users. A usability inspection of the devices' user interfaces has been performed and integrated with user feedback collected via an online survey taken by 55 totally blind users. Results confirm that VoiceOver makes the Apple devices basically accessible to blind users, but there are still some issues related to usability. Users normally believe that accessibility integrated with VoiceOver is an important innovation, but some operations, such as the writing of long text, take too long or are not comfortable. Results suggest that a multimodal approach on mobile touchscreen devices does not offer a simple and satisfactory interaction paradigm for all and it deserves further investigation. Three possible solutions for improving user interface interaction and offering a simpler and more comfortable experience for blind individuals were proposed to the survey participants, gathering their positive feedback.

Interacting with mobile devices via VoiceOver: usability and accessibility issues

The application of appropriate Web site design and evaluation methods helps to ensure more usable and accessible Web sites. While in the literature guidelines and evaluation methods for accessibility and usability are given and discussed separately, we aim at identifying the relationships between these two concepts, in particular considering usability criteria for accessible Web sites. In this work, we propose a set of such criteria targeted to improving the navigability for a specific group of disabled users, i.e., vision-impaired people. The identification of the eighteen criteria suggested herein was performed through empirical feedback, by which potential issues were identified. Subsequently, a systematic method was developed on the basis of the analysis of potential solutions, resulting in a classification of the criteria according to usability aspects. Some example applications of the proposed criteria to three existing public administration Web sites are discussed.

Increasing usability when interacting through screen readers

Available accessibility guidelines do not necessarily guarantee usable Web sites, particularly when specific groups of users with special needs are considered. We have identified 15 Web design criteria aiming to provide integrated support of accessibility and usability for vision-impaired users. In this article, we present the results of a study investigating whether the application of such guidelines for vision-impaired users can actually improve their task performance when accessing Web applications. We report on two user tests, both involving vision-impaired users, that aim to provide empirical validation of the design criteria. During each test, users had to access and navigate two versions of a Web site, one version supporting the selected design criteria and one obtained with traditional techniques. Our results indicate that the 15 design criteria improved Web site usability both quantitatively and qualitatively by reducing the navigation time needed to perform the assigned tasks and by making the W...

/pdf/applying-web-usability-criteria-for-vision-impaired-users-4q0d5qaayv.pdf

Applying Web Usability Criteria for Vision-Impaired Users: Does It Really Improve Task Performance?

In this work, we report on a solution for providing support to the blind using mobile museum guides by exploiting the haptic channel as a complement to the audio/vocal one. The overall goal is to improve the autonomy and social integration of blind visitors. We followed an iterative approach in which the proposed system went through various user evaluations and further refinements. The final solution includes vibrotactile feedback enhancement for orientation and obstacle avoidance obtained through the use of unobtrusive actuators applied to two of the user's fingers combined with an electronic compass and obstacle detector sensors connected wirelessly to the mobile guide. Our study indicates that vibrotactile feedback is particularly useful to provide frequent unobtrusive indications of useful dynamic information, such as the level of proximity of an obstacle or the distance from the right orientation.

/pdf/vibrotactile-feedback-to-aid-blind-users-of-mobile-guides-1tmzzgn6iq.pdf

Vibrotactile feedback to aid blind users of mobile guides

http://giove.isti.cnr.it/attachments/publications/2006-A0-43.pdf

Barbara Leporini

Papers

Interacting with mobile devices via VoiceOver: usability and accessibility issues

Increasing usability when interacting through screen readers

Applying Web Usability Criteria for Vision-Impaired Users: Does It Really Improve Task Performance?

Vibrotactile feedback to aid blind users of mobile guides

Flexible tool support for accessibility evaluation