▶ 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

Objective In the present paper the study, design and prototyping of a mobility aid system for visually impaired persons in outdoor scenarios is presented. The application scenario is autonomous mobility in urban context, and, in particular, the living of outdoor public places of tourist/cultural interest and urban routes. Main Content The basic idea behind the project is to realize a safe path that can be followed by the user thanks to a tactile vibration provided by a modified white cane (Smart Cane), potentially usable also as a traditional one; a smartphone provides the user with additional information about the route. The basic guidance function on a safe path is suitable also in an indoor scenario, e.g. in exhibitions, museums, public buildings. Final users were involved in the definition of mobility requirements and during system tests. The safe path is composed by tracks, branch points and points of interest, and is implemented by means of an electrical circuit generating a magnetic field detected by a receiver on the white cane tip. The Smart Cane is equipped with an electronic device (Smart Cane Controller) managing cane functions. The path electrical circuit may be buried in several kinds of ground or placed on ground surface. The user follows the path sweeping the white cane in front of him/her and perceiving a tactile vibration when the Smart Cane tip is in the range of a few tens centimeters from the track centre. The smartphone brought by the user is wirelessly connected to the Smart Cane Controller and to a small portable GPS receiver. The user queries the mobile phone by means of a switchbased user interface on the cane; thanks to GPS positioning information (strict positioning accuracy not needed), the mobile phone provides vocal information about possible destinations, directions and about points of interest. Results The system electronics and the firmware and software applications were completely developed and tested both in lab and in real operating conditions. For the test and Demonstration phase, a bastion on the Walls of Lucca city, Italy, was selected, and the system was tested also with final users. A second run of trials with other users is foreseen in late Spring and Summer 2011. Conclusion The proposed mobility aid system was completely designed, developed and partially tested. A Demonstration phase will allow final users to further test and validate the system, providing hints and feedbacks for a possible engineered future version.

/pdf/improving-mobility-of-pedestrian-visually-impaired-users-40od8vpqc9.pdf

Improving Mobility of Pedestrian Visually-Impaired Users

Search engines are a fundamental tool for retrieving specific and appropriate information on the Internet; for this reason it is essential for any user to be able to interact with simple, clear and accessible interfaces. In this paper we discuss the main differences between a visual layout and aural perception, and propose a set of guidelines for search engine user interface UIs design.

/pdf/designing-search-engine-user-interfaces-for-the-visually-41fr2x04gx.pdf

Designing search engine user interfaces for the visually impaired

In this paper, we describe the study conducted to investigate accessibility using EPUB 3 with particular focus on interaction via screen reader. A multimedia and interactive EPUB 3 prototype was designed for the purpose. In particular, personalization features based on user preferences were designed to customize the reading experience and enrich the interactive experience. Despite the fact that the EPUB format is based on HTML5, and numerous guidelines for web-based technology can be applied to overcome accessibility barriers, several issues still exist with the current standard EPUB 3 when accessing via screen reader. This study contributes to digital publishing for assistive technology and reading application development by promoting accessibility in EPUB interaction. Thus, some considerations and suggestions in that direction end the paper.

Personalization in the Interactive EPUB 3 Reading Experience: Accessibility Issues for Screen Reader Users

In this paper, we consider the use of games in the rehabilitation of disabled people, with particular attention to blind and partially sighted people. Serious games are currently very widely used in a variety of applications including education, training, culture, therapy and rehabilitation. However, this raises the issues of whether they are suitable for disabled people and the extent to which disabled people have been involved in the design. We will be reporting the results of a survey to investigate the extent to which existing and proposed games are accessible to disabled and older people, particularly blind and partially sighted people.

Games for the rehabilitation of disabled people

One approach for teaching subjects with autism is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). ABA intervention aims to model human behavior by observing, analyzing and modifying antecedents and/or consequences of a target behavior in the environment. To achieve this, many data are recorded during each trial, such as subject response (correct/incorrect, level of prompt, inappropriate behavior, etc.). In this paper we present a web application that aggregates and visualizes data collected during technology-enhanced educational sessions, in order to monitor learning in children with autism. In a previous study we developed a free open source web application called ABCD SW, to support educators in administering ABA programs. In this study we present a learning analytic tool that retrieves, aggregates and shows – in graphical and table form – data gathered by ABCD SW. This software offers accurate real-time monitoring of children’s learning, allowing teachers to analyze the collected data more rapidly, and to accurately tune and personalize the intervention for each child.

/pdf/an-analytic-tool-for-assessing-learning-in-children-with-1oab4h84lj.pdf

Barbara Leporini

Papers

Improving Mobility of Pedestrian Visually-Impaired Users

Designing search engine user interfaces for the visually impaired

Personalization in the Interactive EPUB 3 Reading Experience: Accessibility Issues for Screen Reader Users

Games for the rehabilitation of disabled people

An Analytic Tool for Assessing Learning in Children with Autism