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Results of a National Survey on Accessibility of Medical Instrumentation for Consumers
Published in Jack M. Winters, Molly Follette Story, Medical Instrumentation, 2006
Jill M. Winters, Molly Follette Story, Kris Barnekow, June Isaacson Kailes, Brenda Premo, Erin Schwier, Sarma Danturthi, Jack M. Winters
Visual impairment is a term used to describe many degrees of vision loss, including low vision, legally blind, and totally blind. Visual impairments are a very prevalent problem. Based on the National Health Interview survey, approximately 20.4 million Americans aged 18 and older (10%) have some form of visual impairment, even when wearing glasses or contact lenses [14]. Low vision is generally defined as an uncorrectable condition that interferes with a person’s ability to perform everyday activities, or as having 20/70 vision in the best eye, with a correction. The term legally blind is used for individuals whose central visual acuity does not exceed 20/200 in the better eye with corrective lenses or whose visual field is less than an angle of 20°. Total blindness is the term that is used to denote the complete absence of vision and light perception.
Usability Testing
Published in Julie A. Jacko, The Human–Computer Interaction Handbook, 2012
Usability tests with disabled participants require careful planning. Testers must understand the participants’ disabilities and adjust their procedures accordingly. Several researchers have published “lessons learned” from their experience with disabled participants (Coyne 2005; Grossnickle 2004; the Information Technology Technical Assistance and Training Center (ITTATC) 2004; Lepistö and Ovaska 2004; and Swierenga and Guy 2003). Some of these lessons include the following:Recruiting disabled participants is more time consuming than recruiting general population participants. Local organizations and support groups may be willing to help.Disabled participants may need assistance getting to the usability lab.Consent forms must be accessible to all participants.Blind participants may require electronic or Braille versions.Participants with learning or cognitive disabilities may require special consideration to ensure they understand the test and their rights.Deaf participants may require a sign language interpreter, who needs to be informed about the goals of the study.Participants with disabilities may require extra assistance understanding the tasks and may have trouble thinking aloud. Strain, Shaikh, and Boardman (2007) conducted concurrent think aloud tests with blind participants and found the audio from the screen reader interfered with the conversation.Participants with physical disabilities may require adaptive technology to interact with the computer. Be sure the devices are working before participants arrive.Because of the great variability in disabilities, it may take more participants than typical usability tests.It can be especially difficult to observe participants who use Braille readers, as there is currently no good way to follow what the participant is reading.
Social Glasses: Simulating Interactive Gaze for Visually Impaired People in Face-to-Face Communication
Published in International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 2020
Shi Qiu, Jun Hu, Ting Han, Hirotaka Osawa, Matthias Rauterberg
As social beings, humans have a fundamental need to communicate, to form, maintain and enhance social relationships (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). According to Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy (Runco, 2014), human needs have several levels that include basic needs, psychological needs, and self-fulfillment. Once the basic needs are met, a person will strive to satisfy the need for love and belonging in social interactions. Recent developments in multisensory research, computer vision, and wearable technology have introduced many assistive technologies for blind people. The majority of the assistive systems still aim at solving basic needs of blind people, such as navigation (Dunai, Fajarnes, Praderas, Garcia, & Lengua, 2010; Ivanchenko, Coughlan, & Shen, 2008), graphic access (Yusoh et al., 2008) and Braille displays (Prescher, Weber, & Spindler, 2010). However, as Shinohara and Wobbrock (2011) suggested, “Research involving assistive technologies generally focuses on functionality and usability, yet technology use does not happen in a social vacuum.” Therefore, supporting the social needs of this group of users is important as well.
Development of garment design strategies for women with visual impairments
Published in International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education, 2020
Sunhyung Cho, Lida Aflatoony, Kristen Morris, Angela Uriyo
Visual impairment is, ‘a term that encompasses both those who are blind and those with low vision’ (Corn & Lusk, 2010, p. 13). Blindness occurs when a person has ‘near-total’ visions loss to total vision loss with no light perception (American Optometric Association, 2019). The majority of people lose their vision due to conditions like macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetes, while a small percentage of the population is born without their sense of sight (National Federation of the Blind, 2017). Further, people with VI may have a variety of experiences, ranging from difficulty seeing even with the aid of glasses, light sensitivity, contrast sensitivity, glare sensitivity, issues adapting to changes in light or dark, or profound blindness (National Federation of the Blind, 2017).