Prototyping and Designing New Assistive Technologies for People with Disabilities Shaun Kane Human-Centered UMBC

Today An overview of accessible prototyping and design at UMBC Two projects –Accessible touch screens for blind people –Smarter communication tools for people with aphasia 2

Prototyping and Design at UMBC 3

What we’ve made 4 Touch screens for blind people Braille entry for smartphones Communication technologies Tactile graphics

Our research partners 5 National Federation of the Blind Snyder Center for Aphasia Life Enhancement Maryland State Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped Charlestown Senior Living

Design approach Participatory design: work for extended periods with population who will benefit from technology Ability-based design: Measure users abilities to interact with technology; develop new ways of interacting with technology that leverages these abilities 6

Two projects Access Overlays: Accessible touch screens for blind people TalkAbout: Communication tools for people with aphasia 7

Two projects Access Overlays: Accessible touch screens for blind people TalkAbout: Communication tools for people with aphasia 8

Challenge: How to make a touch screen accessible to a blind person? 9

“Yeah. I was at the social security office enquiring about getting a new Social Security card. You have to get a number at the office, and the security guard was on a smoke break, and it was a touch screen, and I couldn't use it and it was a big hassle. Some sighted guy came in and helped me but it drew way too much attention to me. I think it's kind of weird that an agency that's supposed to assist the disabled doesn't have accessibility things, that's kind of stupid.” 10 Inaccessible touch screens

“Flat screens without a grid—a real tangible grid— are difficult for blind people … I think that flat screens are not really accessible.” (Kane et al., 2008) 11

12 But – touch is often how blind people interact with books, maps, and their physical environment.

Exploring touch screens Important applications: maps, diagrams, documents, games Location and spatial layout important How to find objects on screen? How to understand spatial relations? 13

Formative research Interviewed 8 blind office workers (4m,4f) Discussed organization and search strategies Where they put things; how they found them 14

How to do it Appropriate output –Speech and audio Appropriate input –How do users touch the device? –Screen layout –Usable, reliable gestures 15

Examples Mobile phone: _xys _xys Large touch screen: RcUlSk RcUlSk 16

Two projects Access Overlays: Accessible touch screens for blind people TalkAbout: Communication tools for people with aphasia 17

Aphasia center Serves ~40 adults with reading, comprehension, and speech difficulties caused by stroke Many use tablet communication software (but don’t like it) 18

We created a location-aware communication tool for people with aphasia Make it smarter: use context to determine what the user might want to say (e.g., talk about medicine when the user I at the doctor’s office) 19 TalkAbout (Kane et al., 2012)

Designing TalkAbout How to design with people who have difficulty communicating? Multiple approaches –Created a “design team” of diverse users –Worked closely with staff and instructors –Used multiple forms of prototyping (diagrams, acting, interactive prototypes), and collecting feedback (paper forms, conversation) 20 Our design team preferred our new prototype to their existing tools.

Takeaways We can redesign existing devices to make them more accessible –Software easier to fix than hardware … by involving future users in design –Adaptations become device features Sometimes even our design methods must be flexible 21

Thanks! Shaun Kane UMBC Prototyping and Design Lab

Who benefits? About 25 million people in the US have some visual impairment (National Health Interview Survey 2008) As many as 25% of computer users may benefit from visual accessibility tools (Microsoft 2004) 23

Barriers to everyday activities 24 “Can I ski 60 miles an hour downhill? Yes. Use a flat panel microwave? No.” –Mike May, Sendero Group (2009)

Principles of Ability-Based Design (Wobbrock, Kane et al., 2010) AbilityFocus on ability, not dis-ability. Take advantage of all that users can do. AccountabilityRespond to poor user performance by changing the system, not the user. :When possible, utilize low-cost everyday input devices. PerformanceMeasure, model, monitor, and/or predict user performance. ContextProactively sense context and anticipate its effects on a user’s abilities. AdaptationProvide adaptable or adaptive user interfaces tailored to a user’s abilities. TransparencyGive users the awareness of adaptations and the means to inspect, override, store, retrieve, preview, and test- drive them. 25

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