Paper Authors

Abstract

NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract

Session 3670

A Narrow Bandwidth GUI for Diagram Recognition by the Blind

D, Veal, S.P. Maj and G. Kohli School of Computer and Information Science Edith Cowan University (ECU) Perth Australia

Abstract

The Dynamic Patterning System (DPS) is a narrow bandwidth GUI developed for use by people with vision impairment who cannot read even enlarged print, yet are able to distinguish a small number of colored areas on a computer screen. DPS computer program runs on standard PCs with no additional equipment required. The DPS is designed to utilize the residual vision that many people, though classified as blind, possess. It should be noted that within Western Australia people possessing 10% or less of the sight possessed by a fully sighted individual are classified as blind. This system could be of especial use to the blind-deaf rather than blind users due to the wide availability of text to speech technology. However, the problem of diagram recognition via such systems remains problematic. The authors propose a Low Speed Scanning (LSS) approach whereby users are presented with a sequence of patterns representing a shape. This paper describes the initial testing of this interface and provides results from this investigation. The problems of software provision for people with vision impairment are also considered especially in light of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) legislation. Other devices developed to provide diagram transmission to the blind or partially sighted are described.

1. Introduction

Many people classified as blind have some residual vision. The New South Wales Royal Blind Society notes that:

“The definition of blindness used by medical professionals, support services and government agencies (most especially the Department of Social Security) is a visual acuity of 6/60 or less or field restriction of 10%, i.e. the person sees at 6 metres what a person with ‘normal’ vision would see at 60 metres, or can only see up to 10% of the normal visual field” 14.

Furthermore, even though some people with vision disabilities can read highly magnified text, on the screen of a computer, this can be difficult for many other users, as their face may need to be very close to the screen14.

Proceedings of the 2004 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright  2004, American Society for Engineering Education

• Citation

• Format
  • APA
  • APA - LaTeX bibitem
  • MLA
  • MLA - LaTeX bibitem
  • Bibtex
  • EndNote - RIS

Kohli, G., & Maj, S. P., & Veal, D. (2004, June), A Narrow Bandwidth Gui For Diagram Recognition By The Blind Paper presented at 2004 Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah. 10.18260/1-2--13093