contributed articles
DoI: 10.1145/1536616.1536636
Meaning can be as important as usability
in the design of technology.
BY KRIsTen shInohARA AnD Josh TenenBeRG
A Blind
Person’s
Interactions
with
Technology
cURRent pRActice in computer interface design
often takes for granted the user’s sightedness. But a
blind user employs a combination of other senses in
accomplishing everyday tasks, such as having text read
aloud or using fingers along a tactile surface to read
Braille. As such, designers of assistive technologies
must pay careful attention to the alternatives to sight
to engage a blind user in completing tasks. It may be
difficult for a sighted designer to understand how
blind people mentally represent their environment or
how they apply alternative options in accomplishing a
task. Designers have responded to these challenges by
developing alternative modes of interaction, including
audible screen readers,
11 external memory aids for
exploring haptic graphs,
20 non-speech sounds for
navigating hypermedia,
16 two-finger
haptic interfaces for touching virtual
objects,
22 haptic modeling of virtual
objects,
13 and multimodal (auditory,
haptic, visual) feedback for simple
computer-based tasks.
10 The effectiveness of these alternative modes of interaction is studied primarily through
a usability framework, where blind and
visually impaired users interact with
specific devices in a controlled laboratory environment. These developments in assistive technology make a
point to take advantage of the alternative modes of interaction available to
blind users.
Physical obstacles are not the only
considerations affecting interaction
between blind users and everyday artifacts. As we found in this study, elements of meaning, such as socialization, efficiency, flexibility, and control,
strongly influence the use of both digital and non-digital artifacts by blind
users. Taken-for-granted factors, such
as an individual’s social ties or busy
schedule, might determine whether
and how an object is used. Therefore,
designers may need to pay close attention to the external factors that influence an individual’s choice and use of
technology. Conversely, and equally as
important, designers must also consider how an individual’s internal values and desires affect their technology
preferences.
The study described here is an in-depth exploratory and descriptive case
study24 of a blind individual using various technologies in her home. Previous studies in lab settings compared
interactions against a set of heuristics
or with a control group, allowing researchers to isolate events in order to
understand how users interact with specific technologies on a narrow range of
tasks. We took this study out of the lab
and into the home to get a better sense
of the nuances of everyday life influencing how a blind user interacts with
technology. It differs from the usability
approaches in several ways. First, we
wanted to look across a range of technologies for common kinds of task fail-
