Universal Design and Assistive Technology Providing access and assistance to people with special needs.

Motivations  Legal Requirements Section /1986 Rehabilitation Act 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act  1/5 Americans have a disability, 1/10 have a severe disability*  Everyone is impaired sometimes  Intriguing interface challenges *2000 US Census Brief

Universal Design “Universal design is the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design”  Variety of users: Age, expertise, language, education, physical abilities, cognitive abilities  Helps everyone, not just those with a disability.

Universal design principles  equitable use  flexibility in use  simple and intuitive to use  perceptible information  tolerance for error  low physical effort  size and space for approach and use

Example: Multi-Modal Systems  More than one sensory channel in interaction e.g. sounds, text, hypertext, animation, video, gestures, vision  Provides flexibility in input  Redundant output

Accessible design  Make accessible to as wide a group of people as possible, particularly those with disabilities  Provide equal access  Example: Web accessibility  Challenge: Very hard to design a product for everyone “Design for all” vs. “Design for most”

Users with disabilities  visual impairment Blindness, low vision, color blindness  hearing impairment Deafness, partial hearing loss  physical impairment Difficulty or inability to use hands, such as tremors, loss of muscle control, or paralysis  Cognitive Learning disabilities such as dyslexia, memory, attention, problem-solving impairments

…and different needs  age groups older people e.g. disability aids, memory aids, communication tools to prevent social isolation children e.g. appropriate input/output devices, involvement in design process  cultural differences influence of nationality, generation, gender, race, sexuality, class, religion, political persuasion etc. on interpretation of interface features e.g. interpretation and acceptability of language, cultural symbols, gesture and colour

We’re all disabled sometimes…  Environment  Fatigue  Injury  Aging  Changing role of information technology

Example: Sheila the programmer. She was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy in her early 20's. This condition, which results in progressive loss of muscular strength, means that she works from her motorized wheelchair, and is unable to sit upright for more than a brief time. As a result, she works in a reclined position, leaning back almost horizontally. Her vision problems limit the amount of time she can focus on the screen, and her muscular weakness prevents her from handling paper manuals.

Another example: Carla the secretary. She has no vision in one eye and "tunnel vision" in the other and prepares documents using a standard PC and screen magnification software. Sometimes she is unable to tell the difference between old and new messages, because her mail application uses color to distinguish old from new. Like many users with low vision, she has problems working with columns, because it is difficult for her to see if text is aligned.

Assistive Technology  Any item, equipment or system, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of a person with a disability  Understand technology in order to design with it in mind  Create new technology to aid users  Examples:

Vision  Color blindness  Low-vision The vast majority of visually disabled people have some sight  Blindness

Color blindness  Remember: 8% of population!  Use good color contrast  Color is not the only way of distinguishing information  Check your pages with simulator Such as

Myopia and Hypermetropia  Myopia Hypermetropia  (short-sighted) (far-sighted)

Macular degeneration

Diabetic retinopathy

Cataracts

Tunnel vision

Accommodating Partial Sight  Large monitor, high resolution, glare protection  Control of color and contrast  Control of font size everywhere  Keyboard orientation aids

Hardware or Software Magnification  2 to 16 times  Virtual screen  Viewport, control  Notification of “outside” events  CRTs for physical items  Software: Zoomtext MAGic

Accommodating Blind Users  Screen Readers Read GUI out loud Cursor-tracking, routing Dialogue focus View areas  Braille display  Braille embosser

Design implications  Text alternatives for non-text content  Information and structure separate from presentation  All functionality available via keyboard  Make placement and functionality of content predictable

Hearing  Redundant output hardware (flashing title bar) software (text to speech)  An increasing problem? Population Phone interfaces

Assistive Technology  Amplification systems  TDD/TTYs  Deaf relay centers  Communication aids SMS: most significant communication device for deaf recently Sign language translator  Speech training

Physical Impairments  Complete lack of function absence of a limb paralysis Lack of strength  Tremor/lack of accuracy  Slowness

Keyboard Modifications  Keyguards  Alternative layouts Reduce movement One-handed keyboards, possible chords  Membrane surfaces (minimize required pressure)

Software Modifications  Sticky keys  Slow keys or disable auto-repeat  Modify keyboard mappings  On-screen keyboards

Alternative Input Devices  Speech input Dictation versus control  Switches Keyboard has approx 50 switches Scanning interfaces

Mouse alternatives  Trackball  Proportional joystick  Switched joystick or cursor keys  Head sensor or mouth stick  Eye-gaze  Keyboard only

Possible Switches  Foot pedal  “Leaf” switch – highly sensitive  Sip and puff  Dual switch (can be used for Morse code)  Joy stick  Muscle switch  Neural implant  Eye gaze

Scanning Interfaces

Acceleration Techniques  Control macros  Word prediction  Abbreviations

On the horizon: Brain-computer interfaces  Sensing neural activity to control a device  Communication for severely paralyzed  Control prosthetic or paralyzed limb

Impaired Mental Capabilities  Memory Short or long term, recall and recognition  Perception Attention, discriminating sensory input  Problem Solving Recognizing the problem, implementing solutions and evaluation  Concepts Generalizing, skill development  Learning  Autism

Design Guidelines  Input / Interface Control Change colors/contrast for easy reading  Presentation Format blank space to focus attention turn off moving images  Informational Content and Prompting match vocabulary level to user  Infinite patience and risk-free environment

Who are older people?  People who have been alive for longer  That’s about all they have in common

Potential Declining Abilities  Physical  Sensory  Cognition Retrospective memory  Computing no longer limited to the workplace

Assistive Uses  Sensory aids  Memory aids  Mobile emergency alerts  Information access ThirdAge (  Social communication SeniorNet (

Guideline summary

Sources for guidelines  Web accessibility: www-306.ibm.com/able/guidelines/web/accessweb.html

Take home points  Think about universal design principles – helps all users, not just disabled  Technology can help provide access and control of computer  Technology can also help people function better in everyday world  Solutions include wide range of physical and software solutions  Work with users! You can’t understand what its like