1. ©2008 IBM Corporation Improving the Web Browsing Environment for Dyslexics by Elaborating Functionalities 2009-03-20 Reiko Nagatsuma, Shinji Iizuka, Masakazu Takizawa, Takuya Ohko, Takuji Wada, Takashi Saito IBM Accessibility Center, Tokyo Research Laboratory, Japan

2. ©2009 IBM Corporation 2 Agenda  Motivation -Present status of the studies for people with Learning Disabilities (LDs) * -IBM Easy Web Browsing TM (EWB) as a baseline tool  Improvement of “EWB for LDs”  Pilot study -Detail of the study -Results of the interviews  Conclusion  Q&A *As you know, the meaning of LD include not only dyslexia disabilities but math, nonverbal LD and so on. Our team will deal with the problems of LD in the future, though now we treat only the problem of dyslexia. IBM, Easy Web Browsing are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

3. ©2009 IBM Corporation 3 Motivation and Aims Motivation Background IBM Accessibility center is concerned with PwD. - research and develop products for easy access to Information Technology (IT). LD: Difficulties in information processing => A potential area where IT could be used Highly affected population LD users have many difficulties in various cognitive areas Governmental policy for developmental disorders in Japan Recent progress in brain science Current Status Little research into the efficacy or sufficiency of existing IT Challenge Identify the potentials of assistive technology (AT) Find out which AT is valuable for them Find out the hidden needs for LDs thorough their opinions => How about enhancements to our existing software for LD users?

4. ©2009 IBM Corporation 4 Easy Web Browsing – a baseline tool What is Easy Web Browsing TM (EWB)? An assistive technology which provides user-friendly operations and accessibility features that enable a variety of end-users to easily access websites. There are various barriers. Difficult to read small font Difficult to read bad color combinations Difficult to read long articles Read aloud at the location pointed at with the mouse Customize the background and text colors Enlarge the indicated text Target Users: senior, Novice IT users, users who have limited vision …

5. ©2009 IBM Corporation 5 Extensions for LDs How to extend EWB for LD users? *2) special functions for the Japanese language *1) Sally E. Shaywitz, Reading Disorders, Nikkei Science, Feb.1997. Potential functions for LDs Ruler Highlight / Masking Reading out Magnify Word separation (*2) Color changing Text to Image Animation Suppressing Ruby for Kanji (*2) Line / Word / Letter spacing Dictionary / Search Font-style changing Colored overlay Visual System Phoneme System Word Recognition System Semantic System - general knowledge - illation - concept formation - vocabulary Sentence Comprehension Process (*1) [kuh aoh tuh] cat a furry animal that has a long tail and sharp claws. c a t contents EWB 1.3 EWB 2.0 EWB LD Enhance New

6. ©2009 IBM Corporation 6 Pilot study Pilot study for LD users AimsTo learn what functions are valid To verify the efficacy of this approach Assistive Technology Enhanced EWB for LDs. Enhancements depend on the reading model and the opinions of the LD users. Participants1 st test: 10 people, 2 nd test: 9 people (mostly same users) The study participants were all adults and all Japanese. (Using page is written in Japanese.) Most have LDs, and some have also ADHD. CooperatorsNPO EDGE (Prominent Japanese organization supporting people with LDs) ScheduleAug. 2008 to Dec. 2008

7. ©2009 IBM Corporation 7 Evaluators of the pilot study Summary of the participants They also have writing problems like confused p and q, or “time” and tiem and so on. Reading and writing problems self-assessed. Average age: 37. ID1 st 2 nd SexAgeReading Problems AYYM20sUnfocused / Cause irritation BYYM30sRepeating same line / Weak comprehension CYYM30sBlurring / Cause irritation DYYM20sBlurring / Windy sentences EYYF50sCollapsed FYYM50sOverlapping words / Cause irritation GYYF30sSee double / Flow of words whirl about HYNM30sWeak comprehension of words read IYYM50sWindy sentences / Overlapping words JYYF20sSlow oral reading / Cause irritation

8. ©2009 IBM Corporation 8 Pilot study - Result What functions are most needed ? Their needs vary widely and they need a more flexible interface. (*1) Ranking score = [number of top 1] x 8 + [number of top 2] x 4 + [number of top 3] x 2 Each participants were asked to select top 3 functions which they wanted most. RankFunction Do you need it ? [# of persons] Weighted Scores 1 st (*1) Weighted Scores 2 nd (*1) YesOccasionallyNo 1Read out Loud5313834 2Colored Overlay351-28 3Line Height5402024 4Ruler3512810 5Highlight / Masking324164 6Furigana(Ruby)333142 7Word Separation243122 8Color Changes25240 9Page Map15324 10Image zoom02720

9. ©2009 IBM Corporation 9 1: Read Out Loud Function Summary of the participants’ comment By far the most needed When chosen, this function is almost always selected as the “Best” function. Two main comments for reading out loud - To understand content with a voice because of difficulty in reading characters - To compare the characters on the PC with a voice sound (to learn the words) They have additional requirements. One strong opinion is…. ID Do you need it? AOccasionally BYes C DOccasionally ENo FYes G HOccasionally IYes J 1 Read Out Loud 2 Colored Overlay 3 Line Height

10. ©2009 IBM Corporation 10 A candidate of effective display method - KARAOKE There was a small school near the river. Summary of the participants’ comments Karaoke-like indicator is liked by most users Two main comments on karaoke feature: - Makes it easier to follow the characters with their eyes (similar to tracing a line with their fingers) - Easier to understand the meaning of the sentences. (Easier to combine the words and corresponding sounds.) ID Display method AKaraoke B C D E No need to read aloud F(Other) GKaraoke I J 1 Read Out Loud 2 Colored Overlay 3 Line Height

11. ©2009 IBM Corporation 11 2: Colored Overlay The Stardust spacecraft is on a mission to collect interstellar dust and samples from comets. Summary of the participants’ comment One of the most preferred functions It was significantly more effective than interviewees expectations Two main comments are: 1) Stabilizes how the characters look – irritation decreased with lower contrast 2) Makes words clearer - characters are crisper and sharper and seem to float *Participants A&C choose 2 colors: 1 - Japanese 2 – English IDDo you need it?color A Yes 1:yellow 2:light blue BNo COccasionally1:red 2:light blue D Yes yellow EOccasionallyyellow F Yes yellow G Yes yellow I Yes yellow JOccasionallyyellow 1 Read Out Loud 2 Colored Overlay 3 Line Height

12. ©2009 IBM Corporation 12 3: Line Height Summary of the participants’ comment Easier to follow the sentences with their eyes Reduces confusion with neighboring lines Easier to grasp the shapes of words Easier to see stable word shapes We did not enhance this parameter, but are just reporting selected comments. L a u n c h e di n 1 99 9, t h e S t ar d u st ID Do you need it? Ratio A Occasionally 200% BYes400% CYes300% D Occasionally 170% EYes300% FYes170% GYes500%* GYes170% H Occasionally - sp a c e cr a fti so na m i ss on t oc o l l e c ti n t e rst e l l a r d u st a n d sa m p l e s f r o m c o m e t s 1 Read Out Loud 2 Colored Overlay 3 Line Height

13. ©2009 IBM Corporation 13 corresponding functions read out loud Does the reading out loud function substitute for phonetic processing? The reading out loud function seems to have a positive influence on visual processing and word recognition. Visible? Meaning? Visual System Phoneme System Word Recognition System Semantic System - general knowledge - reasoning - concept formation - vocabulary Sentence Comprehension Process (*1) *1) Sally E. Shaywitz, Reading Disorders, Nikkei Science, Feb.1997. [kuh aoh tuh] cat a furry animal that has a long tail and sharp claws. c a t contents eye Adaptation of adequate model for our assistive functions. (1) Phoneme System Considerations - 1

14. ©2009 IBM Corporation 14 Adaptation of adequate model for our assistive functions. (2) Visual system Considerations - 2 corresponding functions Colored Overlay Irlen Syndrome? Line height Visual System Phoneme System Word Recognition System Semantic System - general knowledge - illation - concept formation - vocabulary Sentence Comprehension Process (*1) *1) Refer to : Sally E. Shaywitz, Reading Disorder,NIKKEI SCIENCE, Feb.1997. [kuh aoh tuh] cat a furry animal that has a long tail and sharp claws. c a t contents eye

15. ©2009 IBM Corporation 15 Demonstration

16. ©2009 IBM Corporation 16 Assessment of efficacy 1: Purpose:To study the efficacy of ATs. 2: Metrics:Reading speed and fluency. 3: Functions:ATs they selected. ID Reading speed Improve- ments Variation (seconds) ATs C7%2.7 Colored overlay D21%7.7 Ruler F3%1.0 Colored overlay G20%8.7 Magnify & Ruby J11%8.2 Colored overlay without AT(s) with AT(s) 38.8 36.1 36.8 29.1 37.3 36.3 43.3 34.6 71.3 63.1

17. ©2009 IBM Corporation 17 Conclusion We improved some of the functions in IBM Easy Web Browsing (EWB), which was developed for people with limited vision and senior citizens, to help LD users. We evaluated the efficacy of the functions. Our conclusions: - ATs are certainly helpful, though their needs vary widely. - The top 3 functions were: 1: Reading out loud, 2: Colored overlays (yellow), and 3: Line height - Their reading speed was better with the ATs The users wanted more flexible customizations and combinations of the ATs.

18. ©2009 IBM Corporation 18 Conclusion To next stage… Why are certain ATs effective? How are brains working? ⁃ The functions still need improvements. ⁃ We want a highly customizable UI programming framework. ⁃ User modeling would support fast and easy individual adaptations.

19. ©2009 IBM Corporation 19 The Most Impressive Comment The ease of access level for Web browsing is directly connected to the quality of life. Therefore this factor influences one's thinking of whether to become pessimistic or optimistic for the inevitable stage of aging. Mail from 6 Sep. 2008

20. ©2009 IBM Corporation 20 Q & A

21. ©2009 IBM Corporation 21 Thank You Very Much! contact: reiko@jp.ibm.comreiko@jp.ibm.com 20, Mar, 15:30- 17:00, demonstration of EWB for LD at #270

22. ©2009 IBM Corporation 22 Other functions ruler Underline. It helps to follow the line with their eyes. Magnifi -cation Line space is wider with magnification, but the recognition of the characters becomes difficult. Furigana (Japanese Only) Furigana will help to read however improvements are needed for allocation and coloration. Word separating (Japanese Only) Word separating allows easy word recognition by separating Japanese characters. Colour Change Colour change has the same effect as coloured overlay ふ じ さん 富 士 山 富 士 山富 士 山 岸に小さな学校がありまし た。 岸に 小さな 学校が ありま した There was a little school near the river Since discovering her own daughter's struggle with reading and Irlen Syndrome

23. ©2009 IBM Corporation 23 Evaluators of the pilot study Corresponding table between reading problems and AT ID Reading ProblemsRead Out Loud KARA -OKE Colored Overlay Line Height A Unfocused / Cause irritation OccasionallyYes Occasionally B Repeating same line / Weak comprehension Yes NoYes C Blurring / Cause irritation Yes OccasionallyYes D Blurring / Windy sentences OccasionallyYes Occasionally E Collapsed characters No OccasionallyYes F Overlapping words Cause irritation Yes G See double Flow of words whirl about Yes H Weak comprehension Occasionally--- I Windy sentences / Overlapping words Yes J Slow oral reading Cause irritation YesOccasionally

24. ©2009 IBM Corporation 24 1: Purpose:To study the efficacy of ATs. 2: Metrics:Reading speed and fluency. 3: Functions:ATs they selected. ID Reading speed Improve- ments Variation (seconds) ATs A25%14.2 Colored overlay B24%21.0 Line Height E19%6.5 Line Height without AT(s) with AT(s) 56.4 42.2 86.0 65.0 34.6 28.1

25. ©2009 IBM Corporation 25 Assessment of efficacy Assessment pages