scholarly journals Are Current Insulin Pumps Accessible to Blind and Visually Impaired People?

2009 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 613-618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren M. Burton ◽  
Mark M. Uslan ◽  
Morgan V. Blubaugh ◽  
Charles W. Clements
Keyword(s):  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Visual Display ◽  
Insulin Pumps ◽  
Blind And Visually Impaired ◽  
Visually Impaired People ◽  
Improper Use ◽  
Impaired Person ◽  
Audio Output ◽  
Visually Impaired Persons

Background: In 2004, Uslan and colleagues determined that insulin pumps (IPs) on the market were largely inaccessible to blind and visually impaired persons. The objective of this study is to determine if accessibility status changed in the ensuing 4 years. Methods: Five IPs on the market in 2008 were acquired and analyzed for key accessibility traits such as speech and other audio output, tactual nature of control buttons, and the quality of visual displays. It was also determined whether or not a blind or visually impaired person could independently complete tasks such as programming the IP for insulin delivery, replacing batteries, and reading manuals and other documentation. Results: It was found that IPs have not improved in accessibility since 2004. None have speech output, and with the exception of the Animas IR 2020, no significantly improved visual display characteristics were found. Documentation is still not completely accessible. Conclusion: Insulin pumps are relatively complex devices, with serious health consequences resulting from improper use. For IPs to be used safely and independently by blind and visually impaired patients, they must include voice output to communicate all the information presented on their display screens. Enhancing display contrast and the size of the displayed information would also improve accessibility for visually impaired users. The IPs must also come with accessible user documentation in alternate formats.

scholarly journals Prototype to Help Visually Impaired Person in Reading Printed Learning Materials using Raspberry PI

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3.1) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
Jaichandran R ◽  
Somasundaram K ◽  
Bhagyashree Basfore ◽  
Menaka I.S ◽  
Uma S
Keyword(s):  
Character Recognition ◽  
Optical Character Recognition ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Raspberry Pi ◽  
Learning Materials ◽  
Line Spacing ◽  
Impaired Person ◽  
Audio Output ◽  
Visually Impaired Persons

This paper presents a prototype to help visually impaired persons in reading printed learning materials using Raspberry PI. Tesseract an open source optical character recognition technique is used extract texts in printed images and converted to audio output using text-to-speech conversion software. Prototype is experimented using printed text pages with various font sizes and line spacing as test cases. Results show that the prototype is better in converting printed texts to speech. However quality of image, font size, and line space affects performance of prototype in converting printed texts to speech.. 

Approaches to Increasing Assertive Behavior and Communication Skills in Blind and Visually Impaired Persons

1986 ◽  
Vol 80 (6) ◽  
pp. 794-798
Author(s):  
Rona L. Harrell ◽  
Felice A. Strauss
Keyword(s):  
Social Interactions ◽  
Learned Helplessness ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Blind And Visually Impaired ◽  
Assertive Behavior ◽  
Structured Intervention ◽  
Impaired Person ◽  
Assertion Training ◽  
Partially Sighted ◽  
Visually Impaired Persons

Many visually impaired individuals are found to be too passive or too aggressive in their social interactions. Lack of assertive behavior is related to the concept of learned helplessness. Components of assertive behavior are described with suggestions for enabling the visually impaired person to develop these skills. The underlying concepts of assertion training are explained along with specific techniques to be utilized in the school or rehabilitative setting. With a structured intervention resulting in improved assertiveness skills, blind or partially sighted individuals can increase their effectiveness in communicating with others and can feel more in control of their lives.

Game Aspects in Collaborative Navigation of Blind Travelers

2016 ◽  
pp. 497-523
Author(s):  
Jan Balata ◽  
Zdenek Mikovec ◽  
Pavel Slavik ◽  
Miroslav Macik
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
User Interface ◽  
Navigation System ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
Game Mechanics ◽  
Impaired Person ◽  
Game Elements ◽  
Visually Impaired Persons

This chapter shows how elements of gamification, i.e. game thinking and game mechanics, can be integrated into a collaborative navigation system for visually impaired persons in order encourage them to travel independently and thus improve their quality of life and self-confidence. The system supports independent navigation in unknown places by mediating help from another visually impaired person, who is familiar with the particular place. Our system utilizes a thermal user interface to introduce an additional communication channel and thus to increase the usability of the system. The system has been successfully enhanced by game elements and illustrates the potential of introducing game elements into these systems.

The Use of Fax Technology to Address the Reading Needs of Blind and Visually Impaired Persons

1990 ◽  
Vol 84 (10) ◽  
pp. 509-513
Author(s):  
W. Gerrey ◽  
J. Brabyn ◽  
W. Crandall
Keyword(s):  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Office Workers ◽  
Preliminary Results ◽  
Blind And Visually Impaired ◽  
Visually Impaired People ◽  
Impaired People ◽  
Blind Persons ◽  
Visually Impaired Persons

Although fax communications pose a problem of accessibility for blind and visually impaired office workers, with centralized readers’ services they could be used to address the wider reading needs of blind and visually impaired people. With this technology, blind persons with fax machines could send unknown print to readers at a centralized readers’ service, who would read facsimiles of the documents over voice phones. This article discusses the specifications for appropriate equipment and protocols and presents the preliminary results of a study of such a system.

A Survey of Recreation Personnel in Agencies and Schools for Blind and Visually Impaired People

1991 ◽  
Vol 85 (2) ◽  
pp. 86-88
Author(s):  
I. Ludwig
Keyword(s):  
Continuing Education ◽  
National Survey ◽  
Employment Status ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Educational Background ◽  
Professional Affiliation ◽  
Blind And Visually Impaired ◽  
Visually Impaired People ◽  
Impaired People ◽  
Visually Impaired Persons

This article reports on a national survey of recreation personnel in agencies and schools for blind and visually impaired persons. The survey addressed the personnel's employment status, educational background and continuing education experiences, professional affiliation, and interest in networking with other recreation personnel who work with blind and visually impaired persons.

Caseload Size Survey of Agencies Serving Blind and Visually Impaired Persons

1986 ◽  
Vol 80 (4) ◽  
pp. 683-684
Author(s):  
Leroy H. Pelton
Keyword(s):  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Blind And Visually Impaired ◽  
Visually Impaired People ◽  
Impaired People ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Visually Impaired Persons

A caseload size survey was conducted of both public and large private agencies serving blind and visually impaired people. Wide variations in caseload size were found between different types of professional caseworkers, between agencies, and between public and private agencies.

Humanizing Blindness through Public Education

1990 ◽  
Vol 84 (8) ◽  
pp. 397-400 ◽  
Author(s):  
C.R. Augusto ◽  
J.M. McGraw
Keyword(s):  
Public Education ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Public Attitudes ◽  
Blind People ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Blind And Visually Impaired ◽  
Visually Impaired People ◽  
Impaired People ◽  
The Media ◽  
Visually Impaired Persons

Public attitudes toward blindness are shaped by limited contacts with visually impaired people and unrealistic portrayals of blind people in the media. These attitudes hamper the integration of blind and visually impaired persons in society. Professionals in the field need ‘to work together to develop national and local public education programs to change stereotyped thinking. Proactive efforts that include a variety of methods can begin to humanize blindness and hence can lead to greater opportunities for fuller participation in society.

scholarly journals Daily activities of employed persons with visual impairment

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amila Jaganjac ◽  
Amra Mačak Hadžiomerović ◽  
Bakir Katana ◽  
Namik Trtak ◽  
Eldad Kaljić ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Physical Activity ◽  
Visual Impairment ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Daily Activities ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Visually Impaired People ◽  
Impaired People ◽  
Visually Impaired Persons

Introduction: The challenges faced by visually impaired people in their efforts to integrate themselves into the labor market and the general position of persons with disabilities, regarding their employment and social security, is extremely difficult. Employment is the best safeguard against social exclusion and one of the main ways to achieve a full involvement in the society of the visually impaired people.Methods: The research was conducted on a sample of 25 visually impaired people employed at “TMP” d.o.o. Sarajevo. The study was used as a cross-sectional survey method wherein data were collected through appropriate survey instruments, using a modified survey questionnaire.Results: Out of the total number of respondents, 48% are male and 52% are female. The majority of respondents use other persons’ assistance when moving (n = 16). The largest number of respondents had 100% visual impairment (n = 17). The majority of subjects have no strenuous physical activity. The largest number of respondents during the previous week walked for at least 10 minutes, in the sequence of all 7 days and was driven in motor vehicles. When doing household chores, 56% of respondents said they had no difficulty. The most common difficulties in recreation, sports and physical activity in leisure time, that were encountered by 32% of respondents, are poor sound signalling and difficulties of visual nature, though 68% of respondents said that they had no difficulty in their recreational activities.Conclusion: The daily activities of employed visually impaired persons have a positive impact on their quality of life. Various are occupations of visually impaired people that improve their quality of life.

scholarly journals Geometric Fuzzy Techniques for Guidance of Visually Impaired People

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 139-157
Author(s):  
Adán Landa-Hernández ◽  
Heriberto Casarubias-Vargas ◽  
Eduardo Bayro-Corrochano
Keyword(s):  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Decision Rules ◽  
Stereoscopic Vision ◽  
Guidance System ◽  
Vanishing Points ◽  
Blind And Visually Impaired ◽  
Visually Impaired People ◽  
Impaired People ◽  
Fuzzy Techniques ◽  
Impaired Person

In this paper we present the design of a device to guide the visually impaired person who normally uses a cane. We propose a non-invasive device that will help blind and visually impaired people to navigate. The system uses stereoscopic vision, a RGB-D sensor and an IMU to process images and to compute the distances from obstacles relative to cameras and to search for free walking paths in the scene. This computing is done using stereo vision, vanishing points, and fuzzy rules. Vanishing points are used to obtain a main orientation in structured spaces. Since the guidance system is related to a spatial reference system, the vanishing point is used like a virtual compass that helps the blind to orient him- or herself towards a goal. Reinforced with fuzzy decision rules, the system supports the blind in avoiding obstacles, thus the blind person is able to cross structured spaces and avoid obstacles without the need for a cane.

Identification of Blind and Visually Impaired Persons in Sri Lanka

1988 ◽  
Vol 82 (9) ◽  
pp. 370-372
Author(s):  
T. Munasinghe ◽  
L. F. Campbell ◽  
J. Harary ◽  
N. L. Sloan ◽  
R. Texley
Keyword(s):  
Sri Lanka ◽  
Visually Impaired ◽  
Low Vision ◽  
Comparative Cost ◽  
Local Schools ◽  
Blind And Visually Impaired ◽  
Helen Keller ◽  
Visually Impaired People ◽  
Alternative Identification ◽  
Visually Impaired Persons

A study using three techniques to identify blind and visually impaired people was conducted by Helen Keller International in Sri Lanka during February and March of 1987. These techniques are compared to the validating supervisor identification of people who are blind or have low vision. The alternative identification methods evaluated were: 1) utilizing key informants from the surveyed communities; 2) utilizing students from local schools; and 3) conducting a house-to-house survey in study villages. The ability to correctly determine those truly blind or with low vision and the comparative cost of each method were also evaluated.

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