scholarly journals UX Design for the Visually Impaired to Improve Health Information Accessibility

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4.4) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Woo Jin Kim ◽  
Min Ji Kim ◽  
Il Kon Kim

This study was conducted on individuals with low vision, who constitute the highest population among visual impairment patients. We conducted an experiment to determine whether there was an improvement in accessibility to visual information for the visually impaired after applying the UX design guidelines. Additionally, we analyzed whether this UX design affects the information recognition rate for the non-disabled individuals. 

Author(s):  
Woo Jin Kim ◽  
Il Kon Kim ◽  
Jongoh Kim ◽  
Minji Kim

A health mobile application (app) has enabled users to access personal health records at any time and place. As an app provides health service to users, it is crucial for an app to be accessible to every user. However, often an app does not provide proper visual aid for users who are visually impaired. The authors restrict the range of visually impaired to retinitis pigmentosa (RP) patients in this chapter. RP is a rare type of progressive retinal disease that is hard to cure. Unfortunately, there are no established guidelines to assist RP patients in using their degrading sense of vision. In this chapter, the authors review WCAG (web content accessibility guidelines) specified by W3C, analyze the UX designs of 140 popular health apps chosen based on the number of download counts in app stores, and propose a set of standard-compliant UX design guidelines to assist the visually impaired (RP) in accessing visual data and evaluate its compliance compared to WCAG.


1996 ◽  
Vol 90 (5) ◽  
pp. 378-385 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Peli ◽  
E.M. Fine ◽  
A.T. Labianca

Short segments of two TV programs without audio description (AD) were presented to 25 subjects with low vision and 24 subjects with normal vision, and 29 additional subjects heard only the standard audio portions. The subjects then answered questions based on the visual information contained in the AD of the programs. The subjects with normal vision performed the best, followed by those with low vision and those who heard only the audio portion; all performed at better than chance levels. The results indicate that although AD may provide information on visual details to visually impaired audiences, some of the information in the AD may be obtained from the standard audio portion.


1985 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 64-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence R. Gardner

Describes an investigation of how different figure-ground contrast combinations affect the visual functioning of visually impaired children. The study employed the use of field reversals—printing white and yellow foregrounds on a black background—to decrease the amount of light reflected from printed materials to the eye. Eighteen visually impaired children ranging in age from nine years, four months to 14 years, six months participated in this study. The findings indicated that neither reversals in contrast nor chromaticity differences were effective measures for increasing visual functioning.


2021 ◽  
pp. 0145482X2110180
Author(s):  
Nora Griffin-Shirley ◽  
Laura Bozeman ◽  
The Nguyen ◽  
Vitalis Othuon ◽  
Anita Page ◽  
...  

Introduction: The purpose of the study was to survey orientation and mobility (O&M) instructors who are blind concerning the identification of accommodations, teaching techniques, and resources to teach students with visual impairments (i.e., blindness or low vision). Methods: The study utilized an online survey via Qualtrics (2019) with 27 closed- and open-ended items to identify accommodations, teaching techniques, and resources needed. The survey was e-mailed to membership and certification organizations requesting O&M instructors who are blind to participate for 12 weeks. The participants were 15 O&M specialists, mostly male and Caucasian. Survey data were then analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Forty percentage of the participants reported that there were minimal standards that they had to demonstrate prior to their admittance into an O&M program. About one-fourth of the participants mentioned their program was modified because of their visual impairment. Eleven participants (73%) reported that their nonvisual instructional strategies and techniques were predominantly gained through their university programs or other visually impaired instructors (27%, n = 4). Discussion: Aspects of this study that are similar to the current literature are smaller faculty-to-student ratios for blindfold or simulation cane courses, accommodations used by participants, and suggestions for monitoring the safety of students. The results revealed the participants’ strong belief in the importance of immersion training, the use of the Structured Discovery Cane Travel (SDCT), nonvisual skills during O&M instruction, sleep shades, and students’ problem-solving abilities. Implication for practitioners: Although the participants had received SDCT immersion training, most personnel preparation programs approved by the Association for the Education and Rehabilitation of Blind and Visually Impaired do not use this method. For this reason, it is important for faculty to identify best teaching practices from among all programs and to integrate these practices into their curricula. Sharing best practices could strengthen all programs. Moreover, students with visual impairments should be taught early about self-advocacy and the ability to have helpful knowledge about one’s skills at a university and in the workplace.


1979 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 228-232
Author(s):  
Norman J. Weiss

Describes a three-part driving program for low vision persons. Potential trainees are first interviewed to detect problems that may interfere with success. Suitable candidates are then trained to quickly detect and recognize objects through a bioptic lens system. In the third phase, a mobility instructor gives training in various aspects of the automobile and driving, and the trainee is quizzed on road signs and markings while riding as a passenger. Students successfully completing all three phases may then go on to obtain a Learner's Permit and take driving lessons in the usual manner.


1979 ◽  
Vol 73 (9) ◽  
pp. 345-350
Author(s):  
Dennis K. Kelleher

Discusses the current status of driving with low vision, both with and without a bioptic telescope. It specifies licensing criteria, training sequences, and identifies problem areas. Preliminary data from a comparison of safety records in three states are presented and recommendations are made for future licensing standards and for conducting research on visually impaired drivers.


2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 84
Author(s):  
Abdullah Z. Alotaibi

The study aims to evaluate the role of line spacing during reading in normal and visually-impaired persons. A total of 225 normally-sighted participants with mean age of 23.7 years were asked to read Arabic sentences in a randomized order. Each Arabic sentence contains 7 lines with and without simulated cataract. The words were printed with black letters on white background to enhance contrast and fonts were in Times New Roman and of N12 letter size. The reading pages were placed on reading stand situated 25 cm away from the subject’s eyes. The simulated cataract was created by using a Bernell Cling Patch Occluder. This reduced the visual acuity of all subjects to 20/60. Each line of the text was separated by different line spacing namely: single space, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0 and 4.0 which represents, 0.5 cm, 0.8 cm, 1.1 cm, 1.4 cm, 1.7 cm and 2.0 cm, respectively. The sheets were presented randomly and participants’ voices were recorded as they read under a controlled time. The tape was analysed later and reading rate was calculated. There was a significant difference (p<0.0001) in reading rates between the normal sighted persons and the visually impaired persons for all line spacing. Modifying the spacing between lines in prints had a significant impact (p<0.0001) on the reading rate of the visually impaired but not in normally-sighted persons (p˃0.05). Intermediate line spacing (2 and 2.5) increased the reading rate of the visually impaired persons significantly more (p<0.001) than other line spacing, but smaller or larger line spacing slowed their reading rate, significantly (p<0.001). The visually-impaired persons reported that they felt the difference in reading prints with larger line spacing as compared with normal sighted participants who did not. It is beneficial to adequately modify the line spacing in prints commonly read by low vision persons. For Arab subjects the optimum line spacing to significantly improve reading in the visually impaired should range from 0.8 to 1.1 cm. This finding may be a useful for publishers of Arab prints targeting the visually impaired persons. Thus, the implication of the study in the field of health is that by establishing the least common line spacing visualized optimally among normal and simulated visually impaired persons would be fixed as default line spacing for Arab printing to achieve better reading performance.


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