Mobile Accessibility in Touchscreen Devices

2014 ◽  
pp. 182-202
Author(s):  
Volkan Çalışkan ◽  
Özgürol Öztürk ◽  
Kerem Rızvanoğlu
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Devices ◽  
Video Recording ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Screen Reader ◽  
Observation Methods ◽  
Mobile Accessibility ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Multi Method Approach

Mobile technology is a new frontier for accessibility. Although mobile developers need solid guidelines to provide accessible experiences, there is a limited number of empirical research on mobile accessibility of different mobile platforms that work through various assistive technologies. In this context, more information is needed to understand both usage patterns and hardware/software platforms to guide decisions to meet the needs of people with disabilities who use mobile devices. This study, which is a pilot study of a long-term research, evaluates the accessibility of selected built-in and third party iOS applications in the iPhone and iPad through an extensive accessibility test with two blind users who are novice users of touchscreen mobile devices. This qualitative study is based on a multi-method approach, which consists of a background questionnaire, task observation, and a structured debriefing interview. The study also employs observation methods of data collection in order to gain better insight in mobile accessibility. The participants are demanded to execute three different tasks on each platform by using VoiceOver, which is the built-in screen reader in iOS. The participants are observed during the task executions and the “think aloud” procedure and video recording of the participants collected additional data. A short debriefing interview was also made to gain a detailed insight into the user experience. The findings reveal significant accessibility problems caused specifically by design of the graphical user interface features of the applications and limitations of the screen reader. Finally, as part of future research directions, preliminary guidelines are proposed to improve accessibility for iOS applications in both platforms.

Understanding the usage patterns, practices and decision process of third party logistics outsourcing in Bangladesh

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 329-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nasrin Akter ◽  
Prem Chhetri ◽  
Shams Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Third Party Logistics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Global Outsourcing ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Bangladesh is becoming one of the emerging destinations for global outsourcing. However, little is known about the usage patterns of third party logistics (3PL) outsourced services. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of 3PL usage, the organisational factors affecting 3PL usage, impacts of 3PL and the future trend of 3PL usage in Bangladesh. Design/methodology/approach A survey questionnaire is used to collect data against a number of items pertaining to the extent of 3PL use and its impact on performance. A total of 1,000 organizations were randomly selected from the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) database. The survey resulted in 243 responses, out of which 150 organisations have adopted 3PL services. A chi-square test is conducted to assess statistical significance of the hypothesized relationships among the variables relating to 3PL decision-making process and a regression analysis is conducted to assess the strength of those variables to predict the impact of 3PL usage. Findings Overall, the results reveal that 3PL services are extensively adopted by businesses (63 per cent) in Bangladesh. Freight forwarding, order fulfilment and shipment consolidation are the top three most frequently outsourced 3PL services. However, the extent of 3PL use varies between manufacturing and service organisations. Results also suggest that logistics system performance is the key predictor of the overall satisfaction of 3PL users. Research limitations/implications The key limitation of this study is that both manufacturing and services firms are collectively analysed. Future research will separately investigate the outsourcing 3PL services requirements for two categories of firms. Characterisation of 3PL usage patterns and their drivers has practical significance and strategic implications for logistics practitioners and decision-makers who opt for global outsourcing. Originality/value The implementation in the context of Bangladesh to provide an evidence base to formulate business strategies for increasing the adoption of 3PL usage is novel.

scholarly journals Guided pattern mining for API misuse detection by change-based code analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sebastian Nielebock ◽  
Robert Heumüller ◽  
Kevin Michael Schott ◽  
Frank Ortmeier
Keyword(s):  
Pattern Mining ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Just In Time ◽  
False Alarms ◽  
Misuse Detection ◽  
Code Search ◽  
Usage Patterns ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Code Changes ◽  
Api Usage

AbstractLack of experience, inadequate documentation, and sub-optimal API design frequently cause developers to make mistakes when re-using third-party implementations. Such API misuses can result in unintended behavior, performance losses, or software crashes. Therefore, current research aims to automatically detect such misuses by comparing the way a developer used an API to previously inferred patterns of the correct API usage. While research has made significant progress, these techniques have not yet been adopted in practice. In part, this is due to the lack of a process capable of seamlessly integrating with software development processes. Particularly, existing approaches do not consider how to collect relevant source code samples from which to infer patterns. In fact, an inadequate collection can cause API usage pattern miners to infer irrelevant patterns which leads to false alarms instead of finding true API misuses. In this paper, we target this problem (a) by providing a method that increases the likelihood of finding relevant and true-positive patterns concerning a given set of code changes and agnostic to a concrete static, intra-procedural mining technique and (b) by introducing a concept for just-in-time API misuse detection which analyzes changes at the time of commit. Particularly, we introduce different, lightweight code search and filtering strategies and evaluate them on two real-world API misuse datasets to determine their usefulness in finding relevant intra-procedural API usage patterns. Our main results are (1) commit-based search with subsequent filtering effectively decreases the amount of code to be analyzed, (2) in particular method-level filtering is superior to file-level filtering, (3) project-internal and project-external code search find solutions for different types of misuses and thus are complementary, (4) incorporating prior knowledge of the misused API into the search has a negligible effect.

scholarly journals Image Accessibility for Screen Reader Users: A Systematic Review and a Road Map

Electronics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 953
Author(s):  
Uran Oh ◽  
Hwayeon Joh ◽  
YunJung Lee
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Visual Information ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Input Device ◽  
Screen Reader ◽  
Related Information ◽  
Road Map ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Feedback Modalities ◽  
Image Accessibility

A number of studies have been conducted to improve the accessibility of images using touchscreen devices for screen reader users. In this study, we conducted a systematic review of 33 papers to get a holistic understanding of existing approaches and to suggest a research road map given identified gaps. As a result, we identified types of images, visual information, input device and feedback modalities that were studied for improving image accessibility using touchscreen devices. Findings also revealed that there is little study how the generation of image-related information can be automated. Moreover, we confirmed that the involvement of screen reader users is mostly limited to evaluations, while input from target users during the design process is particularly important for the development of assistive technologies. Then we introduce two of our recent studies on the accessibility of artwork and comics, AccessArt and AccessComics, respectively. Based on the identified key challenges, we suggest a research agenda for improving image accessibility for screen reader users.

scholarly journals Lags in the release, adoption, and propagation of npm vulnerability fixes

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bodin Chinthanet ◽  
Raula Gaikovina Kula ◽  
Shane McIntosh ◽  
Takashi Ishio ◽  
Akinori Ihara ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Study ◽  
Empirical Investigation ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Software Ecosystem ◽  
Security Vulnerability ◽  
Preliminary Study ◽  
Client Side

AbstractSecurity vulnerability in third-party dependencies is a growing concern not only for developers of the affected software, but for the risks it poses to an entire software ecosystem, e.g., Heartbleed vulnerability. Recent studies show that developers are slow to respond to the threat of vulnerability, sometimes taking four to eleven months to act. To ensure quick adoption and propagation of a release that contains the fix (fixing release), we conduct an empirical investigation to identify lags that may occur between the vulnerable release and its fixing release (package-side fixing release). Through a preliminary study of 231 package-side fixing release of npm projects on GitHub, we observe that a fixing release is rarely released on its own, with up to 85.72% of the bundled commits being unrelated to a fix. We then compare the package-side fixing release with changes on a client-side (client-side fixing release). Through an empirical study of the adoption and propagation tendencies of 1,290 package-side fixing releases that impact throughout a network of 1,553,325 releases of npm packages, we find that stale clients require additional migration effort, even if the package-side fixing release was quick (i.e., package-side fixing releasetypeSpatch). Furthermore, we show the influence of factors such as the branch that the package-side fixing release lands on and the severity of vulnerability on its propagation. In addition to these lags we identify and characterize, this paper lays the groundwork for future research on how to mitigate propagation lags in an ecosystem.

scholarly journals Fingerprinting Mobile Devices Using Personalized Configurations

2016 ◽  
Vol 2016 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Kurtz ◽  
Hugo Gascon ◽  
Tobias Becker ◽  
Konrad Rieck ◽  
Felix Freiling
Keyword(s):  
Supervised Learning ◽  
Mobile Devices ◽  
Real World ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Learning Approach ◽  
Total Accuracy ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Recently, Apple removed access to various device hardware identifiers that were frequently misused by iOS third-party apps to track users. We are, therefore, now studying the extent to which users of smartphones can still be uniquely identified simply through their personalized device configurations. Using Apple’s iOS as an example, we show how a device fingerprint can be computed using 29 different configuration features. These features can be queried from arbitrary thirdparty apps via the official SDK. Experimental evaluations based on almost 13,000 fingerprints from approximately 8,000 different real-world devices show that (1) all fingerprints are unique and distinguishable; and (2) utilizing a supervised learning approach allows returning users or their devices to be recognized with a total accuracy of 97% over time

scholarly journals Community Pharmacy Response in the Aftermath of Natural Disasters: Time-Sensitive Opportunity for Research and Evaluation

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 215013271881349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyle Melin ◽  
Carlos E. Rodríguez-Díaz
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Puerto Rico ◽  
Community Pharmacy ◽  
Natural Disaster ◽  
Community Pharmacists ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Prescription Medications ◽  
Collaborative Practice Agreement

One year ago, Hurricane Maria passed over the archipelago of Puerto Rico, leaving widespread disruption of nearly all human services, including the health care sector. In the aftermath of the hurricane, limited access to medical care and prescription medications presented a serious challenge to maintaining control of preexisting chronic diseases. Many patients did not have access to refrigeration for heat-sensitive medications. Significant dietary changes due to the limited availability of shelf-stable foods further exacerbated chronic conditions such as heart failure and diabetes. The role of community pharmacists following a natural disaster has previously been documented, and may include the triage of evacuees, assessment of immunization needs, and provision of prescription medications under a collaborative practice agreement. However, our experience in Puerto Rico demonstrated a variety of barriers limited pharmacists’ ability to adequately respond to the magnitude of this disaster. These included medication shortages, extended loss of power, and limited telecommunications for contacting prescribers, disaster relief agencies, and third-party payers. Ultimately, the lack of preexisting emergency protocols made overcoming such barriers difficult. As the first and sometimes only accessible health care provider to many patients following a natural disaster, we must build a solid evidence base and better understanding of the individual, interpersonal, and environmental factors that contribute to the community pharmacist response. To date, however, a paucity of data exists on both the pharmacist and patient factors, which may contribute to an effective immediate response to patient needs at the community pharmacy following a natural disaster. Future research must focus on these multi-level factors to better inform public policy and effective disaster planning. Ultimately, such research and planning will lead to increased resiliency in our primary health care systems in the face of future disasters.

scholarly journals IDA-Pay: a secure and efficient micro-payment system based on Peer-to-Peer NFC technology for Android mobile devices

2012 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luca Mainetti ◽  
Luigi Patrono ◽  
Roberto Vergallo
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Devices ◽  
Near Field ◽  
Operating Mode ◽  
Peer To Peer ◽  
Payment System ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Payment Systems ◽  
Shopping Experience ◽  
And Performance ◽  
System Effectiveness

The evolution of modern mobile devices towards novel Radio Frequency (RF) capabilities, such as Near Field Communication, leads to a potential for delivering innovative mobile services, which is still partially unexplored. Mobile proximity payment systems are going to enhance the daily shopping experience, but the access to payment security resources of a mobile device (e.g. the “Secure Element”) by third party applications is still blocked by smartphone and Operating System manufacturers. In this paper, the IDA-Pay system is presented, an innovative and secure NFC micro-payment system based on Peer-to-Peer NFC operating mode for Android mobile phones. It allows to deliver mobile-to-POS micro-payment services, bypassing the need for special hardware. A validation scenario and a system evaluation are also reported to demonstrate the system effectiveness and performance.

scholarly journals SCREENING OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF POLLUTION WITH THE QGIS PLUGIN ENVIFATE

2017 ◽  
Vol XLII-4/W2 ◽  
pp. 79-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Geri ◽  
O. Cainelli ◽  
G. Salogni ◽  
P. Zatelli ◽  
M. Ciolli
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Pollution ◽  
Atmospheric Dispersion ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Environmental Research ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Toxic Substances ◽  
Command Line ◽  
Screening Analysis ◽  
High Level ◽  
The University

Public and academic interest in environmental pollution caused by toxic substances and other sources, like noise, is constantly raising. To protect public health and ecosystems it is necessary to maintain the concentrations of pollutants below a safety threshold. In this context the development of models able to assess environmental pollution impact has been identified as a priority for future research. Scientific community has therefore produced many predictive models in the field. The vast majority of them needs to be run by specialists with a deep technical knowledge of the modeled phenomena in order to process the data and understand the results and it is not feasible to use this models for simple prescreening activities. Planners, evaluators and technical operators need reliable, usable and simple tools in order to carry out screening analysis of impact assessment. <br><br> The ENVIFATE software is currently under development by the Department of Civil, environmental and mechanical engineering of the University of Trento, Italy, in the frame of a project funded by the Italian Veneto Region with the aim to make available to nonspecialists screening analysis to assess the risks of a set of possible environmental pollution sources in protected areas. <br><br> The development of ENVIFATE follows these basic requirements: i) Open-Source ii) multiplatform iii) user friendly iv) GIS oriented. In order to respect these principles we have chosen to develop a plugin of QGIS, using python as a development language and creating a module for each environmental compartment analyzed: rivers, lakes, atmospheric dispersion, dispersion in groundwater and noise. <br><br> The plugin architecture is composed of a series of core functions characterized by command line interfaces that can be called from third-party applications (such as Grass GIS), connectable in custom data flows and with a high level of modularity and scalability. The base of the different models are highly tested and reliable algorithms adopted by the Italian Institute for Protection and Environmental Research (Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale – ISPRA). Due to their simplicity, and for safety reasons, the structure of these models is constrained to provide conservative results, so to overestimate actual risk. This approach allows to provide statistically validated instruments to be used in different environmental contexts. All modules of the plugin provide numerical and cartographical results: in particular the command-line interface provides "static" results, or linked to a particular spatial and temporal state, while the Qgis plugins iterate the single analysis along space and time in order to provide georeferenced maps and time distributed results.

scholarly journals Next generation Open Access analytics: A case study

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Tim Lloyd ◽  
Sara Rouhi
Keyword(s):  
Open Access ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Critical Component ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Innovative Project ◽  
Industry Standard ◽  
External Stakeholders

A critical component in the development of sustainable funding models for Open Access (OA) is the ability to communicate impact in ways that are meaningful to a diverse range of internal and external stakeholders, including institutional partners, funders, and authors. While traditional paywall publishers can take advantage of industry standard COUNTER reports to communicate usage to subscribing libraries, no similar standard exists for OA content. Instead, many organizations are stuck with proxy metrics like sessions and page views that struggle to discriminate between robotic access and genuine engagement. This paper presents the results of an innovative project that builds on existing COUNTER metrics to develop more flexible reporting. Reporting goals include surfacing third party engagement with OA content, the use of graphical report formats to improve accessibility, the ability to assemble custom data dashboards, and configurations that support the variant needs of diverse stakeholders. We’ll be sharing our understanding of who the stakeholders are, their differing needs for analytics, feedback on the reports shared, lessons learned, and areas for future research in this evolving area.

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