Designing, Developing and Evaluating a Sustainable Shariah-Compliant E-Commerce Fashion Prototype

This paper describes the full process of design, development and evaluation of a Shariah-compliant e-commerce fashion prototype. The prototype was designed and developed based on Fogg’s (2003) Persuasive Technology principles, namely, the principle of suggestion, principle of similarity and principle of trustworthiness which are able to persuade consumers to visit and eventually purchase products from this site. User Experience Testing was conducted to evaluate user experience in terms of screen layout, features and functionality of the site. Findings of the study indicate that the information offered is useful and the website is well-designed. In addition, the suggestions on size and clothes based on users’ body measurement are helpful when choosing suitable clothes based on one’s body type. Therefore, it can be concluded that Shariah-compliant fashion on this e-commerce site is interesting, useful and user friendly, and thus, can be a sustainable go-to site of e-commerce for Muslim women.

Design Proposal for Sign Language Services in TV Broadcasting from the Perspective of People Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing

Sign language services are provided so that people with hearing loss are not alienated from socially and politically important information through TV broadcasting. In this paper, we conducted a user survey and evaluation of the current sign language services for deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) people, and solutions were proposed for the problems found in the course of the analyses. To this end, a total of five stages of research were conducted. First, the communication problems experienced by DHH individuals and previous studies on their language and information acquisition were investigated. Second, the most typical types of information delivery channels via TV were defined as news, discussions, and weather reports, and by investigating the actual sign language service cases for each type, three visual information delivery elements were identified: sign language interpreters, reference videos, and subtitles. Third, a preference survey, an interview survey, and an eye tracker experiment on the DHH participants were conducted with varying arrangement options of information delivery elements. Fourth, based on the results of the investigations and experiments, the options to be considered when arranging information delivery elements were compiled. The results showed that the sign language interpreter, which is the first element of information delivery, should be presented in a size clearly visible because the visibility of their facial expressions is important. In addition, it is recommended to present the interpreter without a background since DHH participants did not prefer the presence of a background. As for subtitles, which is the third element of information delivery, it was confirmed that the provision of sign language interpretation and subtitles together helped DHH participants to understand the contents more quickly and accurately. Moreover, if there are multiple speakers, individual subtitles for each speaker should be provided so that the viewers can understand who is talking. Reference videos, which are mainly placed on the screen background, the second information delivery element, were considered less important to DHH participants compared to sign language interpreters and subtitles, and it was found that DHH participants preferred reference videos to be visually separated from sign language interpreters. Fifth, based on the overall results of the study, a screen layout design was proposed for each type of information delivery element for DHH people. Contrary to the general conception that there would be no problem in viewing information-delivering TV broadcasts by DHH people simply by placing a sign language interpreter on the screen, the results of this study confirmed that a more delicate screen layout design is necessary for DHH people. It is expected that this study will serve as a helpful guide in providing better sign language services for TV broadcasts that can be conveniently viewed by both DHH and non-disabled people.

Designing screen layout in multimedia applications through integer programming and metaheuristic

Binding audiovisual content into multimedia applications requires the specification of each media item, including its size and position, to define a screen layout. The multimedia application author must plan the application’s screen layout (ASL), considering a variety of screen sizes where the application shall be executed. An ASL that maximizes the area occupied by media items on the screen is essential, given that screen space is a valuable asset for media broadcasters. In this paper, we introduce the Application Screen Layout Optimization Problem, and present its NP-hardness. Besides, two integer programming formulations and an Iterated Local Search (ILS) metaheuristic are proposed to solve it. The efficiency of the proposed methods is evaluated, showing that the metaheuristic achieves better results and is at least 12 times faster, on average, than the mathematical formulations. Also, the proposed approaches were compared to a layout design algorithm, showing their effectiveness.

Comparison of library website function access tools 2014–2018

PurposeFour years after the release of a responsive design website that provides a dynamic screen layout across three access devices (computer, tablet and smartphone), a repeat study was conducted to determine changes in the way that library website functions are and are not accessed.Design/methodology/approachA survey, similar to the original study, was used to determine the rate of access of 20 website functions by three access devices (computer, tablet and smartphone) and a “did not use” (DNU) category. A two-proportion Z-test was used to determine significant differences in the rate of access for each website function and the “did not use” (DNU) category by each access device from 2014 to 2018.FindingsThe computer is still the primary tool used to access website functions, but its rate of use is declining, while access via the smartphone is increasing, including research and for learning functions traditionally accessed only by computer. Access by tablet, with poor website function access rates in 2014, declined in use, with some rates approaching zero. Increases in the DNU category for website functions occurred, but reasons why were not determined. The increases raised questions about the relevance of some of the website functions and if other actions are needed to increase use.Originality/valueRepeating the 2014 study provided insights into the changing landscape of device preferences for accessing library website functions. The number of significant changes identified demonstrates the importance of recurring studies to determine how online access to library website functions evolves over time.

An empirical evaluation of a graphics creation technique for blind and visually impaired individuals

The representation of pictorial data by people who are blind and sight impaired has gathered momentum with research and development; however, little research has focused on the use of a screen layout to provide people who are blind and sight impaired users with the spatial orientation to create and reuse graphics. This article contributes an approach to navigating on the screen, manipulating computer graphics, and user-defined images. The technique described in this article enables features such as zooming, grouping, and drawing by calling primitive and user-defined shapes. It enables blind people to engage in and experience drawing and art production on their own. The navigation technique gives an initiative sense of autonomy with compass directions, makes it easy to learn, efficient to manipulate shape with a the simple drawing language, and takes less time to complete with system support features. An empirical evaluation was conducted to validate the suitability of the SETUP09 technique and to evaluate the accuracy, and efficiency of the navigation and drawing techniques proposed. The drawing experiment results confirmed high accuracy (88%) and efficiency among blind and visually impaired (BVI) users.

Attitudes and Perceptions Towards Summative E-Assessment for Free-Text Responses

The key aim of this study is to provide an overview of students' and instructors' attitudes and perceptions towards the potential benefits and challenges of summative e-assessment for their writing courses at a UAE university. A mixed method of quantitative and qualitative analysis is used. The findings of the study revealed that a majority of student participants reported reasonable satisfaction with the e-assessment tool in terms of screen layout and background, interface design and ease of use and access. However, they indicated their preference to “pen and paper” exams. Instructor participants identified a number of challenges associated with using summative e-assessment in the writing courses, which would require educational institutions to make changes to promote the success of e-assessment.