Title
Tactile Graphics with a Voice.
Abstract
We discuss the development of Tactile Graphics with a Voice (TGV), a system used to access label information in tactile graphics using QR codes. Blind students often rely on tactile graphics to access textbook images. Many textbook images have a large number of text labels that need to be made accessible. In order to do so, we propose TGV, which uses QR codes to replace the text, as an alternative to Braille. The codes are read with a smartphone application. We evaluated the system with a longitudinal study where 10 blind and low-vision participants completed tasks using three different modes on the smartphone application: (1) no guidance, (2) verbal guidance, and (3) finger-pointing guidance. Our results show that TGV is an effective way to access text in tactile graphics, especially for those blind users who are not fluent in Braille. We also found that preferences varied greatly across the modes, indicating that future work should support multiple modes. We expand upon the algorithms we used to implement the finger pointing, algorithms to automatically place QR codes on documents. We also discuss work we have started on creating a Google Glass version of the application.
Year
DOI
Venue
2016
10.1145/2854005
TACCESS
Keywords
Field
DocType
Access technology,blind,camera,non-visual feedback,visually impaired,tactile graphics,QR codes
Multiple modes,Graphics,Access technology,Computer science,Human–computer interaction,Braille,Multimedia
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
8
1
1936-7228
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
6
0.50
8
Authors
6
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Catherine M. Baker1264.72
Lauren R. Milne2656.63
Ryan Drapeau391.21
Jeffrey Scofield4342.23
Cynthia L. Bennett523424.83
Richard E. Ladner655021090.33