Universal Design and Assistive

Technology

Providing access and assistance

to people with special needs.

Motivations

Legal Requirements

Section 508 1973/1986 Rehabilitation

Act
1990 Americans with Disabilities Act

1/5 Americans have a disability,

1/10 have a severe disability*
Everyone is impaired sometimes
Intriguing interface challenges

*2000 US Census Brief

Universal Design
Universal design is the design of products and
environments to be usable by all people, to
the greatest extent possible, without the
need for adaptation or specialized design
Variety

of users:

Age, expertise, language, education, physical

abilities, cognitive abilities

Helps

everyone, not just those with a

disability.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_design

Universal design principles

equitable use
flexibility in use
simple and intuitive to use
perceptible information
tolerance for error
low physical effort
size and space for approach and use
http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/univ_design/princ_overview.htm

Example: Multi-Modal Systems

More than one sensory channel in

interaction

e.g. sounds, text, hypertext,

animation, video, gestures, vision

Provides flexibility in input

Redundant output

Accessible design

Make accessible to as wide a group of

people as possible, particularly those with
disabilities
Provide equal access
Example: Web accessibility

Challenge:

Very hard to design a product for everyone

Design for all vs. Design for most

Users with disabilities

visual impairment

hearing impairment

Deafness, partial hearing loss

physical impairment

Blindness, low vision, color blindness

Difficulty or inability to use hands, such as

tremors, loss of muscle control, or paralysis

Cognitive

Learning disabilities such as dyslexia, memory,

attention, problem-solving impairments

and different needs

age groups

older people e.g. disability aids, memory aids,

communication tools to prevent social isolation
children e.g. appropriate input/output devices,
involvement in design process

cultural differences

influence of nationality, generation, gender, race,

sexuality, class, religion, political persuasion etc. on
interpretation of interface features
e.g. interpretation and acceptability of language,
cultural symbols, gesture and colour

Were all disabled sometimes

Environment
Fatigue
Injury
Aging
Changing role of information
technology

Example:
Sheila the programmer. She was diagnosed with
muscular dystrophy in her early 20's. This condition,
which results in progressive loss of muscular
strength, means that she works from her motorized
wheelchair, and is unable to sit upright for more
than a brief time. As a result, she works in a
reclined position, leaning back almost horizontally.
Her vision problems limit the amount of time she
can focus on the screen, and her muscular weakness
prevents her from handling paper manuals.

http://www.sun.com/access/developers/updt.HCI.advance.html#design

Another example:
Carla the secretary. She has no vision in one eye
and "tunnel vision" in the other and prepares
documents using a standard PC and screen
magnification software. Sometimes she is unable
to tell the difference between old and new email
messages, because her mail application uses color
to distinguish old from new. Like many users with
low vision, she has problems working with
columns, because it is difficult for her to see if
text is aligned.

http://www.sun.com/access/developers/updt.HCI.advance.html#design

Assistive Technology

Any item, equipment or system, that is

used to increase, maintain, or improve
functional capabilities of a person with a
disability

Understand technology in order to design

with it in mind
Create new technology to aid users

Examples: http://www.enablemart.com/

Vision

Color blindness
Low-vision

The vast majority of visually disabled

people have some sight

Blindness

Color blindness

Remember: 8% of population!
Use good color contrast
Color is not the only way of
distinguishing information
Check your pages with simulator

Such as http://www.vischeck.com/index.php

Myopia and Hypermetropia

Myopia
(short-sighted)

Hypermetropia
(far-sighted)

Macular degeneration

Diabetic retinopathy

Cataracts

Tunnel vision

Accommodating Partial Sight

Large monitor, high resolution,

glare protection
Control of color and contrast
Control of font size everywhere
Keyboard orientation aids

Hardware or Software
Magnification

2 to 16 times
Virtual screen
Viewport, control
Notification of outside events
CRTs for physical items
Software:

Zoomtext
MAGic

http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=4&TopicID=31&DocumentID=1387

Accommodating Blind Users

Screen Readers

Read GUI out loud

Cursor-tracking, routing
Dialogue focus
View areas

Braille display
Braille embosser

Design implications

Text alternatives for non-text

content
Information and structure separate
from presentation
All functionality available via
keyboard
Make placement and functionality of
content predictable

Hearing

Redundant output

hardware (flashing title bar)

software (text to speech)

An increasing problem?

Population
Phone interfaces

Assistive Technology

Amplification systems
TDD/TTYs
Deaf relay centers
Communication aids

SMS: most significant communication

device for deaf recently
Sign language translator

Speech training

Physical Impairments
Complete

lack of function
absence of a limb
paralysis

Lack of strength

Tremor/lack

Slowness

of accuracy

Keyboard Modifications

Keyguards
Alternative layouts

Reduce movement
One-handed keyboards, possible
chords

Membrane surfaces (minimize

required pressure)

Software Modifications

Sticky keys
Slow keys or disable auto-repeat
Modify keyboard mappings
On-screen keyboards

Alternative Input Devices

Speech input

Dictation versus control

Switches

Keyboard has approx 50 switches

Scanning interfaces

Mouse alternatives

Trackball
Proportional joystick
Switched joystick or cursor keys
Head sensor or mouth stick
Eye-gaze
Keyboard only

Possible Switches

Foot pedal
Leaf switch highly sensitive
Sip and puff
Dual switch (can be used for Morse code)
Joy stick
Muscle switch
Neural implant
Eye gaze

Scanning Interfaces
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Acceleration Techniques

Control macros
Word prediction
Abbreviations

On the horizon: Brain-computer

interfaces

Sensing neural activity to

control a device
Communication for severely
paralyzed
Control prosthetic or
paralyzed limb

Impaired Mental Capabilities

Memory

Perception

Recognizing the problem, implementing

solutions and evaluation

Concepts

Attention, discriminating sensory input

Problem Solving

Short or long term, recall and recognition

Generalizing, skill development

Learning
Autism

Design Guidelines

Input / Interface Control

Change colors/contrast for easy reading
Presentation Format
blank space to focus attention
turn off moving images
Informational Content and Prompting
match vocabulary level to user
Infinite patience and risk-free environment

Who are older people?

People who have been alive for

longer
Thats about all they have in
common

Potential Declining Abilities

Physical
Sensory
Cognition

Retrospective memory

Computing no longer limited to the

workplace

Assistive Uses

Sensory aids
Memory aids
Mobile emergency alerts
Information access

ThirdAge (www.thirdage.com)

Social communication

SeniorNet (www.seniornet.com)

Guideline summary

http://www.sun.com/access/developers/updt.HCI.advance.html#design

Sources for guidelines

Web accessibility:

http://www.w3.org/WAI/

http://www.afb.org/Section.asp?SectionID=57&TopicID=167

www-306.ibm.com/able/guidelines/web/accessweb.html

Take home points

Think about universal design principles

helps all users, not just disabled
Technology can help provide access and
control of computer
Technology can also help people function
better in everyday world
Solutions include wide range of physical
and software solutions
Work with users!

You cant understand what its like