1.0 Introduction:
Blind people cannot make use of the computer unless certain assistive technologies are used. To overcome this obstacle, screen readers, braille displays and haptic mice could be used.
2.0 Technologies to be used:
2.1 Screen Reader
Screen readers will read all of the information currently on screen and the content that will be typed on screen by the user, thus, making it easier to navigate through the system.
There are many different types of screen readers, each offering different tasks. A simple screen reader will only read the current word or line from the whole window, this will make it more difficult for the user as he/she must search for the stuff on screen. On the other hand, the more complex screen readers will provide the user with more information by reading; the name of the application, the title bar, the window or the current item selected.
To make the screen user even more effective, hot keys could be assigned to assign the screen reader to read specific information. For example, when the hotkey is pressed, the reader will read through the tool bar of the current application being used. By doing so, the user will be given an overview of the different options that could be used within the program (example. Bold, Italic, Underlines, Align etc… in Microsoft Word).
2.2 Tactile Mouse
The tactile mouse will look similar to a normal mouse found on any other desktop computer, however will include two pads each containing 16 pins arranged in a four-by-four array. This extra feature will translate text displayed on screen into braille. A braille device is used by blind people to actually read the content that is being displayed on screen, this will be an additional feature to the screen reader.
2.2.1 How does the tactile mouse work?
In traditional Braille, numbers and letters are represented by raised bumps. The pins on the mouse take the role of these bumps. When the cursor is moved, the pins rise and fall to represent the text across which they are moving. Since having two pads, one will represent the character / word beneath the cursor, while the other will show what is coming next, such as the end of the character / word.
The tactile mouse includes some features to make it more accessible. On feature has an “anchor” feature, which will hold onto the line of text being read. When the user clicks on the mouse button, the text will scroll along as he/she reads, making reading easy since moving the mouse will not be needed to continue scrolling.
When accessing webpages, one can come across maps, graphs and other figures. For example, when the mouse will come across a line of a graph, the pins will rise. The number of pins that have been triggered and raised will show the thickness of the line. If he moves away from the line, the pins will fall back, thus this will let him depict the graph.
2.3 Iterface
The computer system will be split into a grid like view so that it will make it much easier for the user to understand the position of objects when read by the screen reader.
The screen reader and braille give an overview of the current screen from left – right, top – bottom.
For example: if the user is on the desktop the screen reader will start by reading ‘Recycle Bin’. Therefore the user will already know that there is only one shortcut on the desktop, and know that it is at the top left since it’s the only one.
The system will be using a tool such as PowerCursor ‘Hole’ around icons so as to pinpoint exactly the clickable areas are.
3.0 How will the system work altogether?
Firstly the Screen Reader will always read what is displayed on screen to give an overview of what is presented/displayed on screen. When the user is navigating around the interface and encounters an icon (for example- Internet Explorer) both mouse pads will trigger all the pins to rise to show that there is an object beneath the cursor. The screen reader will read the object and the pads will then display the text by using braille. The mouse pointer will be placed in the middle of the icon automatically so that if the user will want to access Internet Explorer he just needs to click.
References:
http://www.evengrounds.com/blog/how-do-blind-people-use-the-computer
http://www.economist.com/node/14955359
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