Purpose The current predominant delivery format resulting from digitization is PDF, which is not appropriate for the blind, partially sighted and people who read on mobile devices. To meet the needs ...of both communities, as well as broader ones, alternative file formats are required. With the findings of the eBooks-On-Demand-Network Opening Publications for European Netizens project research, this study aims to improve access to digitized content for these communities. Design/methodology/approach In 2022, the authors conducted research on the digitization experiences of 13 EODOPEN partners at their organizations. The authors distributed the same sample of scans in English with different characteristics, and in accordance with Web content accessibility guidelines, the authors created 24 criteria to analyze their digitization workflows, output formats and optical character recognition (OCR) quality. Findings In this contribution, the authors present the results of a trial implementation among EODOPEN partners regarding their digitization workflows, used delivery file formats and the resulting quality of OCR results, depending on the type of digitization output file format. It was shown that partners using the OCR tool ABBYY FineReader Professional and producing scanning outputs in tagged PDF and PDF/UA formats achieved better results according to set criteria. Research limitations/implications The trial implementations were limited to 13 project partners’ organizations only. Originality/value This research paper can be a valuable contribution to the field of massive digitization practices, particularly in terms of improving the accessibility of the output delivery file formats.
Am I missing something? Whitney, Gill; Kolar, Irena
Universal access in the information society,
06/2020, Volume:
19, Issue:
2
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
People with a visual impairment are more likely to experience social isolation as an effect of their vision loss. Social media can particularly benefit these users, but it is of concern if it cannot ...be fully and successfully used. This study was instigated at the request of an advisory group of visual impaired users and experts. The aim of the study was to investigate potential accessibility issues visually impaired users could encounter when using social media. A major concern was over missing content embedded in images on social media sites. A subsequent evaluation of Facebook posts carried out by a group of student participants demonstrated that nearly half of images considered contained embedded text, which would be inaccessible to visually impaired users. Despite efforts by social media companies to improve accessibility, any text present in images is not presented in an accessible way to visually impaired users. This research demonstrated the inequality that can arise from partial accessibility and the requirement to consider accessibility at all stages of design and development.
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of a four-month specific exercise program on correcting the posture of persons with different visual impairment. The sample consisted of 20 ...elementary students with visual impairment diagnosis, 11 boys and 9 girls aged 9-14 (12±0.6). The classification of the examinees was performed according to the established degree of visual impairment, 10 blind persons and 10 partially sighted persons. The pupils voluntarily participated in the exercise program. The exercise program was structured of two phases: exercise on dryland and exercise in water. A total of 36 exercise units were completed during four months period. Seven tests were used to evaluate the body posture, based on the determination of segmental dimensions and the visual projection of the marked points. The contents of the program were performed with the aim of preventing and correcting the observed irregularities of the body posture. The t-test scores indicated statistically significant differences between two measurements (p<0.05, p<0.01). It can be concluded that elementary movements, performed through dryland and especially water exercises, had a good effect on correcting the body's posture of blind and partially sighted persons.
Millions of blind people cannot use travel sites effectively due to the significant access and usability barriers. Literature recognizes that travel sites lack accessibility and usability, but does ...not clarify the nature of interaction challenges blind users face. We conducted an exploratory field study with blind participants to examine where, how and why challenges arose in searching for flights on the Orbitz travel site. We employed verbal protocol analysis to generate an in-depth, contextually-situated and experiential understanding of participants’ interaction challenges. Results establish the feasibility and utility of our approach for an accurate evaluation of accessibility and usability of travel sites for blind users.
This paper reports on an exploratory research-and-development project concerning a device for conveying a conductor's gestures wirelessly to a visually impaired (blind or partially sighted) performer ...as a haptic signal. The research team developed this device from January to July 2017 under a University College London (UCL) Institute of Education 'seed-corn' grant. As a platform for its development, they firstly observed and analysed video footage of conductors at the Royal Academy of Music, London using Elan software to create a gestural model. Subsequently, through gaining blind end-users' feedback on the device, as well as an experiment to compare their timing using either (i) a two-dimension haptic signal or (ii) a metronomic pulsation, it is suggested that the development of technologies for this purpose should focus on the meaning the conductor intends to convey coupled with haptic signals blind end-users themselves deem suitable, rather than adopting a 'sighted perspective' in attempting faithful transference of two-dimensional captures of arm movements from one medium to another. Reasons for this assertion are explored.
Many systems have been developed to assist wayfinding for people with sight problems. There is a need for user requirements for such systems to be defined. This paper presents a study which aimed to ...determine such user requirements. An experiment was also conducted to establish the best way of guiding users between locations. The focus group results indicated that users require systems to provide them with information about their surroundings, to guide them along their route and to provide progress information. They also showed that users with sight conditions interact with systems differently to sighted users, thereby highlighting the importance of designing systems for the needs of these users. Results of the experiment found that the preferred method of guiding users was a notification when they were both on and off track. However, performance was best when only provided with the off track notification, implying that this cue is particularly important. Technology has the potential to support navigation for people with sight problems. Users should have control over cues provided and for these cues should supplement environmental cues rather than replacing them.
•Technology-supported navigation aids can support users with sight problems.•Users should have control over cues provided by the technology.•The cues provided should be assimilated with the environment.•The technology should support the environmental cues rather than replacing them.•Information when users are not on the correct path is particularly important.
Multi‐session search tasks are complex and span more than one web session. Such tasks are challenging because searchers must keep track of their search progress and the information they encounter ...across sessions. Multi‐session tasks can be cognitively taxing for visually impaired users because the lack of persistence of screen readers causes the load on working memory to be high. In this article, we first discuss the habitual behavior of visually impaired participants for multi‐session tasks when using popular search interfaces. We then present the evaluation of a search interface developed to support complex information seeking for visually impaired users. The user evaluation was structured in two sessions to simulate a multi‐session task. Thus, we discuss the strategies observed among participants to resume the search, to review previously encountered information, and to satisfy their evolved information need. We also compare the information‐seeking behavior across the two sessions and examine how the proposed interface supports participants for multi‐session tasks. Findings from this evaluation contribute to our understanding of the information‐seeking behavior of visually impaired users and have implications for the design of tools to support searchers to manage and make sense of information during multi‐session search tasks.
The objective of this study was to compare the preferences for various physical activities and reasons for the lack of interest by Czech teenagers with sensory disabilities in physical education ...classes. A non-standardized questionnaire was used to collect the data. The sample was based on the following features: a) a participant had to be deaf or hard of hearing, b) a participant had to have a visual impairment, and c) had to have been educated in special educational settings. In this study participated 24 teenagers who are deaf or hard of hearing (16 boys and 8 girls, an average age of 14.3 ± 1.2 years) and 26 teenagers with a visual impairment (16 boys and 10 girls, an average age of 14.1 ± 1.2 years). Both absolute and relative frequencies were used to describe the data. The differences between teenagers who are deaf or hard of hearing and teenagers with a visual impairment were assessed using the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U-test, the chi-squared test and, for low frequencies, the Fisher’s exact test. Tests were performed at a level of α = 0.05. Statistical tests did prove significant difference in preference for the various physical education where most of teenagers who are deaf or hard of hearing preferred athletics and football in physical education classes. Further, in leisure activities, teenagers who are deaf or hard of hearing significantly more often do sports activities, while teenagers with a visual impairment are more sedentary. Our results have proven that, besides sport, the most frequently preferred leisure activity in both-groups was computers and possibly mobile technologies.
Section 508 of the Rehabilitations Act of 1973 states that federal agencies are required to maintain accessible web-based information for persons with disabilities, namely, visual impairments. ...Studies spanning over 1 decade conducted by The American Foundation for the Blind and Towson University's Universal Usability Lab investigated federal home pages for Section 508 violations. Both studies concluded that numerous university, corporate, federal, and federal contractor websites are largely inaccessible to people with disabilities-specifically in terms of clarity, consistency, and fidelity to standards. Due to inconsistencies across federal agencies, constant website updates, and webmaster turnaround, there is a need for practical guidelines for web page design compliant with Section 508, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, with particular focus on the visually impaired.
Various assistive technologies such as haptic technology are used to help people with visual impairments comprehend complex information. Yet there is likely to be a misconception that users with the ...same disability category share the same user interface needs; furthermore, the majority of the literature has been oriented toward total blindness rather than low vision, possibly leading to dissatisfaction with assistive technologies and discontinuation of its use by those with low vision. The aim of this article is to advance the understanding of the needs of those with low vision especially in relation to haptic-incorporated multimodal user interfaces. A scenario-based, participatory design approach was used to explore their needs. A total of 19 user needs were systematically documented under three categories: audition (n = 5), touch (n = 11), and vision (n = 3). This article focuses on qualitatively exploring their needs and theoretically interpreting the needs in the light of previous studies.
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