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Adapting Card Sorting for Blind People: Evaluation of the Interaction Design in TalkBack
Abstract
This article reports the results of a research project conducted to address the lack of feedback provided by generic user eXperience (UX) design methods, specifically in the case of applications for blind users. The objective of this research was to determine whether the application of a modified card sorting interaction design method with blind users can provide valuable insights into the desirable architecture of the menus in an interactive software system. For the analysis of the effectiveness of this approach, we performed the test with 15 blind users, using a modified semi-closed card sorting method, focusing on the menu structure of specific software (Android TalkBack). As a result, we obtained significant feedback for menu organization that included the users suggestions for new tasks and categories. Based on these data, we recommend the use of the modified card sorting interaction design method to evaluate the usability of applications for blind users, because this method allows reliably defining how to select and order the menu items in an intuitive and friendly way that is specific for this type of users.
... Proses card sorting dilakukan untuk menjadi dasar rancangan arsitektur informasi website perpustakaan yang sesuai dengan ekspektasi pengguna yang ditunjukkan pada Gambar 2. Card sorting dilakukan menggunakan software UX online dengan melibatkan mahasiswa dan pustakawan UKDW untuk mengatur elemen-elemen website ke dalam kategori menu yang dianggap paling sesuai [11], [18]. Jenis card sorting yang dimanfaatkan adalah hybrid yang memberikan partisipan kebebasan dalam menyusun kartu pada kategori yang telah disediakan maupun membuat kategori baru yang sesuai dengan pendapat mereka sehingga dapat mendukung terbentuknya stuktur informasi yang logis dan berguna bagi pengguna [18]. ...
... Proses card sorting dilakukan untuk menjadi dasar rancangan arsitektur informasi website perpustakaan yang sesuai dengan ekspektasi pengguna yang ditunjukkan pada Gambar 2. Card sorting dilakukan menggunakan software UX online dengan melibatkan mahasiswa dan pustakawan UKDW untuk mengatur elemen-elemen website ke dalam kategori menu yang dianggap paling sesuai [11], [18]. Jenis card sorting yang dimanfaatkan adalah hybrid yang memberikan partisipan kebebasan dalam menyusun kartu pada kategori yang telah disediakan maupun membuat kategori baru yang sesuai dengan pendapat mereka sehingga dapat mendukung terbentuknya stuktur informasi yang logis dan berguna bagi pengguna [18]. Item card sorting terdiri dari 49 item yang merupakan gabungan dari item layanan dan informasi yang disajikan dalam website Perpustakaan UKDW dan item layanan website yang disebut dalam survei [19]. ...
... Beberapa kartu dan kategori dipilah, digabungkan dengan beberapa kategori yang ada menjadi satu (**), atau diabaikan (****) dalam proses refinement untuk menghindari duplikasi pada setiap kategori. Hal ini juga mempertimbangkan persentase kemunculan atau pengelompokan kartu dalam tumpukan pada kategori yang sama [18]. Sementara itu beberapa kartu elemen diletakkan di dua kategori yang berbeda sesuai pendapat dari validator agar mudah diakses, serta beberapa kartu baru ditambahkan (***) sesuai dengan masukan dari validator. ...
Website perpustakaan universitas berfungsi sebagai portal akses layanan dan sumber informasi bagi mahasiswa agar memenuhi kebutuhan mereka. Permasalahan yang ditemukan adalah perpustakaan UKDW belum pernah melakukan evaluasi dan pengembangan situs websitenya. Selain itu, ditemukan bahwa konten dan fitur website perpustakaan UKDW belum memenuhi standar website perpustakaan akademik. Penelitian dilakukan untuk merancang ulang website perpustakaan UKDW yang dapat mengakomodasi kebutuhan mahasiswa dan sesuai standar website perpustakaan akademik. Penelitian menggunakan metode User Centered-Design (UCD). Adapun proses riset meliputi pengumpulan data, analisis, perancangan, dan pengujian yang dalam prosesnya melibatkan mahasiswa dan pustakawan UKDW. Pengujian menerapkan usability testing yang dilaksanakan dalam dua tahap yaitu tahap formative dan summative, berdasarkan tiga aspek yaitu efektivitas, efisiensi, dan kepuasan pengguna. Hasil akhir penelitian adalah rekomendasi antar muka website perpustakaan UKDW yang telah diuji menunjukkan aspek efektivitas, efisien, dan kepuasan pengguna dalam kategori baik.
... To what extent this influences the results, still has to be researched [11]. The analysis of digital card sorting is done by using special software, which supports the quantitative analysis afterwards [11,48,60]. Statistical tools like dendrograms show how many people agree that cards are similar and belong in the same group. ...
... In addition to the difference between physical and digital testing, a fundamental distinction must be made between three types of card sorting: closed, open and hybrid [41,48]. ...
... The most widely-used variant is open card sorting [41,52,61]. For this type, participants are instructed to sort and categorize the cards into as many self-labeled groups as desired [22,34,41,48]. Since no categories are named, participants are not influenced by researchers and any creation of new categories is based on users' mental models. ...
Card sorting is a method to evaluate and build information architectures. This article describes hybrid digital card sorting and discusses its characteristic traits: as a new method, as a new research technique or as a mere variation of physical card sorting. The article presents the research designs, the approaches for analysis as well as selected results of two hybrid digital card sorting case studies. The evaluation of differences and similarities between the two case studies and between other forms of card sorting such as physical, open or closed card sorting reveal that hybrid digital card sorting requires different data collection techniques than physical card sorting. Hybrid digital card sorting demands quantitative analysis approaches using cluster analysis such as dendrograms with only few qualitative elements. Since it is the opposite of physical card sorting, it deserves to be called a new research technique.KeywordsCard sortingHybrid card sortingStandardizationMethod
Research technique
... For example, the storyboard can represent a user story or requirement in comic book form. However, card sorting is a method that allows to make groups of information and functionalities that will help in information architecture [11]. In this sense, due to the low use of these methods and the low average utility obtained, we inferred that software startup professionals are not sufficiently familiar with these methods or prefer to use more traditional methods. ...
... In this sense, due to the low use of these methods and the low average utility obtained, we inferred that software startup professionals are not sufficiently familiar with these methods or prefer to use more traditional methods. Nevertheless, some studies suggest the usefulness of storyboard and card sorting for software development projects [11,12,20]. Thus, more significant efforts are needed on how to approach these methods in software startups. ...
... There is no evidence of an association between the model to assess accessibility and the assistive technology assessed. When observing the studies that involved the evaluation of TalkBack (MADEIRA et al., 2021;ROBLES et al., 2019;YAN;RAMACHANDRAN, 2019), it is noticed that the models mentioned are diverse and do not repeat themselves. In a quick check, the evaluation model most cited in the articles of this SLR (WCAG standards) does not present an association with any specific technology, as no repetition pattern was observed. ...
... lists the brief descriptions of the assistive technologies evaluated by the articles. Only TalkBack technology was the focus of evaluation in more than one different study(ROBLES et al., 2019;YAN;RAMACHANDRAN, 2019). ...
There are more and more people who are using technology on a daily basis to communicate and access information, including the elderly and people with disabilities. Assistive technologies, also called technical aids, are accessibility and inclusion resources that provide a greater degree of autonomy and assistance for people who have some degree of difficulty in using resources in their contact with real and virtual environments. The aim of this study is to investigate the perceptions about the heuristic assessment of accessibility in software by undertaking a systematic review of the literature that covers the last 5 years. This started off with a total of 8548 published papers that are indexed in the Scopus and Web of Science databases. Twelve relevant research questions were drawn up that were answered in accordance with the results found in the final set of articles. Two groups of keywords were created to assist in the search for papers and a filtering process was applied to the results of the searches. The research shows, by means of figures and tables, evidence about the growth of scientific papers in the area. The lead authors and journals that publish on evaluating the accessibility of software are listed, as are answers to the questions about which evaluative models, heuristics, metrics, limitations, assistive technologies and target audiences are most cited in published papers. This study also analyzes the co-citation of the references and couples bibliographic sources. The research showed evidence that there is no general consensus on the use of a single model to assess accessibility, but that the W3C WCAG guidelines are the sources most used to reference heuristics and metrics in studies of this type. It was also noticed that most studies do not focus on assistive technologies, but are widely used to support decisions on websites.
... Mismatches between naive taxonomies created by users during card sorting and information structures used for navigation do not inherently reduce the navigation task performance (Schmettow and Sommer, 2016). Therefore, to validate an information architecture, card sorting is commonly followed by tree testing (Kuric et al., 2025a) Card sorting has three main types (de Jesús Álvarez Robles et al., 2019;Greifeneder and Bressel, 2022): ...
Card sorting is a common ideation technique that elicits information on users' mental organization of content and functionality by having them sort items into categories. For more robust card sorting research, digital card sorting tools could benefit from providing quick automated feedback. Our objective of this research is to advance toward an instrument that applies artificial intelligence (AI) to augment card sorting. For this purpose, we develop the Card Sorting Simulator, a prototype tool that leverages Large Language Models (LLMs) to generate informative categorizations of cards. To illuminate how aligned the simulation is with card sorting by actual participants, and to inform the instrument's design decisions, we conducted a generalizability-focused comparative study. We obtained 28 pre-existing card sorting studies from real practitioners, comprising 1,399 participants, along with diverse contents and origins. With this dataset, we conducted a comprehensive and nuanced analysis of the agreement between actual card sorting results (clusterings of cards) and synthetic clusterings across a multitude of LLMs and prompt designs. Mutual information scores indicate a good degree of agreement to real result clustering, although similarity matrices also demonstrate inconsistencies from mental models, which can be attributed to their top-down nature. Furthermore, the number of cards or complexity of their labels impact the accuracy of its simulation. These findings bolster the case for AI augmentation in card sorting research as a source of meaningful preliminary feedback and highlight the need for further study for the development and validation of intelligent user research tools.
... It reviews research articles (n = 44) on applications for the CVI and PVI, focusing on crucial aspects such as NMUD analysis methods, pros and cons, target devices and Use of NUI. Some of the widely employed approaches for NMUD analysis are questionnaires (78,88,89), usability studies (37), formative interviews (90)(91)(92), direct interviews (31,91,(93)(94)(95), workshop interviews (14), and user evaluation testing (20,(96)(97)(98) and other methods (32,49,(99)(100)(101)(102)(103)(104)(105)(106)(107). The major comments regarding the pros of any app, according to the users, are low cost, personalization, adaptability, availability in the language of their choice, and the app being platform-independent. ...
In today’s world, there has been a significant increase in the use of devices, gadgets, and mobile applications in our daily activities. Although this has had a significant impact on the lives of the general public, people who are Partially Visually Impaired SPVI, which includes a much broader range of vision loss that includes mild to severe impairments, and Completely Visually Impaired (CVI), who have no light perception, still face significant obstacles when trying to access and use these technologies. This review article aims to provide an overview of the NUI, Multi-sensory Interfaces and UX Design (NMUD) of apps and devices specifically tailored CVI and PVI individuals. The article begins by emphasizing the importance of accessible technology for the visually impaired and the need for a human-centered design approach. It presents a taxonomy of essential design components that were considered during the development of applications and gadgets for individuals with visual impairments. Furthermore, the article sheds light on the existing challenges that need to be addressed to improve the design of apps and devices for CVI and PVI individuals. These challenges include usability, affordability, and accessibility issues. Some common problems include battery life, lack of user control, system latency, and limited functionality. Lastly, the article discusses future research directions for the design of accessible apps and devices for visually impaired individuals. It emphasizes the need for more user-centered design approaches, adherence to guidelines such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines, the application of e-accessibility principles, the development of more accessible and affordable technologies, and the integration of these technologies into the wider assistive technology ecosystem.
... Hampir mirip dengan aplikasi sebelumnya yaitu adalah pembaca gambar, aplikasi yang bernama lookout ini membantu tunanetra dengan menyuarakan gambar yang ada didepannya, seperti ada vas bunga di ruangan atau pembaca pesan atau lain hal sebagainya (Hartato et al., 2022). Kaum penyandang tunanetra juga dapat (Robles et al., 2019). Fitur Talkback ini adalah suatu fitur dimana pengguna dapat mendapatkan suara dari smartphonenya dengan mudah. ...
Penelitian ini menginvestigasi motif komunikasi bermedia sosial kaum tunanetra di Kota Bandung, khususnya terapis pijat tunanetra Shiatsu. Perkembangan teknologi dan komunikasi telah membuat hampir seluruh warga dunia menggunakan smartphone. Penggunaan smartphone telah mencapai angka yang signifikan, bahkan di kalangan penyandang disabilitas, termasuk tunanetra. Saat ini, terapis tunanetra Shiatsu juga aktif dalam berbagai media sosial, seperti Instagram dan Whatsapp, untuk mencari pelanggan dan berkomunikasi dengan mereka.Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan pendekatan fenomenologi, melibatkan wawancara mendalam dengan tujuh terapis tunanetra Shiatsu di Kota Bandung. Tema-tema utama yang muncul dari penelitian ini adalah: (1) Penasaran, (2) Permintaan dari sanak saudara dan sesama tunanetra, dan (3) Improvisasi diri. Motif penasaran mendorong para terapis untuk mempelajari dan menggali lebih dalam tentang penggunaan gadget dan media sosial. Mereka juga terlibat dalam media sosial karena diminta oleh keluarga atau sesama tunanetra yang sudah terbiasa menggunakan teknologi. Selain itu, mereka menggunakan gadget dan media sosial sebagai bagian dari improvisasi diri untuk mengatasi keterbatasan ekonomi, meningkatkan pengetahuan, dan mengembangkan kemampuan diri.
... O propósito para aplicação deste métodoé a criação de uma estrutura de informação que está fundamentada na representação do mapa mental de forma fácil. Objetivoé criar uma arquitetura de informação que seja de fácil compreensão [Robles et al. 2019]. ...
O frequente lançamento de atualizações e recursos de acessibilidade é uma característica marcante do Sistema Operacional (SO) Android. O Google TalkBack é um recurso que oferece navegação autônoma a pessoas cegas por meio de respostas audíveis. É importante a compatibilidade com diretrizes de acessibilidade. Para esta pesquisa, foi elaborado um checklist com quatro critérios baseados na ABNT NBR 17060 para avaliação do TalkBack comparativamente aos requisitos e recomendações previstos na norma brasileira. A abordagem metodológica considerou o levantamento feito em questionário direcionado a respondentes cegos e a experiência de uso em um Smartphone Motorola Moto G22, Android 12. O recurso apresentou compatibilidade com apenas dois dos critérios abordados. Os resultados deste trabalho devem servir de indicador de melhorias para o recurso analisado para garantir maior acessibilidade a pessoas cegas no uso de Smartphones Android.
... The information is then fed to the memory. The memory stores the information [19,20,21]. Cards are extracted from the holding rack and sorted simultaneously. ...
This research is on the development of a microcontroller-based sorter of Money Cards together with an online application for the Money Cards as well. The sorter has 8 divisions in order to simulate the 8 areas in Metro Manila to where the cards will be sent to. The 8 areas are composed of the 7 areas in the South Metro Manila and 1 area composing of all the areas belonging to the North metro Manila. The website of the online application contains the necessary fields for the application of the Money Card. The sorter has a barcode reader. Each card has a barcode sticker corresponding to one of the 8 areas of the sorter. In addition, this barcode sticker corresponds to the information based on the online application where the cards will be sent that is specified by the user. The barcode reads the sticker on the cards and then sorts it accordingly to the correct corresponding divisions of the sorter.
... However, there are many examples of a quite different usage. For instance, interaction design methods might be used to evaluate the usability of mobile applications concerning the experiences of blind people with those applications [29]. Moreover, within newer fields, such as design thinking [30,31] and service design [32,33], which are based on user-and human-centered principles, card sets and card sorting are often used to support design processes. ...
The World Wide Web has become a common platform for interactive software development. Most web applications feature custom user interfaces used by millions of people every day. Information architecture addresses the structural design of information to build quality web applications with improved usability of content, navigation, and findability. One of the most frequently utilized information architecture methods is card sorting—an affordable, user-centered approach for eliciting and evaluating categories and navigable items. Card sorting facilitates decision-making during the development process based on users’ mental models of a given application domain. However, although the qualitative analysis of card sorts has become common practice in information architecture, the quantitative analysis of card sorting is less widely applied. The reason for this gap is that quantitative analysis often requires the use of customized techniques to extract meaningful information for decision-making. To facilitate this process and support the structuring of information, we propose a methodology for the quantitative analysis of card-sorting results in this paper. The suggested approach can be systematically applied to provide clues and support for decisions. These might significantly impact the design and, thus, the final quality of the web application. Therefore, the approach includes proper goodness values that enable comparisons among the results of the methods and techniques used and ensure the suitability of the analyses performed. Two publicly available datasets were used to demonstrate the key issues related to the interpretation of card sorting results and the overall suitability and validity of the proposed methodology.
Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) serve as the primary medium for user interaction with mobile applications (apps). Within these GUIs, editable text views, buttons, and other visual elements exhibit different states following user actions. However, developers often present these states only in various colors without providing textual hints for blind users. This results in significant difficulties for blind users to discern the transitions in component states, thereby hindering their ability to proceed with subsequent actions. Traditional rule-based methods and attribute settings often struggle to adapt to diverse component styles and fail to address the component state changes influenced by context. Recently, pre-trained large language models (LLMs) have demonstrated their generalization ability to various downstream tasks. In this work, we leverage LLMs and propose a tool called CasGPT ( C omponent st a te s distinguishing GPT) to automatically distinguish component states in GUIs and provide corresponding textual hints, thereby aiding blind users in app usage. Our experiments demonstrate that CasGPT is a lightweight approach capable of accurately distinguishing component states (accuracy=86.5%). The usefulness of our method is validated through a user study, where participants expressed positive attitudes towards it. Also, we compare and find that our method outperforms other open-source LLMs and different versions of GPT.
User eXperience (UX) work within the software industry entails implementing user-centered practices and techniques to acquire and apply insights about users. Given their challenging context characterized by small teams and limited resources, this application can provide software startups with a competitive edge. Despite a growing interest in this field, the perspectives of startup professionals regarding UX work and the challenges they face remain largely unexplored. This paper seeks to explore the perceptions of startup professionals regarding the usefulness of methods and techniques used in UX work, as well as the moments during user interactions with the product or service when they are applied, alongside the challenges inherent in the startup environment. To achieve this, we conducted a survey involving 90 professionals from software startups in Brazil, employing descriptive and inferential statistical methods for data analysis. Our findings reveal that software startup professionals prioritize understanding user needs, capturing feedback, and conducting user tests in their UX work. Interviews are the most commonly utilized method, although usability testing, competitive analysis, and high-fidelity prototyping are also valued across various stages of startup maturity. Furthermore, UX data is primarily collected during user interactions with the product. Additionally, we identified that specific challenges may have a reciprocal relationship with UX attitudes. These findings underscore the perceived value of UX work among software startup professionals, although perspectives vary depending on the startup's stage.
This study aims to explore the effectiveness of using Card Sort media in improving Arabic vocabulary comprehension at NW Lenek Junior High School. The research method employed was an experiment with a pre-test and post-test design involving two groups of students. Data collection techniques were conducted through vocabulary tests before and after the intervention using Card Sort media. Data analysis was performed by comparing pre-test and post-test scores between the experimental and control groups. The results showed a significant improvement in Arabic vocabulary comprehension among the experimental group that used Card Sort media compared to the control group that did not. The implication of this study is that the use of Card Sort media can be an effective tool in enhancing Arabic vocabulary comprehension at NW Lenek Junior High School. By implementing this innovative learning approach, it is hoped to make a positive contribution to Arabic language learning at the school and improve overall student academic achievement.
Smartphones com Android têm recursos de acessibilidade que precisam ser configurados para cada usuário. Este trabalho identificou e avaliou a arquitetura da informação para configuração dos recursos de acessibilidade para dislexia do Android 11 em um smartphone Samsung S20. Foram identificadas 125 oportunidades de melhoria em 77 itens da arquitetura. Não basta ter recursos de acessibilidade úteis no Android, a interface de configuração desses recursos também deve ter arquitetura da informação compreensível e de fácil navegação.
De plus en plus de personnes utilisent quotidiennement la technologie pour communiquer et accéder à l’information, y compris les personnes âgées et les personnes handicapées. Les technologies d’assistance, aussi appelées aides techniques, sont des ressources d’accessibilité et d’inclusion qui offrent un plus grand degré d’autonomie et d’aide aux personnes qui ont un certain degré de difficulté à utiliser les ressources dans leur contact avec des environnements réels et virtuels. Le but de cette étude est d’étudier les perceptions sur l’évaluation heuristique de l’accessibilité dans les logiciels en entreprenant une revue systématique de la littérature qui couvre les 5 dernières années. Cela a commencé avec un total de 8548 articles publiés qui sont indexés dans les bases de données Scopus et Web of Science. Douze questions de recherche pertinentes ont été rédigées et ont reçu une réponse conforme aux résultats trouvés dans la série finale d’articles. Deux groupes de mots-clés ont été créés pour faciliter la recherche d’articles et un processus de filtrage a été appliqué aux résultats des recherches. La recherche montre, au moyen de chiffres et de tableaux, des preuves de la croissance des articles scientifiques dans le domaine. Les auteurs principaux et les revues qui publient sur l’évaluation de l’accessibilité des logiciels sont énumérés, de même que les réponses aux questions sur les modèles d’évaluation, les heuristiques, les mesures, les limites, les technologies d’assistance et les publics cibles les plus cités dans les articles publiés. Cette étude analyse également la co-citation des références et des couples sources bibliographiques. La recherche a montré qu’il n’y a pas de consensus général sur l’utilisation d’un modèle unique pour évaluer l’accessibilité, mais que les directives WCAG du W3C sont les sources les plus utilisées pour référencer les heuristiques et les métriques dans les études de ce type. Il a également été remarqué que la plupart des études ne se concentrent pas sur les technologies d’assistance, mais sont largement utilisées pour appuyer les décisions sur les sites Web.
Cada vez son más las personas que utilizan la tecnología a diario para comunicarse y acceder a la información, incluidas las personas mayores y las personas con discapacidad. Las tecnologías de apoyo, también llamadas ayudas técnicas, son recursos de accesibilidad e inclusión que proporcionan un mayor grado de autonomía y asistencia a las personas que tienen algún grado de dificultad para utilizar los recursos en su contacto con entornos reales y virtuales. El objetivo de este estudio es investigar las percepciones sobre la evaluación heurística de la accesibilidad en el software mediante la realización de una revisión sistemática de la literatura que cubre los últimos 5 años. Esto comenzó con un total de 8548 artículos publicados que están indexados en las bases de datos Scopus y Web of Science. Se elaboraron doce preguntas de investigación relevantes que fueron respondidas de acuerdo con los resultados encontrados en el conjunto final de artículos. Se crearon dos grupos de palabras clave para ayudar en la búsqueda de artículos y se aplicó un proceso de filtrado a los resultados de las búsquedas. La investigación muestra, por medio de figuras y tablas, evidencia sobre el crecimiento de los artículos científicos en el área. Se enumeran los autores principales y las revistas que publican sobre la evaluación de la accesibilidad del software, al igual que las respuestas a las preguntas sobre qué modelos evaluativos, heurísticas, métricas, limitaciones, tecnologías de asistencia y audiencias objetivo son los más citados en los artículos publicados. Este estudio también analiza la co-citación de las referencias y fuentes bibliográficas de parejas. La investigación mostró evidencia de que no existe un consenso general sobre el uso de un modelo único para evaluar la accesibilidad, pero que las pautas WCAG del W3C son las fuentes más utilizadas para referenciar heurísticas y métricas en estudios de este tipo. También se observó que la mayoría de los estudios no se centran en las tecnologías de asistencia, sino que se utilizan ampliamente para apoyar las decisiones en los sitios web.
User Experience (UX) research is intended to find insights and elicit applicable requirements to guide usable designs. Card Sorting is one of the most utilized methods. It is used to uncover the user's mental model and increase the usability of existing products. However, although Card Sorting has been widely utilized, most applications are based on spreadsheets. Furthermore, existing tools are principally intended to obtain qualitative information or customized quantitative outcomes to improve the information architecture. In this paper, a supporting tool based on the Card Sorting method is presented and detailed, including a comprehensive use case showing the main features. The tool implements predictive analysis of results through advanced statistics and machine learning techniques, providing comprehensive reports that enable evaluators and UX researchers to obtain high-level knowledge and important quantitative clues to enhance decision-making. The tool has been evaluated with participants and evaluators, obtaining relevant usability results and feedback.
This study reports on the usability of three commercially available electronic card sort applications (CardZort, WebSort, and OpenSort) by researchers (Study 1) and by end users (Study 2). Both groups of participants conducted a series of tasks representative of their user group with each program. Researchers focused on the set up and analysis of an open card sort exercise while end user participants conducted an open card sort. Task success, completion time, perceived difficulty, user satisfaction, and overall preference data was gathered for all participants. Results indicate different preferences for the two user groups. Researcher participants preferred WebSort for creating and analyzing the card sort, and end user participants preferred OpenSort for completing the card sort exercise. Usability issues related to each program are discussed.
This paper presents a new travel aid to increase the independent mobility of blind and elderly travellers. This aid builds on the technologies of geographical information systems (GIS) and the Global Positioning System (GPS). The MoBIC Travel Aid (MoTA) consists of two interrelated components: the MoBIC Pre-journey System (MOPS) to assist users in planning journeys and the MoBIC Outdoor System (MOODS) to execute these plans by providing users with orientation and navigation assistance during journeys. The MoBIC travel aid is complementary to primary mobility aids such as the long cane or guide dog. Results of a study of user requirements, the user interface designs, and the first field trial, currently being conducted in Berlin, are presented.
Recent advances in touch screen technology have increased the prevalence of touch screens and have prompted a wave of new touch screen-based devices. However, touch screens are still largely inaccessible to blind users, who must adopt error-prone compensatory strategies to use them or find accessible alternatives. This inaccessibility is due to interaction techniques that require the user to visually locate objects on the screen. To address this problem, we introduce Slide Rule, a set of audio- based multi-touch interaction techniques that enable blind users to access touch screen applications. We describe the design of Slide Rule, our interaction techniques, and a user study in which 10 blind people used Slide Rule and a button-based Pocket PC screen reader. Results show that Slide Rule was significantly faster than the button-based system, and was preferred by 7 of 10 users. However, users made more errors when using Slide Rule than when using the more familiar button-based system.
The main objective of this work is to perform a systematic mapping of the literature to know if the works that have been done and that are focused on the blind users make use of usability evaluation methods. For this we perform a review of different databases to obtain works focused on the topic. As a result, it is observed that the related work makes little use of usability evaluation methods, however, they make it clear why it is important to evaluate the projects taking into account users with visual disability.
Usability tests are a part of user-centered design. Usability testing with disabled people is necessary, if they are among the potential users. Several researchers have already investigated usability methods with sighted people. However, research with blind users is insufficient, for example, due to different knowledge on the use of assistive technologies and the ability to analyze usability issues from inspection of non-visual output of assistive devices. From here, the authors aspire to extend theory and practice by investigating four usability methods involving the blind, visually impaired and sighted people. These usability methods comprise of local test, synchronous remote test, tactile paper prototyping and computer-based prototyping. In terms of effectiveness of evaluation and the experience of participants and the facilitator, local tests were compared with synchronous remote tests and tactile paper prototyping with computer-based prototyping. Through the comparison of local and synchronous remote tests, it has been found that the number of usability problems uncovered in different categories with both approaches was comparable. In terms of task completion time, there is a significant difference for blind participants, but not for the visually impaired and sighted. Most of the blind and visually impaired participants prefer the local test. As for the comparison of tactile paper prototyping and computer-based prototyping, it has been revealed that tactile paper prototyping provides a better overview of an application while the interaction with computer-based prototypes is closer to reality. Problems regarding the planning and conducting of these methods as they arise in particular with blind people were also discussed. Based on the authors' experiences, recommendations were provided for dealing with these problems from both the technical and the organization perspectives.
Currently there is considerable debate among practitioners and researchers on the nature of software development agility and conditions under which it is linked to project success. Evidence from practitioner narratives and the agile development literature is inconclusive. This empirical study of successful projects aims to answer the following question: what factors in the project and its environment are indicative of software development agility in successful projects? Members of the PRINCE2, PMI and agile communities of practice were engaged via local interviews and an international survey. The interviews, which employed the card sort technique, provided preliminary answers. Analysis of the survey data revealed that software development agility was indicated by a project environment factor (organizational culture) and a project factor (empowerment of the project team). The contents of these factors may assist practitioners to reflect on their development practices, and to negotiate change to achieve higher rates of project success.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe the process, analysis, results, and implications of a card sorting usability study conducted during the planning stages of a web site redesign project at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology was based on recommendations from usability literature. An open card sort was conducted with 14 students and one faculty member using 93 cards labeled with content from the library's web site. The subjects were asked to “think aloud” and explain their rationale for sorting the cards. The researchers used statistical analysis software to run a factor analysis on the results.
Findings
The researchers extracted 11 categories of cards that loaded together and 27 cards that did not fit a category. The categories showed evidence of clustering by shared words, format, and process or task. Cards that did not load were standalone categories, or were redundant or meaningless to the subjects.
Research limitations/implications
The open card sort methodology and large number of cards resulted in cumbersome data that required specialized analysis. The qualitative data were critical to the interpretation of the quantitative data.
Practical implications
Libraries can use the process and analysis as a model for their own card sort usability studies. Results can be used to inform the naming of content and the creation of library web site architecture.
Originality/value
This study is unique in its use of the open card sort technique and factor analysis of the results. The results illustrate users' perceptions of library terminology and web site structure.
In today’s information society, computer users frequently need to seek for information on home pages as well as to select among software functions. A well-designed interface is essential in order to find everything necessary and meet the requirements of both the average user and users with special needs. Proper placement of objects on the screen is important to decrease perception time. One of the well-known researchers of web ergonomics, Jakob Nielsen (2006) established in an eye-tracking experiment that users scan displayed homepages in an F shape. In the present project the task was to find similar shapes in a number of playful visual search games. Several multimedia tasks were developed for this investigation. Our experiments included normal users and users with intellectual disabilities. We tested whether the characteristic searching routes and navigation methods differed between normal users and those with intellectual disabilities. The results of this investigation can inform the design and position of graphical user interface elements.
Guía de diseño para una interfaz móvil usando realidad aumentada centrada en personas con discapacidad visual
- T Álvarez
T. Álvarez, Guía de diseño para una interfaz móvil usando realidad aumentada
centrada en personas con discapacidad visual, 2015, In Master Tesis, Xalapa,
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Selección de un método de evaluación de la usabilidad de sistemas de software interactivo con usuarios ciegos, en Tecnología y Aprendizaje
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Tecnología y Aprendizaje. Avances en el Mundo Académico Hispano 12 (2017)
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Talkback en smartphones, una ayuda a la discapacidad visual
- Samsung
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How many test users in a usability study? Obtenido de: Evidence-Based User Experience Research
- J Nielsen
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