In order to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, economic self-sufficiency is the most important issue. Participation Rate in Economic Activities of Persons with Disabilities with a university degree of higher is the highest, and ...
In order to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities, economic self-sufficiency is the most important issue. Participation Rate in Economic Activities of Persons with Disabilities with a university degree of higher is the highest, and the employment rate shows the same phenomenon, so the education and employment rate of the disabled are closely related. This means that going to university with a disability is an important process that increases the possibility of participation in future economic activities. Therefore, there is a need for an environment where people with disabilities can learn for themselves at school and at home.
Although learning methods using various assistive devices and smart devices exist for the independent learning of the disabled, there are still inconveniences in using the devices on their own because current technology is very limited and does not embrace different types of disabilities people have. In the existing smart device and web environment, general users use Graphic User Interface (GUI) environment to record, retrieve, and reuse information. In order to control the device and the contents in the existing GUI environment, it is most important for the disabled to control the pointer using the mouse. However, it is difficult to use it, especially depending on the type of disability.
Therefore, there is a need to solve a problem that occurs when various types of persons with disabilities control web interaction using a GUI in a web and in a smart device environment. The purpose of this study is to confirm the accessibility of digital devices and web contents by providing differentiated multi-modal interface according to the characteristics of each type of disabilities so that people with different disabilities can access digital devices and First, this study classifies new types of disabilities based on device accessibility features, and presents a specific technique to solve specific problems that occur when performing web interactions. Second, a multi-modal interface for each type of disabilities was developed. This enables users to control contents and menus based on the characteristics of their different disabilities and the types of interaction required.
To begin with, the derivation of specific technology for each type of disabilities was fulfilled by analyzing the essential interaction types in the web environment and by newly classifying the disability types in terms of device accessibility. The classified types of disabilities specify the technology users need so that device and content control can be realized according to their disability characteristics. Then, the technology of the accessibility analysis was combined with the derived technology to finally derive the specific technology for each type of disabilities, and the validity was verified through interviews with expert and user groups. As a result, pointer movement and execution interactions were derived as essential interaction types in the web environment. Disability types were newly classified according to hand accessibility and visual perception, and specific technology for each type of disability were presented by applying voice and touch techniques which were derived from the accessibility analysis: ① Blind person, but hand available or partly available: Simple operation, assistive devices, voice input and output ② Low vision, but hand available or partly available: Content expansion and voice output ③ Normal vision , but upper limb impaired: eye tracking and voice command.
To continue, problems when controlling content and menu using essential web interaction in digital device environment were discovered through our multimodal interface research. Thus, multimodal interfaces applying specific technology according to the types of disabilities is developed, and its usability and effects have been verified through our research.
One of the multimodal interfaces developed in our research is Android-based mobile memo application which enables free voice memo and control for blind people. The application instantly recognizes menus with voice input and applies Bluetooth remote control and voice functions to freely navigate through multi-level menus or folders.
Another multimodal interface for persons with low vision is a voice browser in a mobile environment based on Android. The selective focusing technique that selects only the desired area within the web content and expands it in the selected order or outputs it by voice is applied.
Likewise, an eye tracking and voice command interface is developed, and usability verification was performed for GUI operation of the persons with upper limb impairment. Eye tracking technology is used to move the pointer, and voice commands technology is used to perform pointer clicks instantly. Furthermore, object enlargement function that automatically expands only the objects that can be clicked on the path of the user's eyes is implemented as well.
This study presents a multi-modal interface applying specific technology for each type of disabilities to improve accessibility to digital devices and contents for users in the web environment. This study confirmed that the usability and accessibility were improved to make it easier for persons with different types of disabilities to control digital devices. This study enables independent learning through digital devices and the web for the disabled, and ultimately expects economic stability for the disabled through their economic self-sufficiency.