Improving web usability for the visually impaired

• Main Author: Kullman, Christoffer
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: Linköpings universitet, Institutionen för teknik och naturvetenskap 2009
• Subjects: Usability; Accessibility; Human Computer Interaction; Auditory Displays; TECHNOLOGY; TEKNIKVETENSKAP
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-52437

The Web has opened up many possibilities for disabled people to interact with society, but there is unfortunately a lack of parity between the user interface presented to different users. This dissertation presents a proof of concept on designing a spatial layout presentation for blind users using a screen reader. This is done in three steps by first conducting a survey to determine current practices of web developers, then implementing an instant spatial feedback and comparison function that present the spatial layout, and ends with an evaluation of the spatial layout presentation by the way of user testing The survey yielded a set of guidelines for the realistic development of web technologies for disabled persons based on the participants answered. From the implementation a concept for spatial feedback functions that are portable and expandable is presented. The evaluation shows that the created spatial presentation method passes both objectively and subjectively.