Nowadays mobile devices are being used by a huge number of users around the world, however, there are many people with different type of disabilities including vision, hearing, mobility, learning problems, and more having no ability to operate the devices properly and yet struggling with inaccessibility of them in their daily life. Assistive technologies are placed between users and mobile devices in order to help user interactions with mobile devices. Although these assistive technologies are absolutely assisting users to access mobile devices but, mobile content is not fully accessible for users yet. In this thesis work, the interactions between visually impaired users and Apple touchscreen iPhone 7 through built-in feature, VoiceOver screen reader was investigated. The purpose of the investigation was to identify the challenges and issues while visually impaired users interacting with mobile devices through VoiceOver. In order to identify accessibility issues of VoiceOver, an evaluation inspection done on a set of five participants in form of a semi-structured interview. The result from collecting participant’s opinions, comments, and feedbacks acknowledged that VoiceOver basically makes the Apple iPhone 7 accessible to visually impaired users, however, there are still some usability issues that impediment full mobile accessibility available for visually impaired users. User perspectives, experiences, and feedbacks are very much valuable for identifying and understanding usability and accessibility issues in order to improve the mobile accessibility. The results from the evaluation showed that it deserves more investigation on mobile accessibility in order to design simple, operable, understandable, and robust mobile hardware and software for fully supporting visually impaired users. / Nu för tiden används mobila enheter av ett stort antal användare runt om i världen, men samtidigt finns det många människor med olika typer av funktionshinder som syn- hörsel- rörlighet- och inlärningsproblem med mera som inte har möjlighet att använda enheterna på ett adekvat sätt, men trots det anstränger de sig med att använda mobila applikationer i sitt dagliga liv. För att råda bot på problemet placeras tekniska hjälpmedel mellan användare och den mobila enheten för att underlätta interaktionen mellan användare och den mobila enheten. Även om dessa hjälpmedel hjälper användare med funktionshinder att komma åt mobila enheten, är mobilt innehåll ännu inte fullt tillgängligt för dessa grupper. I den här avhandlingen undersöktes interaktionen mellan användare med synskada och Apple Touchscreen iPhone 7, genom en förinstallerad VoiceOver-skärmläsare. Syftet med utredningen var att identifiera utmaningar och problem när synskadade interagerar med mobila enheter. För att identifiera VoiceOver-problem, det gjordes en studie på en grupp av fem deltagare i en ostrukturerad och öppen formad intervju. Resultatet från deltagarnas åsikter, kommentarer och feedback visar att VoiceOver ökar i grunden tillgängligheten av Apple iPhone 7 för användare med synskada, även om det fortfarande kvarstår användbarhetsproblem som förhindrar fullgod mobil tillgänglighet för denna grupp. Användarperspektiv, erfarenheter och feedback är mycket värdefull information för att identifiera och förstå användbarhets- och tillgänglighetsfrågor för att förbättra mobil tillgänglighet. Resultat visade att det behövs mer utredning om mobil tillgänglighet för att utforma enkel, operativ, förståelig och robust maskin- och programvara för att ge fullt stöd till användare med synskada.

Trots nationella lagar baserade på internationella tillgänglighetsriktlinjer visar rapporter att myndigheters webbplatser inte är tillgängliga för användare med funktionsnedsättning. Riktlinjerna för webbtillgänglighet i Sverige bygger på internationella standarden WCAG 2.0, nivå AA samt uppfyllnad av punkterna; ”Språket är enkelt och begripligt” och ”Navigeringen har en tydlig och överskådlig struktur”. Utifrån studier som har identifierat problem som inte kan kopplas till riktlinjer i den internationella standarden för webbtillgänglighet(WCAG 2.0) argumenteras för att tillgänglighetsarbetet behöver inkluderas redan under utvecklingsprocesserna. Arbete kring utformningen av en webbplats navigation och sitestruktur faller under metoder och principer inom informationsarkitekturen. I denna uppsats redogörs för en studie vilken undersökt hur synskadade användares definition av användbara navigationsstrukturer förhåller sig till metoder och principer inom informationsstrukturen. Under studien skapades fördjupad kunskap kring användargruppens beteende, användning av strategier samt preferenser för navigationens utformning. Data samlades in genom en användarstudie baserad på metoderna för deltagande observation och kvalitativ intervju. Det insamlade materialet från studien analyserades genom kvalitativa analyser och utfördes i två delar. Den första analysen behandlade användarnas beteenden och upplevelser och sammanfattades i ett antal teman vilka representerar användarnas upplevelser, preferenser samt användning av strategier. I ett andra steg analyserades hur användarnas förhållningssätt överensstämmer med metoder och principer inom informationsarkitekturen.Resultatet visar på ett antal aspekter vilka bör beaktas vid tillämpning av metoder och principer för utveckling av webbplatsers navigation och informationsarkitektur. Benämningar på rubriker och länkar är viktiga för att skapa översikt och navigera. Transformation av länklistor samt listornas placering i förhållande till övriga element har betydelse för navigeringens upplevda effektivitet. Användarna förlitar sig vidare på konventionellaplaceringar av navigationselement. De föredrar att söka (searching) framför att leta (browsing). En stor mängd information och/eller grafiska element samt användarens mentala modell påverkar informationssökningens upplevda effektivitet. Ovan nämna aspekter har analyserats i förhållande till metoder och principer inom informationsarkitekturen och har identifierats påverka följande. Vilka element som ska ses som ett navigationssystem bör utvidgas och navigationssystemens komponenter bör fungera utanför sin kontext. Namngivning och benämningar har visat sig ha extra stor påverkan på interaktionen och bör formas för att stödja auditiv scanning. En ökad mental belastning påverkar formen på användarens mentala modell och arbetsminnet kapacitet. Söksystemen används ofta och i stor utsträckning för att snabba upp informationssökningen. Studien visar även att navigationsstresstestet inte är en tillförlitlig metod för att utvärdera synskadade användares upplevelser, preferenser och användning av strategier. / Despite national laws based on the international standards for accessibility reports shows that government websites aren’t accessible for disabled users. Guidelines for web accessibility in Sweden are based on the international standard WCAG 2.0, level AA of conformance which includes simple and understandable language and clear and easy overview of the navigation. Based on previous studies that identified problems thatcan’t be extracted from guidelines from the international standard (WCAG 2.0) argues that the web accessibility needs to be included earlier during the development process. The work behind the websites navigation and site structure falls under the methods and principles of information architecture. In this thesis, a study regarding how visually impaired user’s definition of usable navigation structures relate to methods and principles of information architecture will be presented. The study deepened the knowledge of the user groups behavior, use of strategies and preferences for navigations design. Data was collected during a user study based on participation observations and qualitative interview. The collected material from the study was compiled during qualitative analysis and was divided in two parts. The first analysis was focused on the user’s experiences and preferences and was summarized as a collection of themes. During the next stage the themes were analyzed in connection with the methods and principles of information architecture.The result indicates aspects that should be considered when practice methods and principles during the development of websites navigation and information architecture. Labels on heading and links are important to overview and navigate. Transformation of list of links and the placement of the lists in regard to other elements have impact on the experience of the navigation. The users follow conventions when searching for navigation elements. They prefer searching before browsing. Large amount of information, graphical elements and the mental model have an impact on information seeking as well as the effectiveness. The previous findings have been analyzed in connection with the methods and principles of information architecture and the following are considered important. Navigation systems should be expanded and designed to work outside it’s context. Names and labels have a great impact on the interaction and should be design to support scanning with the ears. Increased mental load affect the shape of the mental model and the capacity of theworking memory. Search systems are used often and are used to speed up the information seeking process. Lastly, the result indicated that the navigation stress test is not reliable as an evaluation method for visually impaired users and should not be used to evaluate the use of strategies, the user experience and user’s preferences.

Blind and visually impaired (BVI) users desire an indoor navigation tool that is inexpensive, convenient, and reliable. The purpose of this thesis is to examine the feasibility of using a smartphone as a platform for such a navigation tool. A good navigation tool should have both a good positioning accuracy and a user-friendly interface. Thus, one focus of this thesis is to improve the performance of an indoor positioning systems running on smartphones, as compared to existing systems. Another focus is to customize this indoor positioning system specifically for BVI users.  The proposed indoor positioning system is based upon Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). It consists of two parts: BLE beacons deployed in the user’s environment and an Android phone which calculates its position and provides navigation assistance by audio and vibration. Two versions of the positioning software were developed based on different algorithms. One version uses a hybrid technique combining triangulation and fingerprinting. This version achieves a positioning accuracy of 1.83 meter, and volunteers (blind-folded sighted people) took on average 91.7 seconds to complete a complex 12-meter route. The other version uses a proximity algorithm, thus it does not give as accurate positioning results. With this algorithm, a blind user was able to finish a route of 115 meters consisting of two different floors in a building including entering/exiting an elevator and multiple office doors in 4 minutes 48 seconds. The blind user found the product to be helpful and user-friendly. Finally, we draw the conclusion that a smartphone can be a good platform for a BVI navigation tool, under the condition that the algorithm is proximity based and navigation utilizes a priori information about the environment. Another insight we gained is that we should put beacons on braille signs so that blind people can find them by using the navigation app. / Blinda och synskadade (BVI) användare önskar sej ett inomhus navigeringsverktyg som är billigt, bekvämt och pålitligt. Syftet med detta examensarbete var att undersöka möjligheten att med en smartphone och utplacerade fyrar/beacons ge en bra plattform för en inomhus navigeringsmetod. Ett bra navigationsverktyg bör ha både en bra positioneringsnoggrannhet och ett användarvänligt gränssnitt. Således är ett fokus för detta arbete att förbättra prestanda för på ett inomhus positioneringssystem som körs på smartphones, jämfört med andra befintliga system. Ett annat fokus är att anpassa denna inomhus positioneringssystem för speciella BVI användare. Det vidare utvecklade inomhuspositionering systemet bygger på Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). Den består av två delar: BLE fyrar/beacons utplacerade i kontorsmiljön och en smartphone som beräknar sin position och ger navigeringshjälp av ljud/röst och vibrationer. Vi utformade två versioner av positionerings programvaran med olika algoritmer. En version använder en hybridteknik med triangulering och en med fingerprints. Det uppnår en positioneringsnoggrannhet som är <1,83 meter och den testades på tolv seende personer med bindel för ögonen. Det tog vid testet 91.7 sekunder i genomsnitt att utföra en komplex 12 meter lång bana. Den andra versionen använder en närhets-algoritm som inte ger ett specifikt positioneringsresultat. Med denna algoritm kunde en blind användare avsluta en rutt 115 meter bestående av två olika våningar från ingång i golvplanet samt ta en hiss och gå in på ett kontor och genom hela kontoret på 4 minuter och 48 sekunder. Den blinda användaren ansåg att navigeringsverktyget var både användbart och användarvänligt. Slutligen, drar vi slutsatsen att en smartphone kan vara en bra plattform för ett BVI navigeringsverktyg och då under förutsättning att algoritmen tar med närhet/position och inomhusmiljöinformation för att ge bästa möjliga användbarthet. En annan insikt vi fått är att vi ska lägga fyrar på punktskrift tecken så att blinda kan hitta dem med hjälp av navigering app.

The thesis deals with employing visually impaired people and support for their employability in the labour market. The purpose of the work is to explain the issues connected with the employment, its possibilities and ways of support in this area aimed at visually impaired people. The empirical part is based on the assessment of conditions of participation of visually impaired people in retraining courses organised by Dědina Residential Physiotherapy and Retraining Centre for Visually Impaired People. Its verification was performed using the following methods: analysis of the specialist literature, interviews, analysis of the interviews, observation and interviews with the specialist staff. The research showed that retraining courses organised by Dědina Residential Physiotherapy and Retraining Centre for Visually Impaired People are an important means of support for employment of visually impaired people from all over the country. The established facts show that retraining of any specialisation is necessary in order to enable the target group to find a suitable job. The aim of this work was to establish the objective and subjective benefits for the individual participants of a retraining course for Blind and Visually Impaired Masseurs and to point out that free labour market is not sufficiently...

本論文所使用之研究方法為質化訪談和實況觀察。從而分析公共圖書 館面對弱勢族群之角色定位和策略以及舉辦讀書會需求。 圖書館也可以證明自身的價值，幫助弱勢族群充分使用資源提升 閱讀風氣。以下為本研究目的 : 1.瞭解視障者參與讀書會的動機。 2.瞭解視覺障礙者進行讀書會的方式。 3.瞭解圖書館協助視障者經營讀會的規劃與瓶頸，提升對於相 關弱勢族群的服務。 / The research methods used in this paper are qualitative interviews and observational Method. It analyzed the role and strategies of public library in the face of the underprivileged groups as well as the needs of disadvantaged groups organized the book club. The library can also prove its value. Helping the disadvantaged groups make full use of the library, which provide a friendly, and safe reading atmosphere. The following is the purpose of this study: 1. To understand the reading motivations of visually impaired. 2. To understand the reading patterns of visually impaired. 3. Understanding the library's business planning and bottlenecks in helping the visually impaired, and also, to enhance the library for the visually impaired related vulnerable groups of services.

The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences (both professional and personal) of the therapist who is visually impaired or blind. This is a post-modernist dissertation contextualised within the ecosystemic-hermeneutical epistemology. These paradigms are two sides of the same coin and emphasize a social constructionist worldview. A descriptive methodology within the domain of language and narrative discourse is utilised in accordance with this worldview. The narratives of two research participants were recounted through the researcher's lens within particular `dimensions of understanding'. These `dimensions of understanding' were interpreted, deconstructed and co-constructed (with the research participants). Thus this dissertation operates simultaneously on a number of different levels which emphasises the social constructionist worldview. This also allowed for the hermeneutic-ecosystemic analysis of these `dimensions of understanding' as method of data analysis. There are also emerging `dimensions of understanding' from the researcher's own perspective and personal experience as a visually impaired therapist in training. / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

The researcher found little information in literature reviewed about how Gestalt Play Therapy is being used in the treatment of visually impaired children. The aim of the study was to expand knowledge regarding this issue. A basic qualitative research study of an exploratory and descriptive nature was undertaken to describe how this therapy may be used in the treatment of such children. A representative sample was drawn from the population, consisting of gestalt play therapists who previously provided assistance to these children, using a purposive non-probability method. Data collection took place through the execution of semi-structured telephone interviews. Collected data was analysed using the Thematic Content Analysis to search for related themes (in line with the objectives of the study) in transcribed interviews. The general conclusion drawn from the empirical data was that gestalt play therapy can be used to good effect in the treatment of visually impaired children. / Die navorser het gevind dat daar weinig inligting in die literatuur beskikbaar is oor hoe gestaltspelterapie in die hulpverlening aan visueel gestremde kinders benut kan word. Die doel van die navorsingstudie was dus om kennis uit te brei rakende die benutting van gestaltspelterapie in die hulpverlening aan visueel gestremde kinders. 'n Basiese kwalitatiewe navorsingstudie met 'n verkennende en beskrywende aard is onderneem om te beskryf hoe gestaltspelterapie benut word met betrekking tot visueel gestremde kinders. 'n Verteenwoordigende steekproef is getrek, volgens 'n doelgerigte nie-waarskynlikheidsmetode, vanuit die populasie bestaande uit gestaltspelterapeute wat al van tevore hulp aan visueel gestremde kinders verleen het. Data-insameling het plaasgevind deur middel van semi-gestruktureerde telefoniese onderhoude. Die versamelde data is volgens die Tematiese Inhoudsanalise ontleed deur verbandhoudende temas (ooreenkomstig die doel van die studie) in getranskribeerde onderhoude te soek. Die algemene gevolgtrekking wat vanuit die empiriese bevindinge gemaak kan word, is dat gestaltspelterapie wel in die hulpverlening aan visueel gestremde kinders benut kan word. / Social Work / M.Diac. (Play Therapy)

Nous nous intéressons, dans le cadre de cette recherche, à l’accès à l’internet des personnes malvoyantes. Plusieurs types d’outils destinés à ce public sont disponibles sur le marché, comme les lecteurs et les agrandisseurs d’écran, en fonction de l’acuité visuelle de la personne. Bien que ces outils soient utiles et régulièrement utilisés, les malvoyants (ainsi que les aveugles) évoquent souvent leur aspect frustrant. Plusieurs raisons sont citées, comme le manque d’organisation spatiale du contenu lu avec les lecteurs d’écran ou le fait de ne solliciter qu’un seul sens. La présente recherche consiste à adapter pour les malvoyants un système en développement le TactoWeb (Petit, 2013) qui permet une exploration audio-tactile du Web. TactoWeb a été conçu pour les handicapés ayant une cécité complète et n’offre donc aucune propriété visuelle. Nous proposons ici une adaptation du système pour les handicapés n’ayant qu’une déficience visuelle partielle. Nous espérons fournir à cette population des outils performants qui leur permettront de naviguer sur l’internet de façon efficace et agréable. En effet, grâce à une exploration non-linéaire (qui devrait améliorer l’orientation spatiale) et une interface multimodale (qui sollicite la vue, l’ouïe et le toucher), nous pensons réduire fortement le sentiment de frustration qu’évoquent les malvoyants. Nous avons posé l’hypothèse qu’une exploration non-linéaire et trimodale d’un site internet avec TactoColor est plus satisfaisante et efficace qu’une exploration non-linéaire bimodale avec TactoWeb (sans retour visuel). TactoColor a été adapté pour les malvoyants en ajoutant des indices visuels traduisant les composantes de la page (liens, menus, boutons) qui devraient rendre l’exploration plus aisée. Pour vérifier notre hypothèse, les deux versions du logiciel ont été évaluées par des malvoyants. Ainsi, les participants ont commencé soit avec TactoWeb, soit avec TactoColor afin de ne pas favoriser une des versions. La qualité de la navigation, son efficacité et son efficience ont été analysées en se basant sur le temps nécessaire à l’accomplissement d’une tâche, ainsi que la facilité ou la difficulté évoquée par le participant. Aussi, à la fin de chaque session, nous avons demandé leur avis aux participants, grâce à un questionnaire d’évaluation, ce qui nous a permis d’avoir leur retour sur notre logiciel après leur brève expérience. Tous ces relevés nous ont permis de déterminer que l’ajout des couleurs entraine une exploration plus rapide des pages web et une meilleure orientation spatiale. Par contre les performances très différentes des participants ne permettent pas de dire si la présence des couleurs facilite la complétion des tâches. / For this research we wanted to focus on how we could improve the satisfaction of visually impaired people when surfing the internet. Many applications are being developed and used to help the disabled on the web, but almost all of them are criticized. Two of the main complaints are that you can only use one of your senses to interact with them and that it is very difficult to figure out how a page is organized. As Human Beings, we are used to use at least two senses at a time, for example you cannot help smelling and seeing. Thus, being forced to depend only on your hearing is very frustrating. This research wants to adapt, for visually impaired people, a new software, TactoWeb which allows an audio-tactile exploration of the web. As TactoWeb was conceived for blind people, there is no visual element. TactoWeb is a nonlinear screen reader designed to read the elements depending on where they are on the page. By answering the principal needs mentioned by blind people, TactoWeb could be an excellent product. Therefore, our hypothesis is that a nonlinear and tri-modal exploration of a web site is more efficient and satisfying than a bimodal. As many people are first visually impaired before being completely blind, we worked on a version, TactoColor, which would suit their special needs. We added visual elements (links, menu, button) that should make any exploration easier. We asked two groups of visually impaired to test both programs, one starting with TactoWeb and the others with TactoColor, in order not to favor any version. We analyzed the quality of the exploration, its efficacy and efficiency by looking at how long the participants took to fulfill their task and whether or not they found it easy. Thanks to these data, we were able to determine that participants completed their tasks faster. The exploration was also easier thanks to the colors which helped them understand the organization of the elements of the page. However, it is difficult to say if the colors make completion easier because the participant’s results are too different.

Graphical information presented as pictures, graphs, maps, and the like are an important media for relaying knowledge and are a fundamental means of education rarely experienced by people who are blind or have a severe visual impairment. This thesis presents the design, development and testing of a multiple finger, haptic matrix dynamic display device capable of relaying graphical information through simulated textures. The design is based on user perception studies that determined which hand constraints provided the best tradeoff between simplicity of design, accuracy and time to answer. The best design was one that incorporated multiple fingers in close proximity to each other and restricted wrist rotation. Upon further testing after the development of the device, evidence was gathered to show its effectiveness. Although subjects could determine key information from the simulated textures, there is a clear mismatch between the simulated representations of the objects and their tactile or embossed counterparts. There is some evidence that shows that the spatial resolution of the actuators may be a source of this error and also some evidence to state that it is the inability to track the edges that causes the difference between determining the physical diagrams and the simulated. On the other hand, results on determining locations using simulated maps were far closer to the control texture maps used than the results for object diagrams. Further studies could be done to determine the effect of higher actuator spatial resolution on object identification and edge tracking.

The first part of the Thesis explores the specifics (developmental and educational) of a visually impaired pupil. The sense of touch is defined as being the major compensatory sense of visually impaired people. It also describes the principles and forms of the effective haptization and proposes suitable activities for the development of the touch perception. Through the basic tactile-graphics procedures, the text gets to its central theme, which is the tactile books (books with textures designed for the visually impaired). These books, as well as the possibilities of their borrowing or purchasing, are presented to a reader. Using the analysis and comparison of the available specialized materials, the Thesis summarizes the methodical procedures used for the creation of the tactile textbooks, which are suitable for the integrated visually impaired children in the lessons of the Czech Language. KEYWORDS: the sense of touch, touch perception, tactile books, visually impaired pupils, tactile graphics