The Institute of Medicine's report in 2000, To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System, highlighted the seriousness of medical errors in the U.S. health care system. The unintentional retention of foreign objects in surgical patients is one of those errors. At the time of this study, there was no standardized counting policy and process across operating rooms in the United States. The purpose of this project was to develop a best practice educational counting program to help prevent the unintentional retention of foreign objects in surgical patients. The Logic Model was used to guide the design of the educational program and expected learning outcomes. A draft of the educational program was distributed to 10 perioperative stakeholders for an initial formative review. Changes were incorporated into the program and it was distributed to 6 perioperative experts for an additional summative assessment and content validation utilizing the AGREE II Instrument. The overall quality evaluation of the educational program was 85%, indicating that it was of high quality. Four of the respondents recommended the educational program for implementation without any changes and 2 recommended it for implementation with some minor modifications related to rewording of one question in the pretest-posttest. There were no recommended modifications in the content of the educational program. As a result, the project was recommended for adoption as a best practices-based educational program to prevent the unintentional retention of foreign objects in surgical patients. The study promotes positive social change by providing suggestions to improve the provision of safe care to surgical patients and decrease health care costs.

The objective and motivation behind this research is to provide applications with easy-to-use interfaces to communities of deaf and functionally illiterate users, which enables them to work without any human assistance. Although recent years have witnessed technological advancements, the availability of technology does not ensure accessibility to information and communication technologies (ICT). Extensive use of text from menus to document contents means that deaf or functionally illiterate can not access services implemented on most computer software. Consequently, most existing computer applications pose an accessibility barrier to those who are unable to read fluently. Online technologies intended for such groups should be developed in continuous partnership with primary users and include a thorough investigation into their limitations, requirements and usability barriers. In this research, I investigated existing tools in voice, web and other multimedia technologies to identify learning gaps and explored ways to enhance the information literacy for deaf and functionally illiterate users. I worked on the development of user-centered interfaces to increase the capabilities of deaf and low literacy users by enhancing lexical resources and by evaluating several multimedia interfaces for them. The interface of the platform-independent Italian Sign Language (LIS) Dictionary has been developed to enhance the lexical resources for deaf users. The Sign Language Dictionary accepts Italian lemmas as input and provides their representation in the Italian Sign Language as output. The Sign Language dictionary has 3082 signs as set of Avatar animations in which each sign is linked to a corresponding Italian lemma. I integrated the LIS lexical resources with MultiWordNet (MWN) database to form the first LIS MultiWordNet(LMWN). LMWN contains information about lexical relations between words, semantic relations between lexical concepts (synsets), correspondences between Italian and sign language lexical concepts and semantic fields (domains). The approach enhances the deaf users’ understanding of written Italian language and shows that a relatively small set of lexicon can cover a significant portion of MWN. Integration of LIS signs with MWN made it useful tool for computational linguistics and natural language processing. The rule-based translation process from written Italian text to LIS has been transformed into service-oriented system. The translation process is composed of various modules including parser, semantic interpreter, generator, and spatial allocation planner. This translation procedure has been implemented in the Java Application Building Center (jABC), which is a framework for extreme model driven design (XMDD). The XMDD approach focuses on bringing software development closer to conceptual design, so that the functionality of a software solution could be understood by someone who is unfamiliar with programming concepts. The transformation addresses the heterogeneity challenge and enhances the re-usability of the system. For enhancing the e-participation of functionally illiterate users, two detailed studies were conducted in the Republic of Rwanda. In the first study, the traditional (textual) interface was compared with the virtual character-based interactive interface. The study helped to identify usability barriers and users evaluated these interfaces according to three fundamental areas of usability, i.e. effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction. In another study, we developed four different interfaces to analyze the usability and effects of online assistance (consistent help) for functionally illiterate users and compared different help modes including textual, vocal and virtual character on the performance of semi-literate users. In our newly designed interfaces the instructions were automatically translated in Swahili language. All the interfaces were evaluated on the basis of task accomplishment, time consumption, System Usability Scale (SUS) rating and number of times the help was acquired. The results show that the performance of semi-literate users improved significantly when using the online assistance. The dissertation thus introduces a new development approach in which virtual characters are used as additional support for barely literate or naturally challenged users. Such components enhanced the application utility by offering a variety of services like translating contents in local language, providing additional vocal information, and performing automatic translation from text to sign language. Obviously, there is no such thing as one design solution that fits for all in the underlying domain. Context sensitivity, literacy and mental abilities are key factors on which I concentrated and the results emphasize that computer interfaces must be based on a thoughtful definition of target groups, purposes and objectives. / Das Ziel und die Motivation hinter dieser Forschungsarbeit ist es, Anwendungen mit benutzerfreundlichen Schnittstellen für Gehörlose und Analphabeten bereitzustellen, welche es ihnen ermöglichen ohne jede menschliche Unterstützung zu arbeiten. Obwohl es in den letzten Jahren technologische Fortschritte gab, garantiert allein die Verfügbarkeit von Technik nicht automatisch die Zugänglichkeit zu Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien (IKT). Umfangreiche Verwendung von Texten in Menüs bis hin zu Dokumenten führen dazu, dass Gehörlose und funktionale Analphabeten auf diese Dienste, die auf Computersystemen existieren, nicht zugreifen können. Folglich stellen die meisten bestehenden EDV-Anwendungen für diejenigen eine Hürde dar, die nicht fließend lesen können. Onlinetechnologien für solche Art von Gruppen sollten in kontinuierlichem Austausch mit den Hauptnutzern entwickelt werden und gründliche Untersuchung ihrer Einschränkungen, Anforderungen und Nutzungsbarrieren beinhalten. In dieser Forschungsarbeit untersuche ich vorhandene Tools im Bereich von Sprach-, Web- und anderen Multimedia-Technologien, um Lernlücken zu identifizieren und Wege zu erforschen, welche die Informationsalphabetisierung für Gehörlose und Analphabeten erweitert. Ich arbeitete an der Entwicklung einer nutzerzentrierten Schnittstelle, um die Fähigkeiten von Gehörlosen und Nutzern mit schlechter Alphabetisierung durch Verbesserung der lexikalischen Ressourcen und durch Auswertung mehrerer Multimediaschnittstellen zu erhöhen. Die Schnittstelle des plattformunabhängigen, italienischen Gebärdensprachen (LIS) Wörterbuches wurde entwickelt, um die lexikalischen Quellen für gehörlose Anwender zu verbessern. Ich integriere die LIS-lexikalischen Ressourcen mit der MultiWordNet (MWN)-Datenbank, um das erste LIS MultiWordNet (LMWN) zu bilden. LMWN enthält Informationen über lexikalische Beziehungen zwischen Wörtern, semantische Beziehungen zwischen lexikalischen Konzepten (Synsets), Gemeinsamkeiten zwischen italienischer und Gebärdensprache-lexikalischen Konzepten und semantischen Feldern (Domänen). Der Ansatz erhöht das Verständnis der tauben Nutzer geschriebene, italienischen Sprache zu verstehen und zeigt, dass ein relativ kleiner Satz an Lexika den wesentlichen Teil der MWN abdecken kann. Die Integration von LIS-Zeichen mit MWN machte es zu einem nützlichen Werkzeug für Linguistik und Sprachverarbeitung. Der regelbasierte Übersetzungsprozess von geschriebenem, italienischem Text zu LIS wurde in ein Service-orientiertes System überführt. Der Übersetzungsprozess besteht aus verschiedenen Modulen, einschließlich einem Parser, einem semantischen Interpreter, einem Generator und einem räumlichen Zuordnungs-Planer. Diese Übersetzungsprozedur wurde im Java Application Building Center (jABC) implementiert, welches ein Framework für das eXtrem Model Driven Design (XMDD) ist. Der XMDD-Ansatz konzentriert sich darauf die Softwareentwicklung näher zum konzeptionellen Design zu bringen, sodass die Funktionalität einer Softwarelösung von jemandem verstanden werden kann, der mit Programmierkonzepten unvertraut ist. Die Transformation richtet sich an die heterogene Herausforderung und verbessert die Wiederverwendbarkeit des Systems. Zur Verbesserung der E-Partizipation der funktionalen Analphabeten wurden zwei detaillierte Studien in der Republik Ruanda durchgeführt. In der ersten Studie wurde die traditionelle, textuelle Schnittstelle mit der virtuellen, charakterbasierten, interaktiven Schnittstelle verglichen. Diese Studie hat dazu beigetragen Barrieren der Benutzerfreundlichkeit zu identifizieren. Anwender evaluierten die Schnittstellen bezüglich drei grundlegender Bereiche der Benutzerfreundlichkeit: Effektivität, Effizienz und Zufriedenstellung bei der Problemlösung. In einer anderen Studie entwickelten wir vier verschiedene Schnittstellen, um die Benutzerfreundlichkeit und die Effekte der Online-Hilfe (konsequente Hilfe) für funktionale Analphabeten zu analysieren und verglichen verschiedene Hilfsmodi (einschließlich zusätzlicher Textinformationen, Audio-Unterstützung und mit Hilfe eines virtuellen Charakters) bezüglich der Verbesserung der Leistungsfähigkeit von teilweisen Analphabeten, um ihre Zielstellung zu erreichen. In unseren neu gestalteten Schnittstellen wurden Anweisungen automatisch in die Swahili Sprache übersetzt. Alle Schnittstellen wurden auf der Grundlage der Aufgabenbewältigung, des Zeitaufwands, der System Usability Scale (SUS) Rate und der Anzahl der Hilfegesuche bewertet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Leistungsfähigkeit der teilweisen Analphabeten bei Nutzung der Online-Hilfe signifikant verbessert wurde. Diese Dissertation stellt somit einen neuen Entwicklungsansatz dar, bei welchem virtuelle Charaktere als zusätzliche Unterstützung genutzt werden, um Nutzer, die kaum lesen können oder sonstig eingeschränkt sind, zu unterstützen. Solche Komponenten erweitern die Anwendungsnutzbarkeit indem sie eine Vielzahl von Diensten wie das Übersetzen von Inhalten in eine Landessprache, das Bereitstellen von zusätzlichen akustisch, gesprochenen Informationen und die Durchführung einer automatischen Übersetzung von Text in Gebärdensprache bereitstellen. Offensichtlich gibt ist keine One Design-Lösung, die für alle zugrundeliegenden Domänen passt. Kontextsensitivität, Alphabetisierung und geistigen Fähigkeiten sind Schlüsselfaktoren, auf welche ich mich konzentriere. Die Ergebnisse unterstreichen, dass Computerschnittstellen auf einer exakten Definition der Zielgruppen, dem Zweck und den Zielen basieren müssen.

Centro Universitário Metodista IPA / Este trabalho se propõe a fazer um recorte interativo entre a informática educativa e suas contribuições às pessoas com necessidades especiais. São relatados alguns aspectos relevantes sobre aspectos de exclusão e inclusão social e digital que fazem parte do processo de investigação da pesquisa. É abordada a questão da exclusão social em alguns momentos importantes na história da humanidade. Nesse contexto é trabalhada a utilização de tecnologias assistivas como ferramentas pedagógicas para o auxílio no aprendizado dos alunos deficientes que participam do Programa de Informática na Educação Especial (INFOESP), nas Obras Sociais da Irmã Dulce (OSID). O trabalho ainda resgata a história de vida de Irmã Dulce e o início de suas obras em Salvador, Bahia, que deram origem ao INFOESP. A metodologia escolhida foi o estudo de caso que enfocou o INFOESP do Centro de Reabilitação e Prevenção de Deficiências (CRPD) das Obras Sociais da Irmã Dulce. / The objective of this research is to make an interactive frame between educational computing and its contributions to disabled people. Important aspects about exclusion and social and digital inclusion, which are part of this research process, are discussed. The issue of social exclusion in important periods of history of humankind is also studied. In this context we will study the use of assistive technologies as pedagogical tools to help disabled students of the Computing Program in Special Education (Programa de Informática na Educação Especial, INFOESP) in the social institution Obras Sociais da Irmã Dulce (OSID). We also tell the story of Sister Dulce's life and the beginning of her work in the city of Salvador, Bahia. This was the starting point of the INFOESP. The methodology used is a case study focusing on the INFOESP program of the Center of Rehabilitation and Prevention of Disabilities (Centro de Reabilitação e Prevenção de Deficiências, CRPD) of Obras Sociais da Irmã Dulce.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-23T14:33:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertacao de Charles Vieira do Nascimento.pdf: 1655138 bytes, checksum: 31d6f68360dc99803ddb9827c4c3d767 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2011-02-28 / O deslocamento do paradigma da sociedade industrial para a sociedade da informação coloca em discussão a democratização do conteúdo digital. Neste sentido, a Internet, devido a sua grande abrangência e popularidade adquirida, possui papel fundamental na socialização do conteúdo nela disponibilizado. Ao se pensar em inclusão, é necessário também a identificação dos fatores de exclusão, e neste contexto depara-se com um importante tema da sociedade atual: a inclusão do indivíduo com necessidades especiais. As tecnologias assistivas foram criadas para viabilizar a inclusão no meio digital, porém para que o objetivo seja alcançado, os softwares utilizados devem seguir padrões de modo que as informações fornecidas sejam percebidas pelo usuário corretamente. Isso também vale para o acesso e navegação na Web, para o qual já se tem diretrizes gerais que devem ser seguidas para remover os elementos obstrutivos. Embora existam, os padrões a seguir para acessibilidade na Web são voltados para desenvolvedores que possuem um conhecimento suficiente de programação. Em ambientes no qual o foco é a construção coletiva do conhecimento, torna-se imprescindível que o próprio processo de criação facilite o seguimento dos padrões. Este é o caso do Projeto MOrFEu, cuja principal proposta é a flexibilidade para que o usuário possa agrupar suas produções em estruturas diferentes daquelas pré-definidas. Este trabalho propõe um modelo de acessibilidade específico para o Projeto MOrFEu, considerando seus elementos essenciais como UPI, Veículos de comunicação e utilização de templates. Para validação da proposta, foi desenvolvido um protótipo que disponibiliza um conjunto de facilidades para mostrar sua aplicação prática na concepção de um ambiente acessível a todos os usuários

O presente estudo teve como objetivo compreender os limites e as possibilidades das Tecnologias Assistivas no processo de ensino da Matemática para alunos com cegueira tendo como campo empírico o Centro de Apoio Pedagógico para Atendimento às Pessoas com Deficiência Visual (CAP) do Estado de Sergipe. Buscou-se identificar as Tecnologias Assistivas disponíveis para o Ensino da Matemática, conhecendo as atividades desenvolvidas pelos professores. Através do estudo foi possível identificar as principais dificuldades dos professores e alunos relacionados ao ensino da Matemática e desenvolver uma análise sobre o processo de escolarização dos alunos com cegueira no CAP. Utilizou-se o estudo de caso com abordagem qualitativa, e como instrumento de coleta de dados, questionários, as observações espontânea e sistemática, revisão bibliográfica, análises documentais e artefatos físicos. Como aporte teórico, utilizamos os estudos de Galvão Filho (2009), Bersch (2008), Fiorentini (2006), Lorenzato (2009), Vygotski (1989), Danyluk (2002), Sá; Campos; Silva (2007), Morais (2008), dentre outros. Os resultados demonstram até que ponto as Tecnologias Assistivas auxiliam no ensino da Matemática em alunos cegos do CAP, evidenciando que as TA s adotadas na Estimulação Precoce e Alfabetização Braille colaboram no desenvolvimento e na formação dos conhecimentos matemáticos dos alunos. No entanto, as Tecnologias Assistivas adotadas no Soroban e Informática ficam a desejar, principalmente para os conteúdos a partir do 6º ano do Ensino Fundamental e até o Ensino Médio.

This thesis evaluates a DEMO version of the mobile web site for medical recordsonline, m.minavardkontakter.se, from a web accessibility point of view. The evaluationis an expert evaluation based on the ISO standard for web accessibility, Web ContentAccessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 that is complemented with an evaluation basedon fictitious characters, so called personas. The personas were used to representthree groups of people with different kinds of disabilities; perceptual impairment(aniridia), physical impairment (rheumatism) and cognitive impairment (aphasia). Bycombining and comparing these two methods of evaluation, the thesis also evaluatesthe methods themselves. It was seen from both evaluations that the mobile web sitedoes not entirely fulfill the requirements (success criteria) for web accessibility.WCAG 2.0 found more problems in accessibility than did the personas. However, thepersonas found some problems that were overseen by WCAG 2.0, especially whenthe mobile web site was explored using voice synthesis. The results from the twoevaluations were combined in a set of recommendations for improvement, ranked inorder of importance according to the author. The results conclude that WCAG 2.0 isa good tool for evaluating web accessibility but it is recommended to continue to usethe personas in the future development of the mobile web site.

This thesis aims to explore the perspectives of people with visual impairments about the internet and web accessibility. How the current status of web accessibility is and how people with visual impairments use the internet are important topics in a society that is more and more digitalized. Nine people with visual impairments were asked through semi-structured interviews. The questions covered what they do on the internet, what devices and assistive technologies they use, how web accessibility affects them and how they become digitally literate. This collected data from the interviews and literature, focused on digital disability divide, digital literacy and web accessibility, guided the analysis which was conducted following a qualitative approach. This thesis shows that, while web accessibility allows for many online actions nowadays, much more is required. More focus on the users and their needs related to technical access is needed and digital literacy should be promoted. The study also concludes that technology, digital literacy and web experience are interconnected, which could provide a framework for future research.

Recent advances in artificial intelligence and natural language processing have led to the development of new assistive technologies for people with disabilities. This study builds on these advancements to investigate whether the AI-driven chatbot ChatGPT can assist individuals with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in better comprehending and recalling written text. The study involved two groups of participants, one with ADHD and one without, who completed two reading comprehension tests, one with ChatGPT as a learning aid and the other without. Additionally, interviews were conducted with all participants to supplement the findings. Though our results showed a decrease in comprehension abilities across both groups when having access to ChatGPT, the participants who had used ChatGPT previously, in any form, had an increase in comprehension. The majority of participants were positive towards using ChatGPT in a similar way in the future. However, we believe that providing participants with a proper education on ChatGPT prior to testing, as well as conducting further testing with a larger sample size over a longer period of time, is necessary to provide a more accurate conclusion. / Senaste framstegen inom artificiell intelligens och språkteknologi har lett till utveckling av nya hjälpmedel för personer med funktionshinder. Den här studien bygger på dessa framsteg för att undersöka om den AI-drivna chatbotten ChatGPT kan hjälpa personer med Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) att bättre förstå och minnas skriven text. Studien omfattade två grupper av deltagare, en med ADHD och en utan, som genomförde två läsförståelseprov, ett med ChatGPT som inlärningshjälpmedel och ett utan. Dessutom genomfördes intervjuer med alla deltagare för att komplettera resultaten. Trots att vårt resultat visade en minskning av läsförståelse kunskaper över båda grupperna när de hade tillgång till ChatGPT, de deltagare som hade använt ChatGPT tidigare, i någon form, hade en ökning i läsförståelse. Majoriteten av deltagarna var positiva till att använda ChatGPT på liknande sätt i framtiden. Vi anser dock att ge deltagarna en ordentlig introduktion till ChatGPT före testningen, samt att genomföra ytterligare tester med ett större urval under en längre tidsperiod, är nödvändigt för att ge en mer korrekt för att ge en mer precis slutsats.

This work proposes a series of driver assistance technologies that enable blind persons to safely and independently operate an automobile on standard public roads. Such technology could additionally benefit sighted drivers by augmenting vision with suggestive cues during normal and low-visibility driving conditions. This work presents a non-visual human-computer interface system with passive and adaptive controlling software to realize this type of driver assistance technology. The research and development behind this work was made possible through the Blind Driver Challenge® initiative taken by the National Federation of the Blind. The instructional technologies proposed in this work enable blind drivers to operate an automobile through the provision of steering wheel angle and speed cues to the driver in a non-visual method. This paradigm imposes four principal functionality requirements: Perception, Motion Planning, Reference Transformations, and Communication. The Reference Transformation and Communication requirements are the focus of this work and convert motion planning trajectories into a series of non-visual stimuli that can be communicated to the human driver. This work proposes two separate algorithms to perform the necessary reference transformations described above. The first algorithm, called the Passive Non-Visual Interface Driver, converts the planned trajectory data into a form that can be understood and reliably interacted with by the blind driver. This passive algorithm performs the transformations through a method that is independent of the driver. The second algorithm, called the Adaptive Non-Visual Interface Driver, performs similar trajectory data conversions through methods that adapt to each particular driver. This algorithm uses Model Predictive Control supplemented with Artificial Neural Network driver models to generate non-visual stimuli that are predicted to induce optimal performance from the driver. The driver models are trained online and in real-time with a rapid training approach to continually adapt to changes in the driver's dynamics over time. The communication of calculated non-visual stimuli is subsequently performed through a Non-Visual Interface System proposed by this work. This system is comprised of two non-visual human computer interfaces that communicate driving information through haptic stimuli. The DriveGrip interface is pair of vibro-tactile gloves that communicate steering information through the driver's hands and fingers. The SpeedStrip interface is a vibro-tactile cushion fitted on the driver's seat that communicates speed information through the driver's legs and back. The two interfaces work simultaneously to provide a continuous stream of directions to the driver as he or she navigates the vehicle. / Ph. D.

Advanced devices that can assist the therapists to offer rehabilitation are in high demand with the growing rehabilitation needs. The primary requirement from such rehabilitative devices is to reduce the therapist monitoring time. If the training device can autonomously adapt to the performance of the user, it can make the rehabilitation partly self-manageable. Therefore the main goal of our research is to investigate how to make a rehabilitation system more adaptable. The strategy we followed to augment the adaptability of the GENTLE/A robotic system was to (i) identify the parameters that inform about the contribution of the user/robot during a human-robot interaction session and (ii) use these parameters as performance indicators to adapt the system. Three main studies were conducted with healthy participants during the course of this PhD. The first study identified that the difference between the position coordinates recorded by the robot and the reference trajectory position coordinates indicated the leading/lagging status of the user with respect to the robot. Using the leadlag model we proposed two strategies to enhance the adaptability of the system. The first adaptability strategy tuned the performance time to suit the user’s requirements (second study). The second adaptability strategy tuned the task difficulty level based on the user’s leading or lagging status (third study). In summary the research undertaken during this PhD successfully enhanced the adaptability of the GENTLE/A system. The adaptability strategies evaluated were designed to suit various stages of recovery. Apart from potential use for remote assessment of patients, the work presented in this thesis is applicable in many areas of human-robot interaction research where a robot and human are involved in physical interaction.