While credibility perception on the Web is a well-researched topic across multiple disciplines, extant studies have not considered nonvisual modalities of Web access. This research explores how Web users who are blind or visually impaired perceive the credibility of online information and how the screen reader used by them to interact with the Web mediates the process. Credibility perception was studied in the context of the screen reader users’ everyday information practices, examining in depth the effect of Web accessibility on their online information interactions, information practices and credibility perception. Adopting an exploratory approach, a sequential multimethods research design was used. Between April and July 2008 data were collected from adult screen reader users residing in Ontario, Canada through an electronic questionnaire survey (N=60) to identify salient issues, which were then examined deeper through semi-structured interviews with a subsample (N=13) during June 2009. Hands-on online information activities (with participant observation and think-aloud protocol) were also conducted during the interview session. Primary findings emerged through qualitative content analysis of descriptive data, with quantitative results guiding and supplementing the analysis. Online information credibility perception is found to be a dynamic and social process. It is governed by users’ assumptions based on their past experiences, personal knowledge/beliefs and social inputs. Assumptions evolve over time and usage into personal heuristics. The credibility perception process spans three phases—prediction, evaluation and corroboration—permeating the information seeking, using and sharing practices of users. Evaluation of website and web content depends on users’ online interaction proficiency and is bounded by the interface affordances provided by the screen reader and the amount of meta-information provided by the websites for interpreting visual/spatial features. Community support scaffolds users towards more effective technology management and credibility perception. Therefore, promoting inclusion in the online participatory culture will enhance the information practices of screen reader users.

While credibility perception on the Web is a well-researched topic across multiple disciplines, extant studies have not considered nonvisual modalities of Web access. This research explores how Web users who are blind or visually impaired perceive the credibility of online information and how the screen reader used by them to interact with the Web mediates the process. Credibility perception was studied in the context of the screen reader users’ everyday information practices, examining in depth the effect of Web accessibility on their online information interactions, information practices and credibility perception. Adopting an exploratory approach, a sequential multimethods research design was used. Between April and July 2008 data were collected from adult screen reader users residing in Ontario, Canada through an electronic questionnaire survey (N=60) to identify salient issues, which were then examined deeper through semi-structured interviews with a subsample (N=13) during June 2009. Hands-on online information activities (with participant observation and think-aloud protocol) were also conducted during the interview session. Primary findings emerged through qualitative content analysis of descriptive data, with quantitative results guiding and supplementing the analysis. Online information credibility perception is found to be a dynamic and social process. It is governed by users’ assumptions based on their past experiences, personal knowledge/beliefs and social inputs. Assumptions evolve over time and usage into personal heuristics. The credibility perception process spans three phases—prediction, evaluation and corroboration—permeating the information seeking, using and sharing practices of users. Evaluation of website and web content depends on users’ online interaction proficiency and is bounded by the interface affordances provided by the screen reader and the amount of meta-information provided by the websites for interpreting visual/spatial features. Community support scaffolds users towards more effective technology management and credibility perception. Therefore, promoting inclusion in the online participatory culture will enhance the information practices of screen reader users.

This paper presents a case study conducted in Malmö, Sweden, with the aim of examining and improving the accessibility and usability of pedestrian walkways for blind and visually impaired people (BVIP). The study focuses on identifying the obstacles faced by BVIPs in using pedestrian walkways in Malmö and proposes strategies to enhance their accessibility. A mixed methods approach, including observations, walk-along interviews, and photography, was employed to collect data. The study observed several pedestrian walkways in Malmö and interviewed four informants to gain a diversity of perspectives. The findings identified five types of obstacles faced by BVIPs: barriers issues, building issues, Tactile Walking Surface Indicator (TWSI) issues, aids issues, and natural issues. Consistency in the guidance line with contrasting brightness and tactile features was found to be a crucial requirement for BVIPs. The study also explores the factors that impact the implementation of universal design (UD) principles on pedestrian walkways, including old buildings, city decision-makers, street designers, and a lack of a feedback system. To improve accessibility and usability, the study proposes five key principles: maintaining consistent lead lines, maximizing the effectiveness of TWSIs, separating areas with different functions, designing streets based on user needs and daily habits, and promoting UD for all as a long-term strategy. In conclusion, this study identifies obstacles faced by BVIPs on pedestrian walkways in Malmö and proposes strategies to enhance their accessibility and usability. It argues that implementing these strategies can implement UD principles and create more accessible and usable pedestrian walkways for BVIPs and contribute to inclusivity

Aklųjų ir silpnaregių vaikų integruotas ugdymas yra, pirmiausia, barjerų tarp sveikų ir neįgalių vaikų laužymas, vienodų ugdimosi ir karjeros siekimo galimybių sudarymas. Iškelta hipotezė, kad Lietuvos Respublikoje yra pakankamai priimtų įstatymų bei poįstatyminių aktų kurie reglamentuoja sutrikusio regėjimo vaikų inkliuzyvųjį ugdymą ir sudaro teorines prielaidas sutrikusio regėjimo vaikų inkliuziviam ugdymui LR bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose, tačiau praktiškai daugelis mokyklų dar yra prekliuzijos etape: segreguotų institucijų gyvavimo tradicijos, organizacinės, resursų paramos inkliuziviam ugdymui stoka pačių bendrojo lavinimo mokyklų viduje (kompetencijų, nuostatų, materialinės paramos prasme), per didelis mokinių klasėje skaičius, dauguma mokytojų, dirbančių bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose, nėra pasiruošę ugdyti sutrikusio regėjimo vaikų ir nenori turėti jų savo klasėse, neturi vaizdinių priemonių bei didesnio šrifto vadovėlių ir t.t. Remiantis 1991 metais ŠPI žinybinės specialiosios pedagogikos mokslinio tyrimo laboratorijos mokslinių bendradarbių parengta anketa buvo pateikta silpnaregiams vaikams, jų tėvams, pedagogams klausimai, susiję su požiūriu į integruotą ugdymą bendrojo lavinimo mokyklose. Respondentų atsakymai buvo sugrupuoti į atskirus reikšminius blokus: mokymosi sunkumai ir darbingumas per pamokas, vaikų bendravimo sunkumai, požiūris į silpnaregių vaikų mokymą ir auklėjimą. Duomenų apdorojimui, analizei bei darbe pateiktų lentelių sudarymui naudotos SPSS-PC 11... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / Integrated education of blind and visually impaired children at first is breaking the barriers between healthy and disabled children, creation of equal possibilities of education and career aspiration. The hypothesis has been raised that in the Republic of Lithuania there are sufficient number of laws and legal acts (by-laws) that regulate inclusive education of visually impaired children and create theoretical presumptions for inclusive education of visually impaired children in mainstream schools of the Republic of Lithuania, however, in practice many schools are still in the stage of preclusion: traditions of existence of segregated institutions, lack of organizational and resource support for inclusive education in mainstream schools (from the viewpoint of competences, attitudes, material support), too big number of pupils in classes, the majority of teachers who work in mainstream schools are not prepared to educate visually impaired children and do not want to have them in their classes, they do not have visual aids and textbooks with enlarged font, etc. Referring to a questionnaire prepared in 1991 by the fellowship of departmental scientific research laboratory of special education of Šiauliai Pedagogical Institute the questions related to the attitude towards integrated education in mainstream schools have been presented to children with visual impairment, their parents and pedagogues. The responses of the respondents have been grouped to separate notional blocks... [to full text]

The submitted thesis deals with ethical aspects of the life of people with severe visual impairment. Since recently, likewise e.g. in medicine, the partner model of cooperation between the social services provider and the receiver is also preferred in the blind and visually impaired rehabilitation, the present state of manners in society was necessarily considered within the ethical deliberation, e.g. the historical development of the interest in people with severe visual impairment, traditional approaches to them, persisting prejudices, the moral field, which in practice project into attitudes and behaviour determining value hierarchy, as well as into the legal field, i.e. into sources and the situation of social legislation relevant for visually impaired people's lives. The theoretical part informs the reader about the fundamental terminology used in special pedagogy, social work and other related branches. Further, it focuses on the theoretical ethical resources applied to the field of the blind and visually impaired rehabilitation, the help of the welfare state embodied in the legislation, and it takes into account the spiritual dimension of the human personality and its significance for the visual impairment acceptance. The practical part contains the quantitative and qualitative research...

Abbildungen mit freundlicher Genehmigung des Deutschen Zentrums für barrierefreies Lesen (DZB)

The submitted thesis deals with ethical aspects of the life of people with severe visual impairment. Since recently, likewise e.g. in medicine, the partner model of cooperation between the social services provider and the receiver is also preferred in the blind and visually impaired rehabilitation, the present state of manners in society was necessarily considered within the ethical deliberation, e.g. the historical development of the interest in people with severe visual impairment, traditional approaches to them, persisting prejudices, the moral field, which in practice project into attitudes and behaviour determining value hierarchy, as well as into the legal field, i.e. into sources and the situation of social legislation relevant for visually impaired people's lives. The theoretical part informs the reader about the fundamental terminology used in special pedagogy, social work and other related branches. Further, it focuses on the theoretical ethical resources applied to the field of the blind and visually impaired rehabilitation, the help of the welfare state embodied in the legislation, and it takes into account the spiritual dimension of the human personality and its significance for the visual impairment acceptance. The practical part contains the quantitative and qualitative research...

In this thesis we propose a navigation instruction validation tool and an user training tool for PERCEPT system. The validation tool evaluates the navigation instructions using a virtual reality environment by ensuring that each path in the virtual environment can be traversed by following the navigation instructions. This validation tool will serve as a first automatic validation of navigation instructions prior to testing them with blind and visually impaired users. The user-training tool enables the blind user to explore and get familiar with the real environment by using the virtual environment generated in the Unity3d based game. The user interacts with the game using PERCEPT Smartphone client just like the user would interact in the real environment. Motion in the game is emulated using the keyboard. Motion directions follow the navigation instructions obtained through the Smartphone. This user-training tool will improve the users experience in the real environment by enabling them to explore and learn the environment a-priori to their arrival in the physical space.

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.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:40:36Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Francisco Conejero Perez.pdf: 801025 bytes, checksum: 3cba376048227ee43a980b83351de97a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-09-12 / Fundo Mackenzie de Pesquisa / The objective of this study is to know the motivational profile of the guides that work with blind and visually impaired athletes. It aims to identify, analyze and describe a specific relation in the work of these guides and the factors that support it. A research of qualitative nature has been made in order to make it possible for the researcher to be in direct contact with the guides and, therefore, obtain accurate data about their motivations. A semi-structured interview has been made with four volunteer guides that work with blind and visually impaired athletes. The data have been submitted to an analysis of content in order to characterize their motivational profile, as well as their aim to help athletes, the consciousness of facing high motivational situations and mostly the perspective of social recognition that they experience and share with the blind and visually impaired athletes. This study emphasizes that the personal valorization experienced is not related in any way to the view of negative aspects in the partners. On the other hand, they are extremely critics in relation to some prejudiced manifestations they have faced in situations of competitions. The data also show that the described difficulties are related exclusively to the corporal movements with synchronism, pointing, thus, a content related to the physical activity, present, objectively, in the sporting events. In a view that privileges elements of the psychological comprehension of the development of the blind and visually impaired, risks of the establishment of relational distortions that imprint a hyper-protective bond and, consequently, disfavor the most creative and adequately independent experience of the athlete they are guiding could also be observed in the data. / Este estudo tem como objetivo conhecer o perfil motivacional de guias de atletas com deficiência visual. Propõe-se a identificar, analisar e descrever, no trabalho desses guias, uma relação específica e os fatores que a sustentam. Para isso realizou-se uma pesquisa de natureza qualitativa, o que possibilitou ao pesquisador um contato direto e, conseqüentemente, a obtenção de dados fiéis à expressão dos guias participantes, acerca de suas motivações para desenvolver seu trabalho. Foi realizada uma entrevista semi-estruturada com quatro guias voluntários, que desenvolvem suas atividades junto a instituições de prática esportiva de deficientes visuais. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo, permitindo, além de caracterizar seu perfil motivacional, destacar a vontade de ajudar, a consciência de vivenciar situações altamente motivadoras e, principalmente, a perspectiva de reconhecimento social que os guias experimentam e compartilham com o atleta com deficiência visual. Ressalta-se que a valorização pessoal experimentada em momento algum mostrou-se vinculada à visão de aspectos negativos em seu parceiro, sendo, ao contrário, extremamente críticos em relação a algumas manifestações preconceituosas que já vivenciaram em situações de competição. Os dados mostraram ainda, que as dificuldades descritas referem-se predominantemente à movimentação corporal com sincronia, destacando, portanto, um conteúdo vinculado à atividade física, objetivamente presente na prática esportiva. Em uma visão que privilegia elementos da compreensão psicológica do desenvolvimento da pessoa com deficiência visual, observaram-se riscos de estabelecimento de distorções relacionais que imprimam um laço superprotetor e, conseqüentemente, desfavorecedor da expressão mais criativa e adequadamente independente do atleta que estão guiando.