research-article

An evaluation of BrailleTouch: mobile touchscreen text entry for the visually impaired

Authors:

Caleb Southern,

Mario RomeroAuthors Info & Claims

MobileHCI '12: Proceedings of the 14th international conference on Human-computer interaction with mobile devices and services

Pages 317 - 326

https://doi.org/10.1145/2371574.2371623

Published: 21 September 2012 Publication History

Abstract

We present the evaluation of BrailleTouch, an accessible keyboard for blind users on touchscreen smartphones. Based on the standard Perkins Brailler, BrailleTouch implements a six-key chorded braille soft keyboard. Eleven blind participants typed for 165 twenty-minute sessions on three mobile devices: 1) BrailleTouch on a smartphone; 2) a soft braille keyboard on a touchscreen tablet; and 3) a commercial braille keyboard with physical keys. Expert blind users averaged 23.2 words per minute (wpm) on the BrailleTouch smartphone. The fastest participant, a touchscreen novice, achieved 32.1 wpm during his first session. Overall, participants were able to transfer their existing braille typing skills to a touchscreen device within an hour of practice. We report the speed for braille text entry on three mobile devices, an in depth error analysis, and the lessons learned for the design and evaluation of accessible and eyes-free soft keyboards.

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Cited By

Gaines DVertanen K(2024)Improving FlexType: Ambiguous Text Input for Users with Visual ImpairmentsProceedings of the 17th International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments10.1145/3652037.3652059(130-139)Online publication date: 26-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3652037.3652059
Alnfiai MKabir M(2024)Exploring the Impact of Word Prediction Assistive Features on Smartphone Keyboards for Blind UsersHeliyon10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36653(e36653)Online publication date: Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36653
Nahar LSulaiman R(2024)Design and evaluation of a geometry learning application for visually impaired studentsEducation and Information Technologies10.1007/s10639-024-13098-9Online publication date: 23-Oct-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-13098-9
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An evaluation of BrailleTouch: mobile touchscreen text entry for the visually impaired

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cover image ACM Conferences

MobileHCI '12: Proceedings of the 14th international conference on Human-computer interaction with mobile devices and services

September 2012

468 pages

ISBN:9781450311052

DOI:10.1145/2371574

General Chairs:
Elizabeth Churchill
Designing Associates, USA
,
Sriram Subramanian
University of Bristol, UK
,
Program Chairs:
Patrick Baudisch
Hasso Plattner Institute, Germany
,
Kenton O'Hara
Microsoft Research, Cambridge, UK

Copyright © 2012 ACM.

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SIGCHI: ACM Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction

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Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

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Published: 21 September 2012

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MobileHCI '12

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SIGCHI

MobileHCI '12: 14th International Conference on Human Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services

September 21 - 24, 2012

California, San Francisco, USA

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Overall Acceptance Rate 202 of 906 submissions, 22%

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Cited By

Gaines DVertanen K(2024)Improving FlexType: Ambiguous Text Input for Users with Visual ImpairmentsProceedings of the 17th International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments10.1145/3652037.3652059(130-139)Online publication date: 26-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3652037.3652059
Alnfiai MKabir M(2024)Exploring the Impact of Word Prediction Assistive Features on Smartphone Keyboards for Blind UsersHeliyon10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36653(e36653)Online publication date: Aug-2024
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e36653
Nahar LSulaiman R(2024)Design and evaluation of a geometry learning application for visually impaired studentsEducation and Information Technologies10.1007/s10639-024-13098-9Online publication date: 23-Oct-2024
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-024-13098-9
Komninos AStefanis VGarofalakis J(2023)A Review of Design and Evaluation Practices in Mobile Text Entry for Visually Impaired and Blind PersonsMultimodal Technologies and Interaction10.3390/mti70200227:2(22)Online publication date: 17-Feb-2023
https://doi.org/10.3390/mti7020022
Thoo YJeanneret Medina MFroehlich JRuffieux NLalanne D(2023)A Large-Scale Mixed-Methods Analysis of Blind and Low-vision Research in ACM and IEEEProceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility10.1145/3597638.3608412(1-20)Online publication date: 22-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3597638.3608412
Gaines DBaker MVertanen K(2023)FlexType: Flexible Text Input with a Small Set of Input GesturesProceedings of the 28th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces10.1145/3581641.3584077(584-594)Online publication date: 27-Mar-2023
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Li ZYu CGu YShi Y(2023)ResType: Invisible and Adaptive Tablet Keyboard Leveraging Resting FingersProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3581055(1-14)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
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Wei QLi MHu J(2023)Mediated Social Touch With Mobile Devices: A Review of Designs and EvaluationsIEEE Transactions on Haptics10.1109/TOH.2023.332750616:4(785-804)Online publication date: Oct-2023
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Dai SWang YMei DTao KWang S(2023)A Portable One-Hand Braille Input System Enabled by Dual-Interlocked Tactile Sensors for CommunicationIEEE Transactions on Electron Devices10.1109/TED.2023.325196070:5(2465-2472)Online publication date: May-2023
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Sun AWang LLeng JKei Im S(2023)Light-Occlusion Text Entry in Mixed RealityInternational Journal of Human–Computer Interaction10.1080/10447318.2023.228564640:24(8607-8622)Online publication date: 28-Nov-2023
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