Abstract
This paper introduces a novel application called Graph Builder, which allows visually impaired people to interactively construct bar graphs using a force feedback device. We discuss the limitations of current technology to allow such interactive construction and explain why, in educational environments, such interactive construction is important. Evaluations of Graph Builder showed that users could construct graphs accurately. However results showed that a large number of ‘off-by-one’ errors occurred, where the bar was set either one unit too high or too low. Revisions to the mechanism to manipulate bars were made, and further non-speech audio feedback was added. A further evaluation showing that the proportion of ‘off-by-one’ errors had been reduced.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Brown, D., Howat, R. D., Meikle, G., Mullan, E. C. K., Murray, R. & Nisbet, K. [2004], New Mathematics in Action S3 2, Nelson Thornes.
Brown, L. & Brewster, S. A. [2003], Drawing by Ear: Interpreting Sonified Line Graphs, in E. Brazil & B. Shinn-Cunningham (eds.), Proceedings of ICAD 2003, ICAD, pp. 152–6.
Challis, B. P. & Edwards, A. D. N. [2001], Design Principles for Tactile Interaction, in S. Brewster & R. Murray-Smith (eds.), Haptic Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 2058 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer, pp. 17–24.
Clamp, S. [1997], Mathematics, in H. Mason, S. McCall, C. Arter, M. McLinden & J. Stone (eds.), Visual Impairment: Access to Education for Children and Young People, David Fulton Publishers, pp.218–35.
Dimigen, G., Scott, F., Thackeray, F., Pimm, M. & Roy, A. W. N. [1993], Career Expectations of British Visually Impaired Students who are of School-leaving Age, Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness 87, 209–10.
Franklin, K. M. & Roberts, J. C. [2003], Pie Chart Sonification, in E. Banissi, K. Borner, C. Chen, G. Clapworthy, C. Maple, A. Lobben, C. Moore, J. Roberts, A. Ursyn & J. Zhang (eds.), Proceedings of the Seventh International Conference on Information Visualization (IV’03), IEEE Computer Society Press, pp.4–9.
Fritz, J. P. & Barrier, K. E. [1999], Design of a Haptic Data Visualization System for People with Visual Impairments, IEEE Transactions on Rehabilitation Engineering 7(3), 372–84.
Mansur, D. L. [1985], Graphs in Sound: A Numerical Data Analysis Method for the Blind, Master’s thesis, University of California.
Pinker, S. [1990], A Theory of Graph Comprehension, in R. Freedle (ed.), Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Testing, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp.73–126.
Ross, D. A. & Blasch, B. B. [2002], Development of a Wearable Computer Orientation System, Personal and Ubiquitous Computing 6(1), 49–63.
van Scoy, F. L., Kawai, T., Darrah, M. & Rash, C. [2001], Haptic Display of Mathematical Functions for Teaching Mathematics to Students with Vision Disabilities: Design and Proof of Concept, in S. Brewster & R. Murray-Smith (eds.), Haptic Human-Computer Interaction, Vol. 2058 of Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Springer, pp.31–40.
Yu, W. & Brewster, S. A. [2003], Evaluation of Multimodal Graphs for Blind People, Journal of Universal Access in the Information Society 2(2), 105–24.
Yu, W., Kangas, K. & Brewster, S. A. [2003], Web-based Haptic Applications for Blind People to Create Virtual Graphs, in A. Jacobs (ed.), Proceedings of the 11th Haptic Symposium, IEEE Computer Society Press, pp.318–25.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2007 Springer-Verlag London Limited
About this paper
Cite this paper
McGookin, D.K., Brewster, S.A. (2007). Graph Builder: Constructing Non-visual Visualizations. In: Bryan-Kinns, N., Blanford, A., Curzon, P., Nigay, L. (eds) People and Computers XX — Engage. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-664-3_20
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-84628-664-3_20
Publisher Name: Springer, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-84628-588-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-84628-664-3
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)