Abstract
Various approaches to providing blind users with access to graphical user interfaces have been researched extensively in the past 15 years, and yet accessibility is still facing many obstacles. Graphical environments such as X Windows offer a high degree of freedom to both the developer and the user, complicating the accessibility problem even more. Existing technology is largely based on either a combination of graphical toolkit hooks, queries to the application and scripting, or model-driven user interface development. Both approaches have limitations that the proposed research addresses. This paper builds upon past and current research into accessibility, and promotes the use of abstract user interfaces to providing non-visual access to GUIs.
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
Boyd, L.H., Boyd, W.L., Vanderheiden, G.C.: The graphical user interface: Crisis, danger and opportunity. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness, 496–502 (1990)
Weber, G., Mager, R.: Non-visual user interfaces for X Windows. In: Interdisciplinary aspects on computers helping people with special needs, 5th International Conference, ICCHP 1996, pp. 459–468 (1996)
Mynatt, E.D., Weber, G.: Nonvisual presentation of graphical user interfaces: Contrasting two approaches. In: Human Factors in Computing Systems, CHI 1994 – Celebrating Interdependence, pp. 166–172 (1994)
Gunzenhäuser, R., Weber, G.: Graphical user interfaces for blind people. In: Brunnstein, K., Raubold, E. (eds.) 13th World Computer Congress 1994, vol. 2, pp. 450–457. Elsevier Science, Amsterdam (1994)
Kawai, S., Aida, H., Saito, T.: Designing interface toolkit with dynamic selectable modality. In: Proceedings of the second annual ACM conference on Assistive Technologies, pp. 72–79. ACM Press, New York (1996)
Savidis, A., Stephanidis, C.: Building non-visual interaction through the development of the Rooms metaphor. In: Companion of the CHI 1995 conference in Human Factors in Computing Systems, pp. 244–245 (1995)
Savidis, A., Stergiou, A., Stephanidis, C.: Generic Containers for Metaphor Fusion in Non-Visual Interaction: the HAWK Interface Toolkit. In: Proceedings of the Interfaces 1997 Conference, pp. 194–196 (1997)
Stephanidis, C., Savidis, A.: Universal Access in the Information Society: Methods, Tools, and Interaction Technologies. In: Oppermann, R. (ed.) Universal Access in the Information Society, vol. 1(1), pp. 40–55 (2001)
Limbourg, Q., Vanderdonckt, J., Michotte, B., Bouillon, L., Florins, M.: Usixml: A user interface description language supporting multiple levels of independence. In: Lauff, M. (ed.) Proceedings of Workshop on Device Independent Web Engineering DIWE 2004, Munich, July 26-27 (2004)
Donker, H., Klante, P., Gorny, P.: The design of auditory user interfaces for blind users. In: Proceedings of the second Nordic conference on Human- Computer Interaction, pp. 149–156. ACM Press, New York (2002)
Vitense, H.S., Jacko, J.A., Kathlene Emery, V.: Multimodal feedback: establishing a performance baseline for improved access by individuals with visual impairments. In: Proceedings of the fifth international ACM conference on Assistive Technologies, pp. 49–56. ACM Press, New York (2002)
Barnicle, K.: Usability testing with screen reading technology in a windows environment. In: Proceedings on the 200 conference on Universal Usability, pp. 102–109. ACM Press, New York (2000)
Pontelli, E., Gillan, D., Xiong, W., Saad, E., Gupta, G., Karshmer, A.I.: Navigation of html tables, frames, and xml fragments. In: Proceedings of the fifth international ACM conference on Assistive Technologies, pp. 25–32. ACM Press, New York (2002)
Theofanos, M.F., Redish, J.: Bridging the gap: between accessibility and usability. Interactions 10(6), 36–51 (2003)
Van Hees, K., Engelen, J.: Abstract UIs as a long-term solution for non-visual access to GUIs. In: Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (CD-ROM) (2005)
Van Hees, K., Engelen, J.: Abstracting the Graphical User Interface for Non-Visual Access. In: Pruski, A., Knops, H. (eds.) Assistive Technology: From Virtuality to Reality (AAATE 2005), IOS Press, Amsterdam (2005)
Trewin, S., Zimmermann, G., Vanderheiden, G.: Abstract user interface representations: How well do they support universal access? In: CUU 2003: Proceedings of the 2003 conference on Universal usability, pp. 77–84. ACM Press, New York (2003)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2006 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this paper
Cite this paper
Van Hees, K., Engelen, J. (2006). Non-visual Access to GUIs: Leveraging Abstract User Interfaces. In: Miesenberger, K., Klaus, J., Zagler, W.L., Karshmer, A.I. (eds) Computers Helping People with Special Needs. ICCHP 2006. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4061. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/11788713_155
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/11788713_155
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-540-36020-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-540-36021-6
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)