QUESTION: Consider the following scenario: “Word processor for blind users is ne
ID: 3614267 • Letter: Q
Question
QUESTION:
Consider the following scenario:
“Word processor for blind users is needed,which can also be operated by sighted people. It has to support thestandard set of word-processingtasks”
You are required to:
a) Choose a suitable combination of input and outputdevices to best support the intended interaction.
b) What should be the features of the input andoutput devices that help the blind people to work onword processor?
c) Explain the major problems that the input andoutput devices solve.
Solution Table:
IntendedInteraction: Word Processor for Blindusers
Device
Name
Features
SolvedProblems
Input Device(s)
Output Device(s)
IntendedInteraction: Word Processor for Blindusers
Device
Name
Features
SolvedProblems
Input Device(s)
Output Device(s)
Explanation / Answer
The environmental database will be operated by skilled experts. Itis likely that they will want geographic displays of information, so leveraging off of operationson a map seem likely to be intuitive. Various parameters would likely be overlaid on the map,so some intuitive way to select among parameters, possibly with a purpose-built keyboardwith function keys representing the parameters to be revealed. There should be an analysis ofcurrent practices by these experts in which the way they like to view information is revealed and theway they like to manipulate information. It seems that an interface to encourage exploration toreveal trends in data would be useful, so how this exploration can be made natural would impactdesign recommendations for input devices. The word processor for blind people that can also be used bysighted people is more challenging because you need to accommodate two very different modes ofinteraction. Blind users cannot rely on the visual domain. One approach is to take an existing wordprocessor and attempt to modify it for non-sighted use. It is clear that some level of audiofeedback would be useful. Perhaps a screen reader to assist in reading the contents of thetext window. The prosody of the voice might indicate formatting of the text (for bold, italics,headings). Providing a chorded keyboard for input might be easier for the blind user, asorientation on a traditional keyboard might prove difficult without a lot of training. Two handed inputtechniques would also be useful, whereby one hand could be used for chording/typing text andthe other for performing tasks. Audio feedback on commands would be useful, but thegranularity of feedback would have to be experimented with.