Empowering the Visually Impaired in the Information Society

The World Wide Web is designed for visual interaction. The sight-centered design of the Web presents significant accessibility and usability problems for the visually impaired (VI). Existing research takes a technical approach to this problem by improving interface design and assistive technologies. It does not explain the nature of problems that VI users face in web interaction. Yet, VI users continue to face accessibility and usability problems on the Web and are disenfranchised in the information socie ty where Web interaction is needed for everyday activities. Research in human-computer interaction and cognitive science shows that understanding users' cognitive experiences in systems interaction provides a complete account of accessibility and usabilit y problems. Accurate mental models guide the user in effective interaction to complete a task and ensure that there is no gap of understanding between the user and the system. The accuracy of mental models improves by learning and practice. A mental model is a user's understanding of how to perform a task. Accessibility and usability problems can be reduced by improving the accuracy of users' mental models. In this pre-project we ask "How can we develop an accurate and in-depth understanding of the access ibility and usability needs and challenges of VI users?" We approach this by developing mental models of VI users' Web interaction in completing online tasks. Also, we ask "How can we use this understanding to improve the accuracy of VI users' mental mode ls in Web interaction?" Answering these questions first is needed to create a larger project to develop an intelligent learning system to help VI users develop accurate mental models for effective web interaction and learn and practice effective technique s for completing online tasks.