Designing for Diversity

Question 1

What is multi-modal interaction?

Answer 1

This means UID relies on more than one mode of interaction such as sight, sound, touch, taste and smell.

It is how many types of modes of interaction are provided

Question 2

What is also known as the bandwidth of interaction?

Answer 2

Multi-modal interaction

Question 3

What are categories of visual disabilities and examples?

Answer 3

Permanent: Blind
Temporary: Eye injury
Situational: Light shining of a screen, darkness

Question 4

Are GUIs helpful to visually impaired users?

Answer 4

GUIs reduce the effectiveness of screen readers and braille devices.

Question 5

What can be used to overcome GUI problems?

Answer 5

Sound can be used however a large number of sound types can result in memory overload.

Touch such as braille and shapes/patterns can also be used

Question 6

What provides as a good alternative to the typical screen usage for visually impaired users?

Answer 6

Use of keyboards shortcuts and command line interfaces. Text alternatives can also be provided such as embedded text descriptions of images which can be sent to the screen reader.

Question 7

What uses of sound are there for visually impaired users?

Answer 7

Speech and under this we have recognition such as voice to text,
synthesis such as text to voice,
uninterrupted speech - fixed pre recorded messages,
non speech sounds such as those used in game (explosions, hitting an object)

Question 8

Are screen readers text to voice systems?

Answer 8

No they’re not, they contain text to speech functionality however it is an assistive technology that converts the text images, buttons and other content on the screen to speech or braille.

Question 9

What uses of touch are there for visually impaired users?

Answer 9

Haptic interaction such as vibrations.

Both send by touching the screen and receive by vibrations when getting a call or messge

Question 10

What are examples of touch for visually impaired users?

Answer 10

Electronic braille
Force feedback on a joystick
Vibration on mobile phone

Question 11

What are the categories of hearing disabilities and examples?

Answer 11

Permanent: Deaf
Temporary: Ear injury
Situational: Wearing earphones

Question 12

What are the functions of the Screen and GUI in terms of our hearing impaired users?

Answer 12

The visual aspects may not pose too large a difficulty.

Gesture recognition can be used for sign language.

Multimedia can pose problems if sound isn’t augmented with text

Captions are necessary for videos

Tools for automatic sound to text conversion are sometimes provided to the developer by the OS

Question 13

What is the use of gesture recognition?

Answer 13

You can control the computer with specific hand movements.
E.g. opening fingers on a touch screen to zoom

Use of camera or movement of device to detect physical movement. E.g. Nintendo switch

Can use computer vision, dataglove, handheld device, smartphone

Question 14

What are the categories and examples of physically disabled users?

Answer 14

Permanent: Missing arms
Temporary: Broken arm
Situational: Carrying a baby with one arm

Question 15

What are the general points of physically disabled users to remember?

Answer 15

Large variations in the types of physical issues

Most common are those with hands

Question 16

What can you use to help physically disabled users?

Answer 16

Speech input and output
Eye gaze system
Reactive keyboard - anticipate the commands that are being typed
Specialized input devices such as Microsoft’s Xbox adaptive controller

Question 17

What are the categories and examples of speech disabled users?

Answer 17

Permanent: Speech impairment
Temporary: Injury to the jaw
Situational: Eating, somewhere where they must be quiet

Question 18

What can be used to help speech disabled users?

Answer 18

Conversational User Interfaces

Can use synthetic speech, text based communication and conferencing systems

Predictive algorithms can be used to speed up text input

Conventions can be used to provide context such as :-)

Question 19

Is Dyslexia a vision problem?

Answer 19

No it is not a vision problem but an audio issue (linking letters to sounds)

Question 20

What must you remember when designing a UI for dyslexic users?

Answer 20

They can find textual information difficult

Speech input and output devices can help

Spelling facilities can help but they must be specialized for non common topics such as orgo

Dyslexic fonts DO NOT EXIST

Question 21

What must you remember when designing a UI for older people?

Answer 21

Disabilities usually increase with age
Most older folks fear and are unfamiliar with terminology and technology

Question 22

What must you remember when designing a UI for children?

Answer 22

Differences vary across age groups
Should include them in the design process
E.g. very young children will have trouble with keyboards

Question 23

Is it true that being young makes it easier to use and application?

Answer 23

No this is false, all uses must undergo a learning process

Question 24

What must you remember when it comes to UI and cultural differences?

Answer 24

This can be national. age, gender, race, class, religion, politics

It isn’t usually relevant to the design but you may need to consider language, cultural symbols, gestures and use of colour.

E.g. rainbows have specific meaning in certain context