The web is a valuable resource and increasingly important source of information and communication. To be excluded from access to it is becoming a growing handicap. There can be many barriers to access, economics being perhaps the major one, but also having a visual disability can make access difficult - because of the visual orientation of much of the web (Edwards & Stevens, 1997). Blind people can access computers using screen reader software, which can translate the contents of the screen into the non-visual form of synthetic speech (Edwards, 1991) or braille (Weber, 1994; Weber, 1995). However, such systems cannot cope with graphical items, such as images and image maps. Some web site managers, who are aware of this problem, attempt to tackle it by providing parallel, text-only pages. (See, for instance, the YorkWeb pages). These contain the same information as the graphical pages (or at least, ought to) but are better suited to non-visual browsing.
There are a number of problems with this approach. The main one is that it (at least) doubles the amount of effort required to maintain the site. A corollory of that is that it is generally the text-only pages which fall into disrepair, which retain out-of-date information. The objective of this project would be to build tools that could be used to facilitate the creation and maintenance of text-only pages.
It is unrealistic to expect a tool to automatically generate a completely equivalent text-only version of an arbitrary web page, but it could be used to point out to the author items which are non-textual and hint as to how to translate it. (Bobby is an on-line tool which tests pages for accessibility which gives these kinds of hints). The tools could assist in setting up a parallel directory structure and provide a systematic naming convention. Other tools might track when the graphical pages are updated and remind the manager to synchronize the non-text version.
The student will be expected to produce a web page describing the project.
In a previous project, Russell Odom developed a simple language that can be used to specify actions to automatically be carried out on emails. It can be used, for instance, to automatically discard 'spams' and to reply to messages when the user is on holiday. The language is textual but should be easily converted to a graphical style of specification - and that would be the objective of this project.
The student would have to investigate visual programming languages and paradigms (Chang, 1990) and then design and implement the language, to interface to Odom's software. An evaluation of the resultant language will be carried out.
The student will be expected to produce a web page describing the project.
In previous project (Conlon, 1998), Ann Conlon came to the conclusion that the icons used so widely in modern interfaces were of little more than cosmetic value. She investigated them by getting both novices and experts to test the recognizability and memorability of real icons and she found that they did not score well on either dimension.
This would suggest that people are unlikely to use such icons. This does not prevent them from using iconic interfaces, though, because there is generally a textual alternative available. That is to say that either there is an equivalent menu entry, or the user can access a textual label for the icon (for instance, by letting the cursor dwell over the icon).
The fact that Colon's tests showed similar results for novices as experts was not entirely unexpected, given the similar results in the well-known previous study by Mayes et al.
The objective of this project will be to look for corroboration of Colon's results, but by taking a different approach. Testing will be carried out whereby users are observed (using video recordings and an event-recording tool) interacting with an iconic interface and data is collected about the number of times a textual alternative is used - and how long it takes to do so.
The student will be expected to produce a web page describing the project.
Mobile, portable devices such as watches, phones and GPS receivers, are usually limited in the number of buttons that can be attached to them. It is impractical to have a full qwerty keyboard, and yet there is often a need to be able to input many and complex messages. There are a variety of ways that a single button can me used
but there must be limits. For instance: Are triple-clicks practical? How many different lengths of press are sustainable? The objective of this proposal would be to answer such questions. The starting point would be existing knowledge. For instance, the Model Human Processor in Card, Moran and Newell (1983) would provide predictions about the time parameters of button-pressing actions, but it would then be necessary to carry out some human experiments to test subjective factors, in order to answer some of the above questions.
The student will be expected to produce a web page describing the project.
Mobile devices, particularly mobile phones, inevitably have very small screen displays. One way of making the most of such displays is to abreviate the text displayed thereon. The objective of this project would be to investigate the best way to do this. There are any number of algorithms which might be used to reduce the number of letters used. For instance
The project would involve devising algorithms and then testing them on people to find out what algorithm achieves the greatest reduction in numbers of letters while retaining comprehension. Is there a difference depending on the type of text (e.g. are names easier to recognize than free text when abreviated?)
A previous student project (Hunter, 1998) has looked at maximizing the information content of small displays, but from a different approach.
For instance, how readable is the following? (A reduction of 36%)
Mbl dvcs, prtclrly mbl phns, invtbly hv vry sml scrn dsplys. On wy of mkng mst of sch dsplys is abrvt txt dsplyd thrn. Objctv ths prjct wld be invstgt bst wy do ths. Thr any nmbr algrthms whch mght usd rdc nmbr ltrs usd.
The student will be expected to produce a web page describing the project.
Tables use a spatial arrangement to facilitate access to certain types of information. It can be very difficult to access the same information if it is presented in a non-visual form (such as speech) as is required by blind people. For instance, most screen readers (Edwards, 1991) simply read lines horizontally, regardless of the columnar structure. Previous student projects have tackled this problem already. Bufton (1991) implemented a simple table browser, using Rich Text Format (RTF) files as input. Sinclaire (1999) implemented a similar browser, but based on HTML files. Finally, van Kemenade is working on the specification of the design of a browser, using Mitsopoulos' design methodology (Mitsopoulos and Edwards, 1999). Van Kemenade is not implementing his design and that would be the objective of this project.
The project would involve programming, including generation of speech and non-speech sounds. The implementation would have to be evaluated, probably by comparison with the earlier tools of Bufton and Sinclaire as well as subjective evaluation by human testers.
The student will be expected to produce a web page describing the project.
One group of people who have difficulty accessing the web are those with visual disabilities. (See, WWW6, 1997, and particularly Edwards and Stevens, 1997). Clearly graphical items can cause particular problems. One way of alleviating the problems of image elements advocated by accessibility guidelines (for instance, those of the Web Accessibility Initiative, WAI) is the use of 'alt' texts. This is an optional text label that the page designer can include in any image tag. This text can be picked up by a browser, and (in the case of non-visual browsing for a blind user) displayed instead of the visual graphic.
However, there is a problem about how best to use this facility. What should one put in the alt text? For instance, the University web pages often include banners with a graphical representation of the university logo (see, for example the York student page). Should the alt text simple echo the text in the banner (i.e. "University of York") or should it try to include extra information about the appearance of the graphic (e.g. "The words 'University of York' in white type, with the word 'York' in an italic style script")?
The answer to such questions probably depends on the intended role of the image. It seems there is a spectrum of uses. At one extreme such images are purely decorative, while at the other the graphic embody all the information on a page (a reproduction of a painting, for instance). So, the first objective of this project would be to develop a classification of the use of images within web pages. Is there a small but comprehensive set of categories into which most web images can be put?
If so, then it may be possible to develop guidelines as to what kind of information should be included in the alt texts for each category of image use. Once such guidelines have been developed, they could be tested, rather as Hayward (1997) did.
The student will be expected to produce a web page describing the project.
Many authors have suggested that state transistion charts are a good way of capturing the behaviour of human-computer interfaces (e.g. Abowd, Wang et al., 1995). The problem is that such representations rapidly become large and unwieldy. The objective of this project would be to experiement with such a representation, but only on simple interfaces. For instance, even a watch with a small number of functions is quite complex - and can have usability problems.
The first phase of this project would be to attempt to contruct such a diagram. Questions of representation would have to be addressed; is a circle-and-arrows drawing sufficient, or does it become unwieldy such that another (perhaps textual) representation is required? Once a 'diagram' has been constructed, is it possible to extract from it higher level information about the usability of the interface? For instance, very complex clusters within the diagram where a lot of lines cross, might indicate a complicated, confusing operations. Alternatively particular patterns or clichés might suggest very useful, predictable procedures.
Any such predictions could be tested by comparison with users' experiences with the device. Having done it once, the same procedure will then be applied to one or more additional interfaces, such as a GPS receiver, a microwave oven or a video recorder.
The student will be expected to produce a web page describing the project.
Mobile phones nearly all have text messaging facilities. Due to the lack of buttons, this requires typing on the numeric keypad. The arrangement of these is to have 3 letters on each button starting from a-c, d-e etc and pressing the button cycles through each of these letters. The alphabetic sequence is not the most efficient as frequently used letters are often the second or third on the button. This requires multiple presses to get the required letter. Letters which are often used consecutively are sometimes on the same button which means that you need to wait for the first letter to be accepted before you can type the second.
This project involves investigating a more efficient way of laying out the keypad to improve typing speed and ease of use on devices such as mobile phones.
The project would draw on previous work by Butterbaugh & Rockwell, (1982); Detweiler et al. (1990); Fast & Ballatine (1988), Soukoreff & MacKenzie (1995) and McLaughlin (1997).
"Web information will grow immensely in variety, and be used by a much greater diversity of people than today. What is imperative is that simplicity and interoperability continue to be of prime importance." -- Vincent Quint, W3C User Interface Domain Leader [1]
While the W3C maintains a Voice Browser Working Group that are looking to "...expand access to the Web to allow people to interact with Web sites via spoken commands, and listening to prerecorded speech, music and synthetic speech..." [2] the recent release of Version 1.0 of the VoiceXML Forums specification for a Voice Markup Language will soon be formally submitted to the W3C for standardization. Already heavily back by industry, the standardization of the language will : "(1) simplify creation and delivery of Web-based, personalized interactive voice-response services; (2) enable phone and voice access to integrated call centre databases, information and services on Web sites, and company intranets; and (3) help enable new voice-capable devices and appliances." [3].
This investigation will look at the emergent technology and assess VoiceXML in creating web applications for blind users. This may involve the development of tools, for example a 'browswer' in Java, to provide a partial implementation of the specification sufficient as a test platform. It is deemed that such tools are necessary owing to the specific needs of a blind user. Whilst it may be found that other tools available (IBM already have a 'browser' offering a partial implementation of the version 1.0 spec for evaluation [4]) could be tested on the strength of the VoiceXML technology alone.
Focus for this project will be:
1. W3C User Interface Domain http://www.w3.org/UI/
2. Voice Browser Working Group http://www.w3.org/Voice/
3. Oasis XML Cover Pages http://www.oasis-open.org/cover/vxml.html
4. IBM AlphaWorks Site http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/
There are two main focuses of this project:
The artefact is Text and Test Partner (Readhead, 2000) a multimedia language training tool used in the Language Teaching Centre of the University. This tool enables language teachers to generate teaching material for their students, but there is reason to believe that the tutors do not find this task very easy. The objective of the project will be to find out about the user interface deficiencies of the current system and then to redesign the interface. By applying established guidelines on interface design (e.g. Shneiderman, 1997; Monk, Wright et al., 1993) and addressing the problems identified by the users, it should be possible to come up with a much improved design.
The phases of the project will be as follows:
If time allows, a more extensive implementation and evaluation will be carried out.
User participation will be essential parts of Phases 1 and 3.
The student will be expected to produce a web page describing the project.
Abowd, G. D., Wang, H.-M. and Monk, A. F. (1995). A formal technique for automated dialogue development. in Proceedings of DIS'95 Symposium on Designing Interactive Systems: Processes, Practices, Methods & Techniques, pp. 219-226 (An extended version of this paper is available by ftp)
Bufton, S. (1991). Reading text tables for blind people, Department of Computer Science, University of York, Final-year Project Report
Burdea, G. C. (1996). Force and Touch Feedback for Virtual Reality. New York: Wiley.
Butterbaugh, L. and Rockwell, T. (1982). Evaluation of alternative alphanumerical keying logics. Human Factors 24(5).
Card, S. K., Moran, T. P. and Newell, A. (1983). The Psychology of Human-Computer Interaction. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Challis, B. (1998). Establishing design principles for the integration of audio-tactile communication in the human-computer interface. Department of Computer Science, Thesis Proposal, University of York.
Chang, S.-K., (Ed.) (1990). Principles of visual programming systems. Englewood Cliffs, Prentice-Hall International.
Conlon, A. (1998). Icons at the interface: Great expectations. Department of Computer Science MSc (IP) Project report, University of York.
Detweiler, M. C., Schumacher, R. M. and Gattuso, N. L. (1990). Alphabetic input on a telephone keypad. in Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 34th Annual Meeting, pp. 212&endash;216.
Edwards, A. D. N. (1991). Speech Synthesis: Technology for disabled people. London: Paul Chapman.
Edwards, A. D. N. and Stevens, R. D. (1997). Visual dominance and the World-Wide Web. in Proceedings of the Sixth International World Wide Web Conference (CD-Rom), (Santa Clara, California), Stanford University.
Fast, L. and Ballatine, R. (1988). Dialling a name: Alphabetic entry through a telephone keypad. Sigchi Bulletin 20(34)
Hayward, R. (1997). Accessibility issues of Web browsers for blind people, Department of Computer Science, University of York, Final-year Project Report
Hunter, M. (1998). Lining up keyholes: Investigating the feasibility of a hand-held system for patient visitations, University of York, Department of Computer Science, Third-year Project Report.
McLaughlin, B. (1997). A telephone keypad for alphanumeric input. Department of Computer Science, MSc (IP) Project report, University of York.
Mayes, J. T., Draper, S. W., McGregor, A. M. and Oatley, K. (1988) Information flow in a user interface: The effect of experience and context on the recall of MacWrite screens. in D. M. Jones and R. Winder (ed.), People and Computers IV: Proceedings of HCI '88, (Manchester), Cambridge University Press. pp. 275-289.
Mitsopoulos, E. N. and Edwards, A. D. N. (1999). A principled design methodology for auditory interaction. in M. A. Sasse and C. Johnson (ed.), Proceedings of Interact 99, (Edinburgh), IOS Press. pp. 263-271.
Monk, A., Wright, P., Davenport, J. and Haber, L. (1993). Improving Your Human-Computer Interface: A Practical Technique. New York:, Prentice Hall.
Odom, R. (1999). Design and implementation of an automated e-mail filing, filtering and management tool, University of York, Department of Computer Science, Third-Year Project Report.
Readhead, P. (2000). Partner Tools Training Manual, Teleste Educational Ltd,
Shneiderman, B. (1997). Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction. New York:, Addison-Wesley.
Soukoreff, R. W. and MacKenzie, I. S. (1995). Theoretical upper and lower bounds on typing speed using a stylus and a soft keyboard. Behaviour and Information Technology 14(6): pp. 370-379.
Weber, G. (1994). Braille displays. Information Technology and Disability 1(4).
Weber, G. (1995). Reading and pointing &endash; New interaction methods for braille displays. in A. D. N. Edwards (ed.) Extra-ordinary Human-Computer Interaction: Interfaces for Users with Disabilities. New York: Cambridge University Press. pp. 183-200.
WWW6 (1997) Proceedings of the Sixth International World Wide Web Conference (CD-Rom), (Santa Clara, California), Stanford University.
This page maintained by Alistair Edwards alistair@cs.york.ac.uk
28th November 2000
http://www.cs.york.ac.uk/~alistair/projects/projects.html