Tactile web browsing for blind users

Abstract

Recent developments in tactile technologies have made them an attractive choice to improve access to non-visual interfaces. This paper describes the design and evaluation of an extension to an existing browser, which enables blind individuals to explore web pages using tactile feedback. Pins are presented via a tactile mouse to communicate the presence of graphical interface objects. Findings from an evaluation have revealed that fifteen participants were able to learn the tactile HTML mappings developed, and were able to perform a range of web-based tasks in a less constrained manner than using a screen reader alone. The mappings presented in this paper, can be used by web developers with limited experience of tactile design, to widen access to their sites. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.