Usage situation changes of touchscreen computers in japanese visually impaired people: Questionnaire surveys in 2011-2013

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the usage of touchscreen interfaces in the Japanese visually impaired population by means questionnaire surveys conducted in 2011, 2012, and 2013. In 2011 and 2013, we carried out usage situations of touchscreens and the reasons why some of them did not use it. The surveys in 2012 and 2013 comprised the questionnaire items regarding specific manipulation situations of touchscreens. Some of the results indicate that an increasing number of visually impaired people used and required to use touchscreen computers; some of them did not want to use it because they were satisfied with conventional cell phones, and because they are waiting for the device which can feedback tactually; the users of touchscreen computers with total and partial vi- sual impairments mainly uses double-tapping after tracing for selecting buttons and objects; The proper uses and manipulations of smartphones and tablet computers mainly depends on the application usability and the screen size, respectively. © 2014 Springer International Publishing.