From Sight to Touch: Designing Tactile Data Physicalizations for Non-sighted Users
Julian Ebermann - School of Informatics, Communications and Media, Hagenberg im Mühlkreis, Austria
Mandy Keck - University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria, Hagenberg im Mühlkreis, Austria
Screen-reader Accessible PDF
Download camera-ready PDF
Room: Bayshore V
2024-10-13T12:30:00ZGMT-0600Change your timezone on the schedule page
2024-10-13T12:30:00Z
Fast forward
Abstract
Blind and visually impaired people are often excluded from the analysis of datasets because data visualizations primarily address the visual channel. For this reason, this paper examines different physical and tactile encodings for preparing datasets for non-sighted users. Using a user-centered design approach, the authors investigate how this target group perceive visualizations tactilely and to what extent different encodings are suitable for exploring different datasets. Furthermore, it will be investigated how tactile contextual components such as labels, legends, grids and guidelines must be designed so that the information can be interpreted as accurately as possible. A user study with five blind participants provided valuable insights for the design of tactile data physicalizations.