Information structure and practice as facilitators of deaf users' navigation in textual websites

Abstract

Deaf users might find it difficult to navigate through websites with textual content which, for many of them, constitutes the written representation of a non-native oral language. With the aim of testing how the information structure could compensate for this difficulty, 27 prelingual deaf users of sign language were asked to search a set of headlines in a web newspaper where information structure and practice were manipulated. While practice did not affect deep structures (web content distributed through four layers of nodes), wide structures (web content concentrated in two layers) did facilitate users' performance in the last trial block and compromised it in the first trial block. It is argued that wide structures generate a textual information overload for deaf users, which decreases with practice. Thus, wide structures seem preferable for websites requiring frequent use, rather than for those intended for occasional interaction.

Investigating Information Search by People with Cognitive Disabilities

“…In contrast, no improvement was observed for the deep structure as the deaf users gained more experience in that structure [Fajardo et al 2009]. Although deaf users and people with cognitive disabilities are two substantially different user groups, it is still worth exploring whether people with cognitive disabilities have different learning patterns between the deep structure and the broad structure.…”

Technology for supporting web information search and learning in Sign Language

“…Leybaert et al, 1982;Alegría, 1999;Asensio, 1989;Goldin-Meadow and Mayberry, 2001). Consequently, deaf signers find it difficult to use a scent following strategy with textual cues as some empirical studies seem to indicate (Fajardo et al, 2009). Apparently, an easy solution to increase information search for deaf signer users is the use of graphical hyperlinks or icons, since they facilitate the process of semantic decision-making according to the classical Picture Superiority Effect (Nelson et al, 1976;Paivio, 1991).…”

The Effects of Online News Package Structure on Attitude, Attention, and Comprehension

“…Studies have also been devoted to the organization and structure of websites and the subsequent effects on user performance. Scholars have studied the effects of hyperlinks (Waniek, 2012), amount of information (Shang, Chen, & Chen, 2013), presence or absence of multimedia (Berry, 2000), and number of layers in websites (Fajardo, Canas, Salmeron, & Abascal, 2009) on both attitudes (Wojdynski & Kalyanaraman, 2013) and different aspects of comprehension (Eveland, Cortese, Park, & Dunwoody, 2004; Eveland, Marton, & Seo, 2004).…”