Interpretation of web page layouts by blind users

Abstract

Digital libraries must support assistive technologies that allow people with disabilities such as blindness to use, navigate and understand their documents. Increasingly, many documents are Web-based and present their contents using complex layouts. However, approaches that translate two-dimensional layouts to one-dimensional speech produce a very different user experience and loss of information. To address this issue, we conducted a study of how blind people navigate and interpret layouts of news and shopping Web pages using current assistive technology. The study revealed that blind people do not parse Web pages fully during their first visit, and that they can miss important parts. The study also provided insights for improving assistive technologies.

Evaluation of Web Interpretation Issues and Navigation Techniques in Facebook Among Visually Impaired Users

“…Unfortunately, VI users encounter major challenges in SNS particularly Facebook [2], [3]. Facebook content designed in form of multi-column layout, which is also known as complex layout [4]- [6]. VI users utilize various types of navigation technique to scan the web content using the screen reader.…”

“…However, the non-dimensional reading pattern of the screen reader on the multi-dimensional layout presents major challenges for VI users to comprehend the web content. This poses a major issue for VI users to obtain information [6], [20], [21]. There are substantial studies on the issues and impacts of web page layout but studies on VI users' navigation activities and the reason of facing web interpretation issues in complex layout remain limited [4], [6], [7], [20], [21].…”

“…This poses a major issue for VI users to obtain information [6], [20], [21]. There are substantial studies on the issues and impacts of web page layout but studies on VI users' navigation activities and the reason of facing web interpretation issues in complex layout remain limited [4], [6], [7], [20], [21].…”

“…Desktop (URL: https://www.facebook.com/) (Figure 2) and mobile (URL: https://m.facebook.com/) (Figure 3) are the two versions of Facebook page. The desktop version Facebook page consists of complex layout given that the presentation of information is of multi-column to present large amount of information within a single page [6]. Meanwhile, the mobile version of Facebook is designed for mobile users.…”

Model Based Simulation and Evaluation of Mobile and Web 2.0 Applications for Users with Special Needs

“…Another observation is that users with disabilities have developed different interaction patterns when interacting with web applications [14,11,15,5], partly to compensate some of the accessibility problems they encounter. Those interaction patterns are not taken into account in current accessibility guidelines.…”