Blind Ambition

Behind Nutrition:How the Healthy Eating Movement Ignores Freeze Dried Foods for Astronauts :Behind Nutrition:How the Healthy Eating Movement Ignores Freeze Dried Foods for Astronauts OK, sure, astronauts should be healthy in space. Should that really be a main focus for nutritionists? Is this even the right talk for an IA conference?


Blind Ambition: How the Accessibility Movement Ignores Sensory ExperienceC. Steinberg, UserWorks, Inc. :Blind Ambition: How the Accessibility Movement Ignores Sensory ExperienceC. Steinberg, UserWorks, Inc. But aren’t accessibility experts trying to help disabled people get access to tools and information? Is sensory experience even part of their job? Is it part of mine? I’m an IA. And even if it is, why would accessibility matter if I don’t do federal contracts?


What Don’t People Learn from Traditional Information Sites? :What Don’t People Learn from Traditional Information Sites?


Full Disclosure of Information Does Not Fully Explain Value :Full Disclosure of Information Does Not Fully Explain Value


Product Experience is Not Just Product Features :Product Experience is Not Just Product Features


Even Multimedia Does Not Guarantee Involvement or Learning :Even Multimedia Does Not Guarantee Involvement or Learning


How is Interactive Multimedia Learning Different? :How is Interactive Multimedia Learning Different?


Don’t All Web Sites Involve Learning and Interaction? :Don’t All Web Sites Involve Learning and Interaction?


Same Use Case Merits Different Treatments :Same Use Case Merits Different Treatments Why should you wear a suit? Rich Learning Rich Learning Get Answers Get Answers When should you take the train? Manufacturer selling brands of suits Consultant teaching how to dress for success Airlines trying to reduce congestion on short flights Explain a city transit system’s peak hour delays


Is This Basically Online Educational Gaming? :Is This Basically Online Educational Gaming? Relationship of physical action or decision to on-screen outcome is major source of meaning Perceiving relationships among visual and text elements may be equally important Meaning should always be discernable (e.g. where are the villains? Who shot me?) Meaning should be discoverable through inference and experience (less obvious) Outcomes are contingent and deterministic (choices affect rest of the game) Outcomes may be autonomous (choices affect only an exercise, sometimes a lesson or module) Reinforce Correct Behavior Invites Involvement Through Problem Solving


Still Confused? Not to Worry! :Still Confused? Not to Worry! Usability Perspective (Get Answers) User Experience Perspective (Rich Learning) Uncertainty is Empowering! Uncertainty takes control away from the user Efficiency COMPLAINTS Make decisions and inferences that matter! Improve over time!


Why Should You Care About Interactive Multimedia Learning? :Why Should You Care About Interactive Multimedia Learning?


Interactive Multimedia Learning Works :Interactive Multimedia Learning Works


Slide 14 :Tools of the Mind Early Education Program Children’s reality games, not fantasy games Encourages reenactment of everyday activities Re-Creation, rehearsal  emotional involvement Involvement  acceptance of more mature roles


Slide 15 :So Why Not Just Interact with Other Students or the Teacher? “Scaffolding”—Interactive media provide timely, expert context-sensitive feedback throughout learning Then Why Not Interact with the Real World? Computer Use Aids Concentration Sixth graders were less mentally distracted when problem solving using a computer database than using paper-based aids —Rui, L. & Min L, (2007) “Understanding the effects of databases as cognitive tools in a problem-based multimedia learning environment,” Journal of Interactive Learning Research 18(3), pp 345-363.


Slide 16 :It’s Not Just for Kids Anymore Superiority of interactive multimedia learning over other pedagogical approaches confirmed for adult undergraduates as well --Evans, C. & Gibbons, N.J. (2007) “The interactivity effect in multimedia learning,” Computers & Education 49(4), pp. 1147-1160. --Rieber, L.P., Tzeng, S., & Tribble, K. (2004) “Discovery learning, representation, and expalnation within a computer-based framework: Finding the right mix,” Learning & Instruction 14(3), pp. 307-323.


Slide 17 :But for discovery-based learning to succeed, learners need a clear mental representation of the component materials they manipulate --Bodemer, D., Ploetzner, R, Bruchmuller, K., & Hacker, S. (2005). “Supporting learning with interactive multimedia through active integration of representations,” Instructional Science: An International Journal of Learning and Cognition 33(1) 73-95. Remember this when we get to accessibility…. The Return of Usability


Interactive Multimedia Learning: :Interactive Multimedia Learning: Coming Soon to a Website Near You


Slide 19 :Stunt Flying: It’s Not Just for Pilots Anymore


IML: It’s Not Just About Skills :IML: It’s Not Just About Skills Interactive Multimedia Learning Personalizes the Sales Pitch: A Car for Everyone


NikeFree: A Vicarious Real World Experience :NikeFree: A Vicarious Real World Experience Shoes simulate bare feet Website experience simulates running in the shoes Moving Navigation Menu Simulates Running


But I Just Do Static Pages :But I Just Do Static Pages Interaction and Emotional Involvement without Animation


Slide 23 :Encased Blood Bullets Proportion of personal entries to news stories from that time Circularity versus horizontal timeline Visualization of Blog Entries: Personalization of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict History Produces emotional involvement through information structuring


But I Don’t Do Any of That :But I Don’t Do Any of That I Really Just Help Users “Get Answers”


Slide 25 :Maybe the dark trains are the main ones… There’s more happening at some of these M stations.. But the capital letter places might be even better… Guess Eastbound is just for coming home… Yup, foreign language folks head West in the morning… Interactive Multimedia Learning is Inescapable


Accessibility of Sources of Meaning :Accessibility of Sources of Meaning More Amenable to Screen Readers More Important for Interactive Multimedia Learning Relationships among visual elements on a web page Relationships among attributes of a graphic Relationships among words and grammatical structures Simple signs and symbols


Slide 27 :Accessible Flash Sites for Kids??


“Get Answers” Sites are Not Immune! :“Get Answers” Sites are Not Immune!


Slide 33 :Collapse/Expand Metaphor is Meaningless to Visually Impaired User


Slide 34 :A graphically distinct link for sponsors or related sites seem like just another link


Slide 35 :And Now… One of the UK’s Flagship Accessible Flash Sites Not Developed By a Kindhearted, Clueless Flash Developer Developed through the Royal National Institute for the Blind With No Small Budget Remember: This is Not a Three Year Old Blind Kid Talking After the Screen Reader, You Will Hear a Blind Accessibility Consultant Currently Working With UPA President Whitney Quesenbery on Federal Web Accessibility


What Does a Messy Desk Sound Like? :What Does a Messy Desk Sound Like? Not like sarcasm---“I tidied up my desk for your arrival” Not like an apology—“I’m sorry I left my desk in disarray” Not like an introduction—“Hi I’m JK Rowling & I have a messy desk” Not like a description—“Unfolded gum wrappers appear next to the watch between the newspaper and the diary” Maybe it sounds the way JK Rowling feels working at her desk Is this website about JK’s desk or about JK Rowling?


Slide 39 :Experiential Equivalence Promotes Self-Knowledge


Slide 40 :Description Approach Experiential Equivalence Approach Accessibility Guy: Two Hyundai tires are on a TV show. They’re sitting in armchairs just staring out at the audience and talking in circles. Blind Guy: So the tires have eyes and mouths? User Experience Architect: Find out what viewers are really getting out of this. Fix it to make the experience match the purpose. (Maybe it should be the competition’s tires talking in circles). Create an auditory equivalent of the viewer’s experience. Understand what you’re doing and feel proud of it.


Slide 41 :Why are you only hearing about this now? What’s the auditory impact of this Gallaudet University protest on blind people?


Slide 42 :“The fact that no one complains does not mean all parachutes are perfect.”—Benny Hill


Slide 43 :Can’t alt-text describe visual relationships? First, they might not be the relationships viewers notice


Slide 44 :Blind listener hears: “A guard aims his rifle” Viewers may notice instead: “Crouching men run upstairs and jump the barbed wire”


Slide 45 :Viewers see St. Stephens has that “Old Europe” look. Blind listener hears: “In a photograph, St. Stephens towers over the city of Vienna” Blind listener wonders: Why are they talking about a photograph? Is this the real St. Stephens? Did St. Stephens collapse during the war they’re describing?


Slide 46 :Well OK, usability guy… find out what viewers attend to and describe THAT! It will never work: The description changes the experience Item-by-item audio is not a gestalt visual scene Learning about someone else’s experience is not having it


Slide 47 :Viewers may get visual clues --Puff of smoke is preview hint of upcoming escape by train --Iron bars on walls hint at potential escape route Description: either spoil the suspense or confuse the blind listener If blind listener just hears: “Now steam billows from a locomotive” “On the castle wall, metal pipes lead from windows to the roof” Blind listener wonders: Why is this important?


Slide 48 :Viewers may feel SS officer is suspicious of the guy sitting next to him Blind listener hears: “The grim-faced officer gazes at the youthful Allen” Blind listener wonders: Is the Nazi gay?


Slide 49 :Is Creating Equivalent Sensory Experience Really as Hard as Escaping a Nazi Prison?


Slide 50 :Examples of Possible Auditory Correlates of Visual Parameters Size of Image Volume of Sound Introducing the Image Desktop Background Pattern Repeated Rhythm in Background Audio Screen Real Estate Devoted to Topic Pitch Range for Describing Topic Visual Perspective Position between speakers


Slide 51 :What technologies are needed?


Slide 53 :“Audio Web” Demo: http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=196495 ---Doesn’t quite work ---Has courage, a brain, a heart


Slide 54 :Described Dancing Navigation


Slide 55 :Aurally Experienced Dancing Navigation


Slide 56 :Aurally Experienced Faded (Grayed Out) Navigation


Slide 57 :Described Flash Introduction


Slide 58 :Aurally Experienced Flash Introduction


Slide 59 :Visually Experienced Engine Revved to the Limit


Slide 60 :Aurally Experienced Engine Revved to the Limit


Slide 61 :Zoomable Navigation—A Challenge Voice-activated audio files wouldn’t provide equivalent of mouse pointer Screen readers browsing-by-link already sound like this.


Slide 62 :OK but I basically do just text sites. You said accessibility basically works for text sites. I lied.


Slide 63 :EQUAL VOWEL LENGTHS Standard for people reading aloud  Sound expressive Standard for machines reading aloud  Sound acceptable Stylized Compromises of Synthesized Speech (Esperanto Accent): Where GO up? should the voice


Slide 64 :Things accessibility defenders say: It’s just a way to get to the text Blind people are too busy getting the information to hear how it’s said TV viewers don’t expect TV movies to be life-size or 3-dimensional Blind people can use their imaginations If I was ever unable to see something, I’d be glad to hear a machine


Slide 65 :TOM TOM GPS Navigation voices are marketing hype. I do 508-complaint federal information sites. I don’t have a branding bone in my body. sounds like sounds like Is that what the government wants?


Slide 66 :Solution: User experience test the web site. But don’t have users read the text aloud. Not something they can do well. Just find out what users attend to emotionally. Record voice talent expressing viewer experience for listeners. Augment the sighted user experience with matching visuals.


Slide 67 :COULD NA ion… You draw the into t


Slide 68 :SCRI “If you are hearing impaired or your speakers are not enabled, note that the clause “You COULD draw the intoNAtion” is presented with a qualification contour, with stress aligned with the syllables “COULD” and “NA.” A qualification contour consists of a series of two intonation peaks, the first higher in pitch than the second, and ends with a low rise. While the low rise indicates incompleteness, the descending configuration of the series of peaks indicates the reason for the incompleteness. That is, the second peak, which corresponds to what would otherwise be the focus of new information in the sentence, is preempted by the first peak, which connotes information of still greater importance within information that would otherwise be considered most important.” You could de BE the intoNAtio n…


Slide 69 :But why not replicate the experience of listening? Through natural use of visual elements? You could make the audio accessible


Slide 70 :Why watch what a blind person is hearing? Why can’t you have their experience?


Slide 71 :Blind people want: information, products, services, and learning experiences Web sites present all of these What does accessibility present?? WEB SITES Who cares about web sites? Not blind people. Not all the people in Miami outside this hotel. IAs! Programmers! Designers! Usability folks! Accessibility does not provide an equivalent user experience. Accessibility is not intended to achieve the purpose of a web site. Accessibility may provide a message that conflicts with the goals of a site.


Here’s Some Bullet Points :Here’s Some Bullet Points What’s At Stake Accessibility as we know it (W3C, 508) is not prepared for a trend in website design Alternative approaches are needed to create equivalent user experiences for blind and visually impaired users Why Information Architects Should Care Interactive multimedia learning involves information organization Envisioning presentation formats for equivalent user experience can help to refine IA goals and assess IA achievements


Things Colleagues Told Me Not To Say in this Talk :Things Colleagues Told Me Not To Say in this Talk Don’t Make Your Website Accessible Separate but Equal Beats Together and Clueless


Slide 75 :Accessibility is a wonderful thing And so is a gourmet mushroom farm where they give you free boots to go picking mushrooms in Some people just want the mushrooms


Slide 76 :This presentation would not have been possible without the input of the following people. Do not assume they believe the views expressed. Please reserve all anvil parachute eggs, exploding planes, and loud, screetchy sounds for today’s speaker. Kathy Wahlbin, Virilion Jimmy Vu, the MITRE Corporation Mark Nolan, eMagination Cia Romano, interface guru Keisha Lexie, UserWorks Tomer Sharon, Bentley Design & Usability Center Blind and visually impaired commentaries on the web sites were provided by Jennifer Sutton and Kristen Long


Slide 77 :Image Credits 3-6-08 Mice www.wired.com/print/medtech/genetics/news/2007/06/36_mice as cited in www.wesleyjsmith.com/blog/archive/2007_06_01_archive.html Hand www.sci.utah.edu/~wald/animrep/ Eye www.sxc.hu/profile/anca-pui as cited in www.inkycircus.com/jargon/science/index.html Mr. Happy www.childrenssoftwareonline.com/Default.aspx?m=item&pID=1556 Frowny face www.informatik.uni-bonn.de/~ralf/frown/index.html Cape www.houseofanoria.com/Hooded_Capes.htm Researcher crackskullbob.squarespace.com/journal/lab-coat-researcher.html Kid’s drawing of getting water http://www.ibe.unesco.org/publications/innodata/inno07.pdf Kids’ projector www.popgadget.net/2007/12/index.php?page=3 Kids playing with shadow projector light www.designverb.com/2006/10/03/nextfest-2006-2/ Israeli-Palestinian conflict data visualization justvision.com/en/timeline DC metrobus schedule www.wmta.com/timetables/dc/D1-6.pdf Blind mouse www.blindmicemart.com/customhtm.asp?custfile=product.htm Nazi prison escape game www.freeworldgroup.com/games6/gameindex/prison-escape.htm Stage curtain www.asa.org.uk/.../2005/You+wannabe+careful.htm Prehistoric shark http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/01/070124-sharks-photo.html Wooly mammoth www.dinosauria.com/gallery/joe/joe3.html Dragon battellemedia.com/archives/2006_02.php Man behind the curtain http://bloviatingzeppelin.blogspot.com/2007/11/behind-curtain.html


Slide 78 :Image Credits 3-6-08 Talking heads http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/09.08.04/covers-0437.html Guillotine http://blogs.trb.com/sports/football/jets/blog/2007/08/ Guillotined head http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/fnart/art/wiertz.html Gourmet mushrooms www.gmushrooms.com/foodstore.htm Muddy boots video www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G2gfFQaNq0


Slide 79 :Web sites 3-6-08 car radio receiver specs www.xplodsony.com/video/av_centers/MEX-DV2000 Cell phone selection page www.sonyericsson.com/cws/products/mobilephones?cc=us&lc=en Video tutorials index video.techsmith.com/camtasia/5/edu/quickstart/enu/default.html Mountain flying course flash.aopa.org/asf/mountainFlying/html/flash.cfm? Hyundai marketing site www.thinkaboutit.com Nikefree marketing site (original version from 2004) http://web.archive.org/web/20040927001213/nike.com/nikefree/ (offline on 3-6-08) GeoNet Games www.eduplace.com/geonet and www.eduplace.com/tacklereading/puzzles.html JK Rowling www.jkrowling.com