The perception of haptic graphs by individuals with visual impairments through an electrostatic touchscreen.

Background: The potential of haptic touchscreens in accessing digital graphical information is argued in recent research. With a growing demand for graph accessibility, particularly for individuals with visual impairments, haptic touchscreens emerge as a viable solution. Methods: In this study, 19 a...

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Publicado en:Disability & Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology Vol. 20; no. 8; pp. 3188 - 3201
Autores principales: Fountouki, Christina, Papadopoulos, Konstantinos
Formato: pictorial research tables/charts Journal Article
Publicado: Taylor & Francis Ltd Nov2025
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Nov2025
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      pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd
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        10.1080/17483107.2025.2508388
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        atl: The perception of haptic graphs by individuals with visual impairments through an electrostatic touchscreen.
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          Fountouki, Christina
          Papadopoulos, Konstantinos
        affil: Department of Educational and Social Policy, University of Macedonia, Thessaloniki, Greece
      sug:
        subj:
          Rehabilitation of Persons with Vision Loss
          Assistive Technology Devices
          Vision Disorders Psychosocial Factors
          Graphical User Interface
          Patient Attitudes Evaluation
          Severity of Illness
          Age of Onset
          Human
          Male
          Female
          Adult
          Middle Age
          Nonexperimental Studies
          Descriptive Statistics
          Correlational Studies
          Analysis of Variance
          Pearson's Correlation Coefficient
          Paired T-Tests
          Unpaired T-Tests
          Touch
          Sensation
          Assistive Technology
          Persons with Visual Disabilities
          Access to Information
          Equipment Design
          Computers, Hand-Held
          Adult: 19-44 years
          Middle Aged: 45-64 years
          Male
          Female
      ab: Background: The potential of haptic touchscreens in accessing digital graphical information is argued in recent research. With a growing demand for graph accessibility, particularly for individuals with visual impairments, haptic touchscreens emerge as a viable solution. Methods: In this study, 19 adults with visual impairments participated in an experiment aimed at evaluating their perception of five graphs "touched" via an electrostatic Tanvas touchscreen. The objectives of the research are to examine: (1) whether the responses provided by the participants for the graph values are accurate; i.e., how much these responses deviate from the actual graph values; (2) whether the individual characteristics of the participants, such as severity of the visual impairment and age of onset of the visual impairment, affect their performance; and (3) what are the parameters (i.e., the characteristics of the tasks) that negatively or positively affect the performance of participants; The study comprised a familiarization test and five test-graphs, namely two bar graphs, one pie chart, one scatter plot, and one line graph. Results: Results indicate promising outcomes, with participants demonstrating satisfactory graph perception through the device. Demographic and personal factors exerted no statistically significant influence on performance. Participants encountered challenges in tasks involving a horizontal axis with densely arranged segments, especially when tasked with counting a large number of segments. Conclusions: Overall, there seems to be potential for providing access to digital graphical information for individuals with visual impairments through the Tanvas haptic device. However, further investigation with audio integration would be beneficial. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The study's findings represent a significant initial advancement toward facilitating access to graphical representations for individuals with visual impairments. The development of accessible digital educational material can be facilitated. The digitization of haptic graphical information holds substantial promise for enhancing accessibility for individuals with visual impairments. The device can serve as a new educational tool enabling teaching staff to provide students access to abstract concepts and visual data involved in STEM subjects (e.g., mathematics, physics, chemistry).
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype:
        pictorial
        research
        tables/charts
        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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