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Hi All,<br>
Please see a message below from our good friend and colleague Jonathan
Lazar.<br>
<br>
<br>
Dear NFB community members, <br>
<br><br>
Our research team, led by Professor Niklas Elmqvist at University of
Maryland, College Park, aims to improve information accessibility for
blind individuals through design and evaluation of interactive systems
that represent data in the form of sound. We are designing an interactive
tool to support data analysis using sound. We are interested in insights
from Orientation and Mobility (O&M) training that we may effectively
use in our design process.<br>
<br><br>
<b>We are recruiting blind professional Orientation and Mobility experts
as participants in this research. You also need to be 18 years of age or
older.</b> <br>
<br><br>
We are interested in your instructional background, specifically your
training of blind individuals, how blind individuals rely on sound for
creating mental maps of the environment, and how blind individuals use
auditory interfaces in activities of daily living. The interview will in
total take approximately 60 minutes. The entire interview will be audio
recorded. No personal data will be collected (other than for tax
purposes) and all data will be anonymized.<br>
<br><br>
Participants will be paid a $100 Amazon Gift Card for their time and
efforts. Interview sessions will be conducted over the phone, or online
using a video conferencing tool of your choice (e.g., Skype, Zoom, or
Google Hangouts).<br>
<br><br>
To sign up, please send an email to <b>Pramod Chundury</b>
(<a href="mailto:pchundur@umd.edu">pchundur@umd.edu</a>) with your
preferred appointment date and time. After receiving your email, we will
reply to confirm your appointment, and provide details about the
study.<br>
<br><br>
Best regards,<br><br>
<br>
Dr. Niklas Elmqvist (<a href="mailto:elm@umd.edu">elm@umd.edu</a>) and
Dr. Jonathan Lazar
(<a href="mailto:jlazar@umd.edu">jlazar@umd.edu</a>)<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<b>Ronza Othman, </b>President<br>
National Federation of the Blind of Maryland<br>
443-426-4110<br>
Pronouns: she, her, hers<br>
<br>
The National Federation of the Blind of Maryland knows that blindness is
not the characteristic that defines you or your future. Every day we
raise the expectations of blind people, because low expectations create
obstacles between blind people and our dreams. You can live the life you
want; blindness is not what holds you back.<br>
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