[MD-Sligo] FW: [NFBMD] Research Request

Thu Aug 29 19:58:00 UTC 2024

From: NFBMD <nfbmd-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of David Andrews via NFBMD
Sent: Wednesday, August 28, 2024 6:55 AM
To: nfbmd at nfbnet.org; nfbv-announce at nfbnet.org; nfb-dc at nfbnet.org
Cc: David Andrews <dandrews920 at comcast.net>
Subject: [NFBMD] Research Request

Research Participation Request: Evaluating the Accessibility of Touch and
Audio-based Visual Analysis for Blind Individuals

The below research participant solicitation is being provided for
informational purposes only. The National Federation of the Blind has no
involvement in this research, but we believe that it may contribute to our
research mission.

Research Title: Evaluating the Accessibility of Touch and Audio-based Visual
Analysis for Blind Individuals

Being conducted by: University of Maryland College Park

Purpose of the Study

We have developed a cross-modal tool for making charts accessible on
touchscreen devices such as tablets and smartphones. The system -
TactualPlot, uses speech and non-speech audio to represent chart elements
and data values, while the interaction is through touch-based gestures. We
designed our interaction gestures and audio through workshops with our blind
collaborator where we used Tactile Graphics interaction as reference. We
mainly focused on scatter plots for our initial exploration. Our goal is to
quantitatively understand how effective our approach is in comparison to
(1) accessible textual descriptions (captions), and (2) Monarch device - a
multi-line refreshable Braille display that can render tactile graphics.

Role of the Participants and Anticipated Length of the Study 

In the current planned study, we will create

Bar chart: A horizontal chart where adjacent bars of different height will
convey values in a one-dimensional dataset, such as sales figures for
different products or unemployment rates for different countries.

Line chart: A horizontal chart representing time-series data as a continuous
line where time is represented on the horizontal axis and value is
represented on the vertical axis, such as stock market indices or
temperature measurements over time.

Pie Chart: A radial chart representing relative ratios of a whole, where
circle segments (pies) convey the ratio for each discrete label, such as
gender distributions or parts-of-whole relationships.

Scatterplot: A two-dimensional chart with different data dimensions mapped
to the vertical and horizontal axes and data points plotted in the Cartesian
plane defined by them, such as a camera dataset plotting price versus
resolution, or cars plotting gas mileage versus horsepower.

Tasks

In designing tasks for a data science study, it is important to select tasks
that are representative of the full gamut of tasks that an analyst might
encounter in their daily work. We choose to base our choice of tasks on the
cardinality of the task: the number of data items each task is concerned
with. More specifically, while each visual representation will have specific
tasks, we propose a common theme for all representations:

One item (access) - reading a single value from a dataset;

Two items (comparison) - comparing two different values in a dataset.

Many/all items (distribution) - characterizing the entirety of a dataset.

The study session will last no longer than 3 hours, and participants will be
compensated $100 for their time.

A detailed research plan is available in the following link:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uqMEpe7D33iOZxuScnFliWDQKZHuGEBGQ3xm1isI
QXg/edit?usp=sharing

Proposed Participant Compensation

Yes, Upon completion of the study, participants will be paid with a $100
gift card.

Link or Instructions for Participants to Enter the Study 

Dear NFB members,

Our research team, led by Professor Jonathan Lazar 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 and touch. We have designed an
interactive tool to support data analysis (using sound) to generate
insights. Additionally, we have also designed data visualizations to work
with the Monarch, a refreshable tactile display from the American Printing
House for the Blind (APH). To evaluate our designs, we are seeking
participants for a user study.

 We are recruiting participants who are blind, have experience with a screen
reader, have experience with data analysis, and are 18 years of age or
older.

 The study will in total take approximately 3 hours during which we will ask
you to use the tools to explore data, followed by a small interview to
gather feedback on the design. The sessions shall be audio and video
recorded and participant's on screen activities shall be screen recorded. No
personal data will be collected, and all study data will be anonymized.

 Participants will be compensated with a $100 gift card for their time and
efforts. Study sessions will be conducted at the University of Maryland
campus in College Park, at a convenient location for the participant such as
a nearby public library, or their home (if comfortable). Please email the
researcher (listed below) to discuss travel and location.

 If you are interested in participating, please send an email to Pramod
(pchundur at umd.edu). After receiving your email, we will reply to confirm
your appointment, and provide details about the study. Please feel free to
share the email to others who you believe may be interested in
participating!

 Best regards,

 Pramod Chundury

 Email: pchundur at umd.edu <mailto:pchundur at umd.edu>  

 Phone: 240-620-5063

Contact the following individual with any questions 

Pramod Chundury

2406205063

pchundur at umd.edu

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