Showing posts with label accessibility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label accessibility. Show all posts

Mar 10, 2011

Words of Wisdom from Ira David Socal: "Writing without the blocks" using free/low cost technologies.

"Liberate students from the cognitive waste going to mechanical issues which have nothing to do with effective communication. Help them to become communicators and storytellers, and let your teaching focus on construction of effective writing, and what separates "writing" from "talking" in our culture." -Ira David Socal


You don't need to be a student to appreciate this approach to writing and communication!


WRITING WITHOUT THE BLOCKS
Ira David Socal, SpeEdChange 3/10/11


Ira Socal starts out his thoughtful blog post by mentioning that he dictated it using a Jawbone bluetooth headset and Windows 7 Speech Recognition, which is a free component of the operating system.  He's found that this is a great approach to use with students who struggle with the writing process.   He points out that there are many barriers that students face when attempting to write, especially for those who have difficulty holding a pen or using a keyboard efficiently.  He also points out that "keyboards injure more people each year than any other workplace tool."


Below are two videos Ira Socal shared on his blog:



RELATED/SOMEWHAT RELATED
How to set up Windows 7 Speech Recognition
MIT Freedom Stick (Michigan Integrated Technologies Supports)
Freedom Stick and Firefox Accessibility
"The MITS Freedom Stick is designed to provide students with information and communication access on any computer using a Windows or Linux operating system. When you insert the USB Flash Drive into the computer the LearnApps software should load giving you a menu in the toolbar on the lower-right corner of the screen. Please note, however, that when using the software on some computers you may need to open the drive and click directly on the LearnApps icon to open."

Cross posted: TechPsych

Mar 2, 2011

More Eyetracking! Lenova's Laptop Prototype Incorporates Tobii Technology's Eyetracking System

Tobii Technology's eye tracking technology has been incorporated into a Lenova's laptop:


Press Release:   Tobii unveils the world's first eye-controlled laptop

Mar 01, 2011 09:00 CET"In collaboration with Lenovo, Tobii Technology has developed the world’s first eye-controlled laptop, using eye tracking technology from Tobii. The laptop is a fully functional conceptual prototype and an important breakthrough for Tobii in bringing eye tracking to consumer products. In this image, Henrik Eskilsson, the CEO of Tobii Technology, uses the eye gaze to control the computer."
The eye controlled laptop prototype in use

Feb 13, 2011

Wii Just Dance2 and Kinect Dance Central: UI and Usability Approaches; Challenges for Developing Accessible Games (revised)

I love to dance- I studied dance through college, and off and on as an adult.   I have a DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) game-floor pad somewhere in my attic gathering dust.  I'm ready for new challenges.


I'm planning on buying a couple new dance games for the Wii and the Kinect. There is more to this story, given my interest off-the-desktop, post-WIMP HCI (human-computer interaction), interactive multimedia and games, and a career as a school psychologist dedicated to young people with disabilities, I'm excited to see where new technologies, interfaces, and interactions will take us.


So what do the wise men of usability have to say about new ways of interacting with games and other applications?


"Kinect has many great design elements that clearly show that the team (a) knows usability, (b) did user testing, and (c) had management support to prioritize usability improvements, even when they required extra development work." -Jakob Nielsen


Jakob Nielsen, one of the godfathers of usability,  shared a few words of wisdom about the Kinect in his 12/27/10 Alertbox post: Kinect Gestural UI: First Impressions.  Although he did not review Dance Central, he concludes that the game he reviewed, Kinect Adventures, was fun to play, despite usability problems.


If this is a topic that interests you, I recommend you read Neilsen's post, and also take a look at which are outlined in the post.  Also take a look at recent essay Neilsen co-authored with Don Norman, another godfather of usability: Gestural Interfaces: A Step Backwards In Usability


Why is this topic important to me?
I have been involved in the Games for Health and Game Accessibility movement for many years.  Lately I've been exploring the OpenKinect project with an aim to create ways of making movement-oriented games accessible for young people with more complex disabilities.  For example, there is a need to have dance and movement games modified for students (and adults!) who need wheelchairs or walkers.  There are students who have milder mobility challenges who love to dance, and the current games don't address their needs.  Some of my students have vision or hearing impairments, too.  They deserve a chance to play things designed for the Kinect.

"OpenKinect is an open community of people interested in making use of the amazing Xbox Kinect hardware with our PCs and other devices. We are working on free, open source libraries that will enable the Kinect to be used with Windows, Linux, and Mac."

Note:  I currently work as a school psychologist with students up to age 22. My main office is adjacent to a large OT and PT room at Wolfe, a program for students who have special needs.   We just had a large interactive whiteboard installed in the room that is begging for us to connect it with the school's Wii,  and soon (we hope), a Kinect.   If we are going to use dance games to help promote healthy activities among our special students, the games need to be accessible for students with cognitive, motor, and other limitations.

FIRST STEPS
Although I can dance, I understand what the world is like through the eyes of many of the young people I work with who have motor coordination and sensory integration problems that interfere with their ability to  move and dance, let alone access fast-paced dance games on the Wii or Kinect. 


My initial plan is to look at what the new dance games might be like from the view of someone who doesn't know how to dance, and admits that they have "two left feet" - an perhaps, no sense of rhythm.  Where would I start?


Wii's Just Dance2 seems to offer some support for learning how to dance through the use of simple movement icons, in the form of outlined figures, that provide information about how to move with the dancer on the screen. As you can see from the video below, the gamer is provided with information about upcoming moves throughout the game.


I decided to take a look at Just Dance2's  MIKA "Big Girl" (You Are Beautiful) because some of the adolescent females I work with have weight concerns that interfere with their health. During the teen years, this can become a vicious cycle, resulting  in less movement, and less participation with peers in physical activities, such as playing dance games.  If a teen has depression as part of this mix, we know that exercise can help,  and a fun dance game might be a life-saver, in more ways than one.




The screen shots below show how the movement icons are used in the game:








I thought it would be useful to learn more about the story behind the making of JustDance2.
At 2:22, Alexia, the project's usability expert, makes her presence known. From what I can tell, she focused on aspects of the game that would make it more usable for non-dancers, including those with "two left feet", to play the game.  (I don't know if there was anyone consulted about accessibility concerns for the game.)


Kinect Dance Central
Dance Central uses a different approach when it comes to "teaching" people how to dance along through the game. It would be interesting to test out Dance Central and JustDance 2 with the same set of people to get a better feel for what works and what doesn't.  Below is a video that previews, in split-screen, the interaction that takes place in Dance Central:

Dance Central Full Motion Preview


In Dance Central, gamers are provided with information about the moves through icons that cycle up the right hand side of the screen.  The level of dance-coordination to keep up with the moves is challenging at times, even for people who are OK at dancing.  Players can select dances according to level of difficulty. 


Kinect Usability with Regular People

Steve Cable (CX Partmers) shared his team's look at usability issues related to the Kinect by testing several games, including Dance Central, with groups of people in his article, "Designing for XBox Kinect - a usability study".  The quote below is from the Steve's article:

"We’ve loved playing with the Kinect. There’s no doubt that the game play is lots of fun. In-game menus are a barrier to that fun. Kinect should allow players to move through menus quickly and compensate for inaccuracy.

We felt the Kinect would benefit from some standardised global controls – much like a controller uses the A button to select and the B button to move backwards. We also think it needs a more responsive pause gesture – one that doesn’t interfere with the user’s game play.

Most of our participants found the Dance Central menu to be more effective, more efficient and more satisfying to use. Here are our recommendations for designing a Kinect menu interface:
  1. Allow users to make selections through positive gestures, rather than timed positions
  2. Place options on a single axis to make them easier and quicker to select
  3. Allow users to control menus with the game pad if they prefer
  4. Use large easy to read text
  5. Don’t make users scroll through options unnecessarily – it takes too long
  6. Users will be distracted if used in a social setting – test your menus in a social context to see if they are prone to errors
  7. Avoid the cursor metaphor, it’s not what gamers are used to seeing in game menus, and makes it harder to implement alternative joypad controls"

Below are screen shots that provide examples of how the movement icons are displayed in Dance Central:







RELATED
Just Dance 2 Review: Get your body moving. No, really. Give it a shot.
Kexa MacDonald, 10/19/10







Nov 2, 2010

EyeTube for YouTube! Eye-gaze interaction software, free and downloadable from GazeGroup

Gaze interaction systems provide access to computers and the rich content now available on the web for many people with disabilities.  Unfortunately, commercial gaze tracking systems are very expensive and at times, difficult to calibrate.  There is hope!


Following up on my recent post, "Open-source Eye-tracking: The ITU Gaze Tracker 2.0 Beta", I thought I'd share the GazeGroup's EyeTube for YouTube interface.  


What is great about EyeTube for YouTube is that it provides two different interfaces. The simplified version looks good for younger children or people with cognitive disorders, and is icon-based.  The second version is appropriate for people who can navigate through more complex visual representations of content. 


EyeTube requires a Windows-based system and .Net 3.5 at this time. It can be downloaded from the GazeGroup website.  If you plan to download the application, you must also make sure you have a YouTube account. To get the application up and running, you'll need to change the settings (EyeTubeSettings.xml) to match your account.   (If you don't know much about changing settings or xml, ask someone you know who works in IT.)


Below is the icon-based version of the eye-gaze interface for YouTube:
EyeTube - Gaze Interaction for YouTube (simplified version)


Feature-rich version of the EyeTube interface for YouTube:
EyeTube - Gaze Interaction for YouTube

From the GazeGroup site:

"The EyeTube prototype offers a feature rich eye controlled interface for the popular YouTube service. Instead of emulating a mouse pointer and interacting with a web browser the EyeTube interface is especially designed to be driven by gaze input. It offers a wide range of features such as keyword searching, popular video feeds, favorites and social aspects such as subscriptions, friends and commenting on videos.The highly optimized interfaces allows for a streamline interaction which is aleviated from the Midas Touch problem. In most previous gaze interfaces selection is made by a dwell time activator, e.g fixat a button for a specific amount of time and it will execute the function. In the EyeTube interface a fixation on a U.I element will highlight it and a second fixation on the activation button is required to execute the function. This removes the stress of having to constantly move the eyes to avoid unintentional activation."
"The EyeTube also exists in another simplified incarnation developed for users whom are distracted by a larger number of options. It supports basic features such as browsing categories, optional keyword searching and favorites."

RELATED
The GazeGroup
(The individuals mentioned below may be currently working elsewhere, but involved in the gaze research in some way.)

GazeGroup Research Areas

COGAIN (Communication by Gaze Interaction)

ACM CHI Conference Articles
San Agustin, J., Skovsgaard, H., Hansen, J. P., and Hansen, D. W. 2009. Low-cost gaze interaction: ready to deliver the promises. In Proceedings of the 27th international Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Boston, MA, USA, April 04 - 09, 2009). CHI EA '09. ACM, New York, NY, 4453-4458. DOI= http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1520340.1520682
San Agustin, J., Hansen, J. P., Hansen, D. W., and Skovsgaard, H. 2009. Low-cost gaze pointing and EMG clicking. In Proceedings of the 27th international Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Boston, MA, USA, April 04 - 09, 2009). CHI EA '09. ACM, New York, NY, 3247-3252. DOI= http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1520340.1520466 
Tall, M., Alapetite, A., San Agustin, J., Skovsgaard, H. H., Hansen, J. P., Hansen, D. W., and Møllenbach, E. 2009. Gaze-controlled driving. InProceedings of the 27th international Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Boston, MA, USA, April 04 - 09, 2009). CHI EA '09. ACM, New York, NY, 4387-4392. DOI= http://doi.acm.org/10.1145/1520340.1520671

UPDATE

Eye-controlled games and leisure applications from the COGAIN wiki: http://www.cogain.org/wiki/Leisure_Applications
  • EyeArt - EyeArt eye-drawing program, developed by Andre Meyer and Markus Dittmar, Technical University of Dresden, Applied Cognitive Research Unit, Germany.
  • GazeTrain - Gaze-controlled action oriented puzzle game, developed by Lasse Farnung Laursen, Technical University of Denmark
  • Puzzle - Simple puzzle game that can be played with eye movements, developed by Vytautas Vysniauskas, Siauliai University, Lithuania
  • Road to Santiago - Gaze-controlled adventure game (full game), developed by Javier Hernandez Sanchiz, Universidad Publica de Navarra, Spain
  • Snap Clutch - An application that uses eye gaze data to generate key and mouse events for playing games such as World of Warcraft and Second Life.
  • ASE: Accessible Surfing Extension for Firefox - Follow this link to access ASE, an Accessible Surfing Extension for Firefox, developed by Emiliano Castellina and Fulvio Corno at Politecnico di Torino. (Note that this is a beta version.)
  • Eye Gaze Music (SAW Selection Sets) - Point and Play – eye gaze (direct pointing) musical activities, developed by DART. Please note that SAW (Special Access to Windows) framework application is needed to play these 15 music selection sets. SAW is available for free athttp://www.oatsoft.org/Software/SpecialAccessToWindows
  • EyeTube - Gaze interaction for YouTube - Follow this link to get more information and download EyeTube at ITU GazeGroup's web pages
  • Eye3D and other head eye mouse software - Eye3D for education, and a collection of links to free software that works with head or eye mouse. Includes links to downloads and original sites.
  • Gaze-controlled Breakout - Follow this link to access a modified version of the LBreakout2 game which can be operated by an SMI eye tracker, developed by Michael Dorr et al. at University of Luebeck
  • Oleg Spakov's Freeware games for MyTobii - Follow this link to access MyTobii compatible games developed by Oleg Spakov, University of Tampere, Finland
  • Free ITU Gaze Tracker and applications - Download a webcam based open-source gaze tracker and several applications that work with it, developed at IT University of Copenhagen
  • GameBase - Check out the Eye-Gaze Games category at the SpecialEffect GameBase!
  • More information about Gaze-Controlled Games - Follow this link to see a list of online information resources on using gaze for the control of games and other leisure applications

Nov 1, 2010

Open-source Eye-tracking: The ITU Gaze Tracker 2.0 Beta Via Martin Tall, NUI-Group Member

I came across the first version of the open-source ITU Gaze Tracker on the NUI Group forum in April of 2009 and played around with it a bit.  I was impressed.  I'm happy to say that the new version looks even better, although I haven't had the time to try it out.  Below are two recent videos that will give you a better understanding about gaze tracking.  


For the tech-curious, make sure you take the time to view the second video!  Links to info & code are below.


GT2 High speed remote eye tracking "Pushing the limits"


Technical Demonstration


Info about  the ITU Gaze Tracker 2.0 Beta from the NUI Group Forum, posted by Martin Tall:



Introducing the ITU Gaze Tracker 2.0 Beta
"We’ve made great progress since the initial release, today we open the doors for version 2.0. Internally we’ve rewritten major parts of the platform to gain flexibility and higher performance.  First version was DIY playtime, this version is nothing short of a screamer. High performance, very accuracy tracking. People are telling us we are crazy giving it away but we’re dedicated to the mission: Accessible eye tracking for all, regardless of nationality and means. We’re making it happen."
Important highlights for GT2.0b:
- Supports three modes of operation, head-mounted, remote mono/binocular
- Vastly improved performance, +500fps head mounted, +170fps remote binocular (both eyes)
- Awesome accuracy, avg. 0.3 - 0.7 degrees of visual angle (remote binocular)
- New U.I, looks so.. 2010
- Automatic tuning (optimization of algorithms parameters)
- Relatively low CPU-utilization and memory footprint (12%, 170Mb, core i7 860 win7-64)
- Many enhancements, bug-fixes etc.

Apr 18, 2010

Games for Health Conference, Games Accessibility Day, and Games Beyond Entertainment Week! (Via Ben Sawyer, Digital Mill, Serious Games Initiative)


The Games for Health Conference and Games Beyond Entertainment Week are coming soon.

We can now reveal our excellent keynotes for the 2010 Games for Health Conference:

Day 1: Wednesday May 26
THE MIND-BODY EXPERIENCE OF SONY MOVE: Relationships between Gaming, Play, Exercise, and More!
Dr. Richard Marks
Senior Researcher Sony US R&D group

Dr. Marks also known as the "father of the EyeToy" will discuss the relationship between gaming, play and exercise, referencing his work in the development of Sony’s new motion controller system, PlayStation Move, as well as his previous work with Sony’s EyeToy, PlayStation Eye and other interfaces.

Day 2: Thursday May 27
THE HUMAN PLAY MACHINE
Chaim Gingold
Chaim Gingold, a longtime independent game developer and original designer of Spore’s creature creator will discuss how existing game genres map onto the human brain and body and how design decisions affect who will be attracted to the game and how they will play.

You can see the nearly full schedule at: http://www.gamesforhealth.org/schedule.htm

Two of our May 25: Pre-Conference Events also have schedules posted:

Out & About: The Mobile Serious Games schedule: http://bit.ly/9MbEEF

3rd Annual Games Accessibility Dayhttp://gamesaccessibilityday.org/schedule.html (See below)




Best,
Ben Sawyer
Digitalmill
Serious Games Initiative

Games for Health Project
@bensawyer on twitter

Here is the schedule of the Games Accessibility Day,  May 25, 2010:

Tuesday, May 25, 2010


8:30 am to 9:00 am

Coffee

9:00 am to 9:50 am

Opening Ceremonies
Introduction of the Day, Mark Barlet 
Keynote Address:
Chuck Bergen – Making a commercial game targeting at the disabled community, and how he sold the idea to the biggest game company on the planet.

9:50 am to 10:00 am

Break

10:00 am to 10:30 am

Presentation: Tobi Saulnier - Winter's Tale : A Case Study of Designing for Game Accessibility on the Nintendo DS

10:30 am to 10:45 am

Presentation: Katherine Mancuso - Best Practices for Accessible Communication Using a Virtual World

10:45 am to 11:00 am

Presentation: Tim Holt: Game Accessibility in Special Education.

11:00 am to 11:15 am

Break

11:15 am to 11:30 am

Introduction to the “Hacker Hardware Challenge”
  • Adam Coe
  • Ben Heckendorn
  • Suzanne Robitaille

11:30 am to 12:00 pm

Presentation: Halimat Alabi - Making the Fantasy Real: Giving Good User Interface

12:00 pm to 12:20 pm

Presentation: Mantha Sadural - SPREAD: Appreciating Speech through Gaming

12:20 pm to 1:30 pm

Lunch

1:30 pm to 1:50 pm

“Hacker Hardware Challenge” the reveal and Q&A

1:50 pm to 2:10 pm

Presentation: Johnny Richardson - The Social Construction Model of Interactive Gaming for Disabled Users: Benefits and Developmental Evaluation

2:10 pm to 2:30 pm

Presentation: Eleanor Robinson - Game Accessibility and the Aging Community

2:30 pm to 3:00 pm

Group Activity: Break out into groups and solve the world’s problems
How could we pass up the opportunity to flex the massive amount of talent assembled in one room. Take on a challenge and help develop a solution.

3:00 pm to 3:10 pm

Break

3:10pm to 3:40 pm

Group Activity: Presentation of the breakouts

3:40 pm to 4:10 pm

Presentation: Rock Vibe - Rock Band for People with No or Limited Vision

4:10 pm to 4:30 pm

Break

4:30 pm to 5:00 pm

Presentation: Suzanne Robitaille and Mark Barlet - Reviews for All, A New way of looking at things for our community

5:00 pm to 5:20 pm

Presentation: Heidi Silver-Pacuilla - Unleashing the Power of Innovation for Assistive Technology

5:20 pm to 5:30 pm

Closing Ceremonies


Jan 18, 2010

Special Effect's on-line Accessible Gamebase network, supporting accessible games for young people with disabilities.

"SpecialEffect is a charity dedicated to helping ALL young people with disabilities to enjoy computer games. For these children, the majority of computer games are simply too quick or too difficult to play, and we can help them and their parents to find out which games they CAN play, and how to adapt those games that they can't."


Here is a video that tells a story of how SpecialEffects created a game for a young woman, Helen, with a motor disability.  Helen operates the computer with her eyes to play against her brother, who uses the touch-screen interface:

If you are interested in supporting accessible games, consider joining Accessible Gamebase, a new on-line community maintained by Special Effect.  Below is the message I recently received from SpecialEffect regarding this opportunity to connect others regarding accessible games:


"Have you been wondering just what it is you could do to get involved with SpecialEffect? Well, that question is answered today with the launch of SpecialEffect's 'accessible Gamebase.


  • It deals with all access devices for all physical and learning disabilities - from switch users to eye controllers. 
  • It's not just a place for gamers but a place where everyone - carers, gamers, developers and, of course, end-users themselves - can both share information and try out the latest games whether they are seasoned gamers or absolute beginners. 
  • It has the potential to be a great training tool, too, and we've already put up some example videos to illustrate how the games are played. 
  • As it's based on a social networking model, anyone can easily join up and share information. 
  • It tells you not only how to adapt mainstream games for use by everyone but also provides information on which special games are available - and for whom.
All in all, then, it's very much designed to be a place that encourages anyone with an interest in this area to meet to share information and ideas. The proof of the pudding will be in the extent to which people use it, of course, and it will need significant promotion (yes, this will be where we will need your help!) to reach that point of critical mass when, with SpecialEffect's expert input and moderation, it will thrive.

Go to
http://www.gamebase.info to sign up and Be a Part of It!"




Oct 16, 2009

IDPedia: Interaction Design Patterns for Games Library!


From the HelpYouPlay IDPedia (Interaction Design Patterns for Games Library) website:


"Design patterns are ways to describe best practices, explain good designs, and capture experience so that other people can reuse these solutions. The idea of a pattern was introduced by the architect Christopher Alexander for use in urban planning and building architecture, but since then a pattern community has emerged that specifies patterns for all sorts of problems. Interaction design patterns aim to capture optimal solutions to common usability or accessibility problems in a specific context. Typically best practices concerning interaction design are described as guidelines or heuristics. We consider interaction design patterns to be more descriptive than guidelines as it tells a designer exactly when, how and why the solution can be applied." 

Thanks, Barrie Ellis (One-Switch Games) for the link!


SOMEWHAT RELATED
Game Usability and Accessibility
Donate to the AbleGamers Fundraiser!
The funds will support the work of the AbleGamers Foundation, and donations are tax-deductible.

"The AbleGamers Foundation's mission is to empower the disabled population to enjoy the digital revolution that is taking place in gaming... We believe in harnessing the power of many people's voices to solve the problems of the not so few. The AbleGamers Foundation strives to bring together individuals from every lifestyle with a common goal of improving the lives of the disabled. Everyone has the right to enjoy the world, and together, we can make that possible. Together, we can make it possible for everyone to enjoy the rich content of digital entertainment with his or her friends and family regardless of disability."

Eelke Folmer's Human-Computer Interaction Research

Usability Patterns in Games (pdf)
Accessibility in Games and Virtual Worlds
Interaction Design Patterns

Eelke Folmer's presentation at the 2009 Games 4 Health Conference, Boston
Game Accessibility WorkshopG4H: game accessibility research @ University of Nevada, Reno
View more presentations from eelke folmer.

Oct 6, 2009

Problems with Kindle in Education: Looks as if Amazon forgot to do usability and accessibility homework!

When e-readers first were released to the world, I thought I'd be the first on the block to run out and get one.  But I wasn't, and I didn't.  Why not?   

  • They are too expensive.
  • They don't provide me with the text/content/concept/nonlinear/multimedia interaction I want (not useful for my purposes.)
  • Issues regarding usability, accessibility, and universal design have yet to be resolved.
Problem: Not quite useful or usable for students.

Hyung Lee, The Daily Princetonian 9/28/09
“I hate to sound like a Luddite, but this technology is a poor excuse of an academic tool...It’s clunky, slow and a real pain to operate...Much of my learning comes from a physical interaction with the text: bookmarks, highlights, page-tearing, sticky notes and other marks representing the importance of certain passages — not to mention margin notes, where most of my paper ideas come from and interaction with the material occurs,” he explained. “All these things have been lost, and if not lost they’re too slow to keep up with my thinking, and the ‘features’ have been rendered useless.” - Aaron Horvath, student, Princeton
Winthrop professor uses Kindle to spark new age of learning- but response to e-reader lukewarm (Shawn Cetrone, Herald Online, 10/5/09)
"About a month into the semester at Winthrop, the device has yet to garner many fans...
 “I don't really like it,” senior Cindy Satta said after class. “We used to highlight things we read, especially with complicated texts. We can't do that now.”    And Satta prefers leafing through paper pages over fumbling with the Kindle key pad. But, she added, it was nice not having to buy a book."
EDUKINDLE:  Kindle for Educators

Problem:  Usable and useful for reading fiction, but not much else.
I'm delighted to share Jakob Nielsen's reviews of the Kindle- he is an "older" guy, and given his background in the usability field, he's well-aware of factors related to reading text on screens.  I don't need reading glasses yet, but given my age, reading small print will become an important issue when and if I purchase an e-Reader!

Kindle 2 Usability Review (Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox, 3/9/09)
"Amazon's new e-book reader offers print-level readability and shines for reading fiction, but it has awkward interaction design and poor support for non-linear content."
Kindle Content Design (Jakob Nielson, Alertbox, 3/16/09)
" Adapting content for the Kindle e-book reader requires that you follow an unholy mix of usability guidelines for other environments........ Given these constraints, navigating non-linear content on Kindle feels much like navigating websites on a mobile phone. Kindle content designers should therefore follow mobile usability guidelines for many user interface issues, including the presentation of article pages."
Kindle DX - Disappointing (Jakob Nielsen, Alertbox, 5/2009)
"Reduced crispness means fuzzier fonts, which again means reduced legibility and slower reading speed. Thus, Kindle DX is not likely to replicate the pleasant reading experience of Kindle 2. This is particularly catastrophic since it's intended for reading textbooks which are dense in word count...Seeing only one page at a time will reduce students' ability to learn, relative to reading books that display two-page spreads as the designer and author intended."


Problem: Lacking key features required for accessibility and conforming to UDL (Universal Design for Learning) principles.


NOTE: Somehow I missed the controversy about accessibility and e-Books! Since I don't have an e-reader and I don't know anyone who owns one, it was off my radar.

Apparently e-Books don't come with audio rights, and this issue is much more complicated than one would think. I am sure there are many sides to the story. In my humble opinion, much of this controversy could have been prevented if all parties involved in the eBook revolution had done their homework before the first e-Book came to market!   

National Federation of the Blind and American Council of the BlindFile Discrimination Suit Against Arizona State University: University’s Amazon Kindle DX Pilot Program Discriminates Against the Blind
"The Kindle DX features text-to-speech technology that can read textbooks aloud to blind students.  The menus of the device are not accessible to the blind, however, making it impossible for a blind user to purchase books from Amazon’s Kindle store, select a book to read, activate the text-to-speech feature, and use the advanced reading functions available on the Kindle DX"

"Darrell Shandrow, a blind student pursuing a degree in journalism at ASU, said: “Not having access to the advanced reading features of the Kindle DX—including the ability to download books and course materials, add my own bookmarks and notes, and look up supplemental information instantly on the Internet when I encounter it in my reading—will lock me out of this new technology and put me and other blind students at a competitive disadvantage relative to our sighted peers.  While my peers will have instant access to their course materials in electronic form, I will still have to wait weeks or months for accessible texts to be prepared for me, and these texts will not provide the access and features available to other students.  That is why I am standing up for myself and with other blind Americans to end this blatant discrimination.""
Advocates for the Blind Sue Arizona State U over Kindle Use  (Marc Beja, Wired Campus, Chronicles of Higher Education, 7/2/09)
Blind Access Journal (Darrell Shandrow's Blog)

Broad Coalition Demands Access to Amazon Kindle/Electronic Books: Reading Rights Coalition Urges Authors to Allow Everyone Access to E-books
Author's Guild Statement Making the Kindle Accessible to the Print Disabled(4/7/09)

Reading Rights Coalition

(Direct links to the member groups of the Reading Rights Coalition can be found on the home page.) 
The Kindle TTS Issue
"Shortly after the Kindle 2’s release, the Authors Guild, as an organization that represents some writers, protested Amazon’s deployment of text-to-speech on the Kindle 2. The Authors Guild argued that reading a book out loud, as occurs with the Kindle, requires the specific permission of the copyright holder. It also expressed a concern that text-to-speech could inhibit the development of the market for audio books. On February 24, 2009, the New York Times ran an op-ed piece by Roy Blount, Jr., president of the Authors Guild, which escalated media attention on the issue."
Protest Signs: Potential E-Book Reader Below















CNN iReport Author's Guild Protest

HOPE FOR THE FUTURE?
How Tech for the Disabled is Going Mainstream: Designs conceived for the handicapped, such as voice commands for PCs, often lead to products for the masses 
(Reena Jana, Business Week 9/24/09)
""Companies could look at designing for accessibility as a sales opportunity. Most features that are accessible for the disabled have great value to everybody," says Donald A. Norman, a former Apple vice-president for advanced technology who heads a joint business and engineering program at Northwestern University."

"While VoiceOver helped broaden Apple's reach to the blind, it also became a mini-engine for innovation within the company. "When we created the VoiceOver idea and concept for the Mac, we also realized we could take advantage of it by mainstreaming it," says Greg Joswiak, Apple's vice-president for iPod and iPhone marketing."

"At Google (GOOG), a deaf software engineer, Ken Harrenstein, spearheaded the creation of a captioning tool for videos posted on Google's YouTube site. His original intention was to help deaf users. But the company soon figured out the software could also help translate languages. That idea led in late 2008 to an auto-translation tool that allows people to add captions in 50 languages instantly to YouTube videos they upload, increasing the number of people who can watch and understand the clips" 

Rebooting the Book (One Apple iPad Tablet at a Time) 
(Mark Sigal, O'Reilly Radar, 9/22/09)
In the above article,  Sigal digs into the history of Apple's past visions for the future, visions worth contemplating in 2009.  Sigal that believes the "iPad" could function as an interactive learning device, a chemistry and physics lab, a story-telling narrative vehicle, and an information and reference guide.  

Sigal provides some interesting scenarios that anyone interested in this area should seriously consider!



(Also read Sigal's "Apple, the Boomer Tablet, and the Matrix")