Moving Assistive Technology on the Webthe Farfalla experience

Andrea Mangiatordi, University of Milan BicoccaRiccardo Dondi, University of BergamoWalter Fornasa, University of Bergamo

WSKS 2008, Athens, 26th September 2008

Assistive Technology

on the Web

What is the relationship?

Assistive Technology

• AT definition: any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve functional capabilities of a child with a disability*

• There are general and computer related ATs:

* Alliance for Technology Access, Computer resources for people with disabilities, Hunter House, Alameda 2004

On one side we have

Computer-related ATs

• They can be Hardware and Software

• They can, basically:

★ facilitate/enhance accessibility of standard input/output devices

★ create new interaction channels

Software ATs

• Screen magnifiers

• On-screen keyboards

• Screen readers for blind people

• Text composition aids (e.g. with text prediction)

• Vocal recognition systems

• ...

Web ApplicationsOn the other side there are

and many more...

and their advantages...

• they are browser based, server-side and client-side applications which make the web “richer”

• they contribute in making the person free from the machine, in at least two senses:

★ any computer with a web browser and a broadband connection can easily become my virtual office

★ the machine I use doesn’t really matter, it can be a 24’’ Apple iMac as well as an XO-Laptop

Yes, something already exists...

Textic’s Talklets

WebAnywhere

And there are also portable applications, like the PortableApps suite and NVDA

Then, what is Farfalla?

• a browser-in-the-browser system

• an extensible application, which acts as a layer between an ordinary browser and a “unordinary” user

• thus, an application useful for people with different disabilities, but also for people with no disabilities at all (e.g., using non standard devices)

How does it work?

Current features

• 5 keys browsing and writing

• text prediction

• onscreen keyboard

• text-to-speech synthesis

http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=3zA4LbZvBNA&fmt=6See it in action!

What are the research objectives?

• To create a crossplatform framework to make new web-based assistive technology available to all users

• To study the effects of this approach on young users - the so called “Digital Natives” - with particular focus onintegration at school