音声ブラウザご使用の方向け： SKIP NAVI ／ GOTO NAVI

Web Posted on: August 4, 1998

Design for All in the TIDE ACCESS Project

Constantine Stephanidis
Institute of Computer Science Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas Science and Technology Park of Crete
Heraklion, Crete, 71110 Greece
Tel: +30-81-391741
Fax: +30-81-391740
E-mail: cs@ics.forth.gr

Pier Luigi Emiliani
Istituto di Ricerca sulleOndeElettromagnetiche
Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche
Via Panciatichi 64
Firenze, 50127 Italy
Tel: +39-55-4235235, Fax: +39-55-410893
E-mail: ple@iroe.fi.cnr.it

Abstract

This paper presents the R&D efforts in the context of the TIDE ACCESS project towards user interfaces for all, i.e. the realisation of the design for all principle in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI). The main outcomes of the ACCESS project include: (i) the unified user interface development environment which facilitates the development of user interfaces adaptable to the end user requirements, and (ii) demonstrators in the domains of interpersonal communication aids for speech-motor and language-cognitive impaired people, and hypermedia systems for blind people, that have employed the unified user interface development method and tools.


| Top |

1. Design for All in HCI

Disabled and elderly people are expected to interact with an increasingly complex technological environment, where user interfaces are usually designed only with the requirements of "able-bodied" users in mind [16]. Until recently, the provision of accessibility to computer-based applications and services by disabled and elderly people has been mainly based on adaptations to existing systems, or on "dedicated" developments focusing on specific solutions, or targeted to a particular user category [18]. The rapid evolution of technology, however, restricts considerably the scope of such reactive approaches, since, progressively, they become technically more difficult and certainly less cost-effective, and they lead to solutions for people with disabilities which lag behind mainstream developments at least one technological generation [17]. An alternative approach to overcoming these limitations would be to cater for the diverse abilities, skills, requirements and preferences of individual end users, during the early design and development phases. In this context, a proactive realisation of the design for all principle is necessary, in order to ensure universal access and quality in use for all users, i.e. including disabled and elderly people.

Our contextual definition of design for all is fundamentally different from other definitions which have recently appeared in the international literature, e.g. [8, 26], in that we specifically restrict usage of this term to proactive approaches and to measures and tools which have been developed and tested, and whose techno-economic viability has been demonstrated in practice [22]. Our notion of design for all (or universal design, the terms are used interchangeably) refers to the conscious and systematic effort to proactively apply principles, methods and tools, in order to develop user interfaces for mainstream IT&T products and services which ensure universal access and quality in use to all users, thus avoiding the need for a posteriori adaptations or specialised design. The rationale behind universal design is grounded on the claim that designing for the "typical" or "average" user, as the case has been with "conventional" design of IT&T products, leads to user interfaces of products which do not cater for the needs of the broadest possible population, thus excluding various categories of users (e.g. non-expert IT users, the very young and elderly people, people with disabilities). Contrasting this view, the normative perspective of our contextual definition of universal design is that there is no "average" user and, consequently, design should be targeted towards all potential users [15].

In this context, the ACCESS project has proposed the concept of User Interfaces for All, following the principle of design for all in HCI, as a means to ensure user interface accessibility, and in order to meet the individual abilities, skills, requirements and preferences of the user population at large, including disabled and elderly people. The Unified User Interface Development (U2I) methodology has been defined, designed, implemented and validated, as a vehicle to efficiently and effectively serve the goal of user interfaces for all. The main objective has been to support technological platform independence, metaphor independence and user-profile independence during the interface development process (Fig 1) [22].


Fig 1. User Interface for All


| Top |

2. The ACCESS Results

The TIDE ACCESS project has designed, developed, applied, demonstrated and evaluated new technological solutions for the provision of accessibility to computer-based applications, by users with different abilities, skills, requirements and preferences [10]. Also, in the context of the ACCESS project, two demonstrator applications have been designed and implemented: communication aids for speech-motor and language-cognitive impaired users [25], and hypermedia systems for blind users [7].

2.1 The ACCESS Tools for User Interface Development

Tools to effectively support the notion of unification throughout the development process have been developed, which practically demonstrate the technical feasibility of a tool-based development approach to the overall problem of enabling access to different user groups. In this context, a complete user interface development environment has been designed and implemented, which is software and hardware platform-independent. This environment can be used to construct interfaces adapted to the individual user characteristics, abilities and preferences, and includes [9]: (i) The USE-IT tool: A design assistance tool that combines knowledge about the user with models of the physical level of interaction, to make decisions concerning the most appropriate selection of input / output devices and interaction techniques for each user [1, 2, 3]; (ii) The I-GET tool: A User Interface Management System (UIMS) with a 4th Generation Language for interface specification and automatic generation of the interface implementation; it provides unified interaction constituents and supports adaptability of the resulting interfaces by applying the decisions provided by the USE-IT tool at run-time [12]; (iii) The PIM tool: This tool is used to produce toolkits for interface development. The distinctive property of these toolkits is that they can be used for the development of interfaces in a way which unifies diverse constituents of human-computer interaction. At run-time, the toolkits automatically read and apply the specific decisions which have been produced by the USE-IT tool. Consequently, the PIM tool can be seen as producing interface toolkits which support unified interface development [11]; (iv) The MSTOOL toolkit: It supports the development of user interfaces for motor-impaired users. It provides scanning facilities of interaction objects, thus enabling access to graphical environments through alternative input / output devices, such as switches, virtual keyboards, etc [14]; and (v) The HKTOOL toolkit: It supports the development of non-visual interfaces, taking into account the requirements of blind users [13].

2.2 The ACCESS Demonstrators

The ACCESS project has designed and implemented two communication aids for speech-motor and language-cognitive disabled users. The demonstrators feature: (i) the application of the U2I approach and the MSTOOL toolkit for visual interaction, for the design and implementation of the user interface; (ii) a novel component-based architecture and tools for interpersonal communication aids design and implementation, the Access to Interpersonal Communication (ATIC) architecture [5], and (iii) a multi-lingual lexical knowledge-base for communication aids, the User Vocabulary Definition and Meaning Mapping Module (UVDMM) [4]. Also, the ACCESS project has designed and implemented a demonstrator hypermedia application, which illustrates how blind students can make effective use of electronic information resources to support their studies [6]. The demonstrator features: (i) the application of the U2I approach and the HKTOOL toolkit for non-visual interaction, for the design and implementation of the user interface; and (ii) innovative interaction and navigation techniques for the interaction of blind users with hypermedia applications [7].

2.3 Evaluation, Validation, Support Measures and Diffusion of Results

In the ACCESS project, users have been involved in the design and evaluation process by means of interviews and discussions, use of "techno-guides", development of scenarios and task analysis, user evaluation of interface components and complete prototypes, and finally workshops [24]. The ACCESS project has evaluated the components of the unified user interface development environment, and the application domain specific demonstrators, assessed the impact on the target user population, and examined the relevant socio-economic, standardisation and legislation issues [19, 23]. The results of the project have been promoted within the ISO 9241 community through the collection and consolidation of recommendations. A new work item has also been proposed in the context of ISO TC 159 / WG 5 / SC 4 [20]. Also, the results of the project have been widely diffused, mainly through the ERCIM Working Group on User Interfaces for All [21], the International Scientific Forum "Towards an Information Society for All" [15], and other international activities.


| Top |

3. Concluding Remarks

This paper has briefly reviewed the aims and achievements of the TIDE ACCES project (http://www.ics.forth.gr/~access). The ACCESS project has offered a novel approach to solving accessibility and usability problems of disabled and elderly people. The main outcomes are a complete user interface development environment, as well as demonstrator applications in critical application domains. The ACCESS project has demonstrated the technical feasibility and the economic viability of applying the "Design for all" approach in HCI, in the context of the emerging Information Society. The goal of user interfaces for all has been introduced, and appropriate methodologies and tools for its practical application have been developed and validated.


| Top |

Acknowledgements

The TIDE TP1001 ACCESS project "Development platform for unified ACCESS to enabling environments" has been partially funded by the European Commission (DG XIII). The ACCESS consortium comprised: CNR-IROE, Italy (Prime Contractor); ICS-FORTH, Greece; University of Athens, Greece; RNIB, UK; SELECO, Italy; MA systems Ltd., UK; Hereward College, UK; STAKES, Finland; VTT, Finland; PIKO Systems, Finland; University of Hertfordshire, UK.


| Top |

References

  1. Akoumianakis D., Savidis A., Stephanidis C., "An Expert User Interface Design Assistant for Deriving Maximally Preferred Lexical Adaptability Rules", 3rd World Congress on Expert Systems, Seoul, Korea, 5-9 February 1996, pp. 1298-1315.
  2. Akoumianakis D., Stephanidis C., "Knowledge-based Support for User-Adapted Interaction Design", Expert Systems with Applications, 12(2), 1997, pp. 225-245.
  3. Akoumianakis D., Stephanidis C., "Supporting User Adapted Interface Design: The USE-IT System", Interacting with Computers, 9(1), 1997, pp. 73-104.
  4. Antona M., Stephanidis C., Kouroupetroglou G., "Vocabulary Management in Modular Communication Aids", 4th European Conference for the Advancement of Assistive Technology, Porto Carras, Greece, 29 September - 2 October 1997, pp. 200-205.
  5. Kouroupetroglou G., Viglas C., Anagnostopoulos A., Stamatis C., Pentaris F., "A Novel Software Architecture for Computer-based Interpersonal Communication Aids", 5th International Conference on Computers Helping People with Special Needs, Linz, Austria, 17-19 July 1997, pp. 715-720.
  6. Petrie H., Morley S., McNally P.R., Graziani P., Emiliani P.L., "Access to Hypermedia Systems for Blind Students", in Burger D. (ed.), New Technologies in the Education of the Visually Handicapped, Montrouge, Editions INSERM / John Libbey Eurotext, 1996, pp.223-227.
  7. Petrie H., Morley S., McNally P.R., O’ Neill A.M., Majoe D., "Initial Design and Evaluation of an Interface to Hypermedia Systems for Blind Users", 8th ACM International Hypertext Conference, Southampton, UK, 6-11 April 1997.
  8. Sandhu J.S., "What is Design for All", European Telematics Conference: Advancing the Information Society, Barcelona, Spain, 4-7 February 1998, pp. 184-186.
  9. Savidis A., Akoumianakis D., Stephanidis C., "Software Architecture for Transformable Interface Implementations: Building User-Adapted Interactions", HCI International ’97 Conference, San Francisco, USA, 24-29 August 1997, pp. 453-456.
  10. Savidis A., Paramythis A., Akoumianakis D., Stephanidis C., "Designing User-Adapted Interfaces: The Unified Design Method for Transformable Interactions", ACM Conference on Designing Interactive System: Processes, Methods and Techniques, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, 18-20 August 1997, pp. 323-334.
  11. Savidis A., Stephanidis C., Akoumianakis D., "Unifying Toolkit Programming Layers: A Multi-Purpose Toolkit Integration Module", 4th Eurographics Workshop on Design, Specification and Verification of Interactive Systems, Granada, Spain, 4-6 June 1997, pp. 187-212.
  12. Savidis A., Stephanidis C., Emiliani P.L., "Abstract Task Definition and Incremental Polymorphic Physical Instantiation", HCI International ‘97 Conference, San Francisco, USA, 24-29 August 1997, pp. 465-468.
  13. Savidis A., Stergiou A., Stephanidis C., "Generic Containers for Metaphor Fusion in Non-Visual Interaction: The HAWK Interface Toolkit", INTERFACES ‘97 Conference, Montpellier, France, 28-30 May 1997, pp. 194-196.
  14. Savidis A., Vernardos G., Stephanidis C., "Embedding Scanning Techniques Accessible to Motor-Impaired Users in the WINDOWS Object Library", HCI International ’97 Conference, San Francisco, USA, 24-29 August 1997, pp. 429-432.
  15. Stephanidis C. (ed), "Towards an Information Society for All: An International R&D Agenda", White Paper, International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, To Appear, 1998(2).
  16. Stephanidis C., "Editorial: Disabled and Elderly People in the Information Society", ERCIM News No 28, Special Issue on Information Technology empowering Disabled and Elderly People, 1997, pp. 4-5.
  17. Stephanidis C., "Towards the Next Generation of UIST: Developing for All Users", HCI International ‘97 Conference, San Francisco, USA, 24-29 August 1997, pp. 473-476.
  18. Stephanidis C., "Towards User Interfaces for All: Some Critical Issues", HCI International ‘95 Conference, Panel Session "User Interfaces for All - Everybody, Everywhere, and Anytime", Tokyo, Japan, 9-14 July 1995, pp. 137-142.
  19. Stephanidis C., Akoumianakis D., Ziegler J., "Universal Accessibility & Standardisation: New Opportunities and Prospects", 4th European Conference for the Advancement of Assistive Technology, Porto Carras, Greece, 29 September - 2 October 1997, pp. 39-43.
  20. Stephanidis C., Akoumianakis D., Ziegler J., Feahnrich K.P., "User Interface Accessibility: A Retrospective of Current Standardisation Efforts", HCI International ’97 Conference, San Francisco, USA, 24-29 August 1997, pp. 469-472.
  21. Stephanidis C., ERCIM Working Group on User Interfaces for All. Available electronically at http://www.ics.forth.gr/ ercim-wg-ui4all.
  22. Stephanidis C., Savidis A., Akoumianakis D., "Unified Interface Development: Tools for Constructing Accessible and Usable User Interfaces", Tutorial no 13 in HCI International ’97 Conference, San Francisco, USA, 24-29 August 1997.
  23. TIDE ACCESS Project Deliverable D.4.2.4, Report on issues in Legislation, 1996. Available from the authors.
  24. TIDE ACCESS Project, Final Report, Public Version, 1997. Available from the authors.
  25. Viglas C., Stamatis C., Pentaris F., Kouroupetroglou G., "Towards the Next Generation of Computer-Based Interpersonal Communication Aids", 4th European Conference for the Advancement of Assistive Technology, Porto Carras, Greece, 29 September - 2 October 1997.
  26. Weijers T., "Assessing the Application of the Design for All Approach", European Telematics Conference: Advancing the Information Society, Barcelona, Spain, 4-7 February 1998, pp. 266-268.


| Top | |TIDE 98 Papers |

Go to the top of this page. | Go to the upper category.