Title :
Enabling accessible interfaces to digital library content
Author :
Ahmed, Syed Thouheed ; Candan, K.S. ; Cidambaram, Suganthi ; Gaur, Shruti ; Jong Wook Kim ; Mijung Kim ; Sundaram, Hari ; Wang, Xinxin ; Yu, Renwei
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Comput. Sci. & Eng., Arizona State Univ., Tempe, AZ, USA
fDate :
June 28 2009-July 3 2009
Abstract :
Most of the Web interfaces are primarily designed for people with sight, with visually rich features that makes effective use of the tools to enhance visual usability but in process making it impossible for users who are blind or visually impaired to use them. In this work, our goal is to improve participation to NSF´s National Science Digital Library (NSDL) by teachers, librarians, and learners who are blind. The middleware for accessible information spaces on NSDL (MAISON) is enhancing the accessibility of NSDL, its internal and external resources and existing services (such as strand maps of educational benchmarks). Relying on cutting-edge, context-aware graph segmentation, filtering and summarization, and concept propagation techniques, the middleware provides information space adaptation, reduction, and preview services through open Web-based service APIs to enable implementation of informative navigation interfaces that are able to reduce the complexity of the information space and provide previews to prevent user disorientation.
Keywords :
Web design; digital libraries; graph theory; handicapped aids; information filtering; middleware; ubiquitous computing; user interfaces; vision defects; MAISON; NSDL; NSF National Science Digital Library; Web interface design; assistive technology; blind learner; blind librarian; blind teacher; blind user; concept propagation technique; cutting-edge context-aware graph segmentation; digital library content accessible interface; educational benchmark; information filtering; information navigation interface; information space adaptation; information space reduction; information summarization; middleware service; open Web-based service API; strand map; user disorientation prevention; visual usability enhancement; visually impaired user; Computer science; Context-aware services; Design engineering; Information filtering; Information filters; Middleware; Navigation; Software libraries; Space technology; Usability; Digital library navigation aids; annotation; assistive technology for blind users; educational content and web sites; summarization;
Conference_Titel :
Multimedia and Expo, 2009. ICME 2009. IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
New York, NY
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4244-4290-4
Electronic_ISBN :
1945-7871
DOI :
10.1109/ICME.2009.5202884