William Easley

Inclusion and Education: 3D Printing for Integrated Classrooms

Over 60% of adults with intellectual disabilities (ID) in the U.S. are unemployed; this is more than twice the unemployment rate of the general population [19]. Of the adults with ID who are employed, only half receive competitive wages alongside co-workers without disabilities. While the enactment of IDEA [20] has helped to promote access to education for people with ID and other disabilities, there are still obstacles to employment. Misconceptions about ability and lack of opportunities to learn and practice employability skills contribute to this problem. Our research explores employability and integration through the lens of 3D printing, an innovative technology touted as a means to self-employment. We successfully taught young adults with intellectual disabilities many technical skills required for 3D printing through an integrated, post-secondary course on 3D printing for entrepreneurship. In this paper we report on our methods for designing this course and discuss the benefits, challenges, and strategies for teaching 3D printing to an integrated cohort of students. We offer recommendations for educators and describe technology obstacles unique to this user demographic, and the impact of integrated, postsecondary courses on employment outcomes for students with ID.

Embracing Errors: Examining How Context of Use Impacts Blind Individuals' Acceptance of Navigation Aid Errors

Prevention of errors has been an orienting goal within the field of Human-Computer Interaction since its inception, with particular focus on minimizing human errors through appropriate technology design. However, there has been relatively little exploration into how designers can best support users of technologies that will inevitably make errors. We present a mixed-methods study in the domain of navigation technology for visually impaired individuals. We examined how users respond to device errors made in realistic scenarios of use. Contrary to conventional wisdom that usable systems must be error-free, we found that 42% of errors were acceptable to users. Acceptance of errors depends on error type, building feature, and environmental context. Further, even when a technical error is acceptable to the user, the misguided social responses of others nearby can negatively impact user experience. We conclude with design recommendations that embrace errors while also supporting user management of errors in technical systems.

Let's Get Lost: Exploring Social Norms In Predominately Blind Environments

The ability for one to navigate independently can be essential to maintaining employment, taking care of oneself, and leading a fulfilling life. However, for people who are blind, navigation-related tasks in public spaces--such as locating an empty seat--can be difficult without appropriate tools, training, or social context. We present a study of social norms in environments with predominately blind navigators and discuss how these may differ from what sighted people expect. Based on these findings, we advocate for the creation of more pervasive technologies to help bridge the gap between social norms when people with visual impairments are in predominately sighted environments.

Is Someone There? Do They Have a Gun: How Visual Information about Others Can Improve Personal Safety Management for Blind Individuals

For decades, researchers have investigated and developed technologies that support independent navigation for people who are blind. This has led to systems that primarily aid in detecting routes, landmarks, and building features. However, there has been relatively little inquiry regarding how technologies might support navigation around and in the presence of other people. What visual information, if any, do blind navigators wish they had about people on their path? To address this question, we surveyed 58 blind and low vision individuals and interviewed 10 blind individuals. We discovered our participants were interested in using visual information about others to increase their physical safety. For example, they wanted to know if a passerby was holding a weapon, if a presumed official had a proper uniform or badge, and how to describe visual aspects of a criminal to law enforcement. This paper presents one of the only reports documenting accessibility challenges related to physical safety posed by others, including how future assistive tools can empower individuals with disabilities to more actively increase their sense of safety. We call this emerging area Personal Safety Management and contribute a set of four broad subareas that deserve further exploration by researchers and designers working within the blind and broader disabilities communities.

Learning the Language: The Importance of Studying Written Directions in Designing Navigational Technologies for the Blind

Independent navigation is important to individuals who are blind and visually impaired (VI). Researchers have long explored how blind and VI people navigate to inform the design of more useful, accessible wayfinding devices. However, there has been little research on the role language plays in providing effective Text-to-Speech directions for this population. In this paper, we investigate the language and cues expressed in written navigational directions exchanged between blind and VI members of a Yahoo! Group mailing list. Through qualitative analysis, we unpack the types of and frequencies of information exchanged, including how distances are represented, how direction is indicated, and what landmarks are referenced. We notably found that written directions often included warnings about when a navigator may have gone too far, which alternate routes are easier to navigate, and how welcoming and accessible destinations might be for people with disabilities.

Not All Errors are Created Equal: Factors that Impact Acceptance of an Indoor Navigation Aid for the Blind

Large indoor spaces continue to pose challenges to independent navigation for people who are blind. Unfortunately, assistive technologies designed to support indoor navigation frequently make errors that are technically difficult or impossible to eliminate. We conducted a study to explore whether there are strategic ways designers can minimize the impact of inevitable errors on user experience. This paper summarizes an online survey of 41 blind individuals regarding their projected acceptance to three types of errors expected of these devices. We found that some errors were more acceptable than others. Factors that impacted results included the error type and the social/environmental setting.

An empirical study examining medication management among individuals with visual impairments

Medication management can often be a challenging task for individuals adhering to a strict regimen. In response, a number of technologies have been developed to remind the user when to take medication and to record how often medications have been consumed. Many of these technologies have not been designed with visually impaired users in mind, making the process of access more difficult for individuals with sight loss. This study serves to identify the day-to-day issues faced by individuals with visual impairments when managing multiple medications. Strategies to identify, locate and consume medications are described. Findings from this study offer guidance to developers interested in creating more inclusive medication management solutions.

Accessibility barriers to online education for young adults with intellectual disabilities

In postsecondary education, technology and online resources have become a pervasive component of learning, but they are not always accessible. For students with intellectual disabilities, completing technology-dependent tasks may pose unique challenges that are not always addressed by the disability support services offered at the university level. During our fieldwork, we have observed several barriers to online education tools in a postsecondary environment for students with intellectual disabilities. For example, a student with an intellectual disability submitting an assignment via email to an instructor may encounter difficulties recalling and navigating to the location of their attachment file. In this paper, we describe core skills and common interfaces that we have identified as problematic for this population through an emic ethnography. We offer emic (perceptions from within a given environment) experience accounts to highlight the obstacles we have observed in a) information retrieval, b) navigation and information architecture c) file management, and d) password management. As researchers and educators involved in a postsecondary program for young adults with intellectual disability (ID), we have spent considerable time working with this population. For each scenario, we offer examples from our own experience of the techniques and technologies that did or did not help students accomplish these tasks. Based on these experiences, we provide recommendations for mitigating these barriers including education and training for students and developers and the use of existing interventions and tools. We also discuss future directions for this work. We believe that heightened awareness and communication between educators, designers, and students with disabilities will help address these problems and generate solutions which provide more accessible education experiences for learners with diverse needs.

Web Search Credibility Assessment for Individuals who are Blind

While screen reading technologies offer considerable promise to individuals who are blind by providing an accessible overview of web-based content, difficulties can be faced determining the credibility of sites and their respective contents. This can impact the users behavior, particularly if sensitive information needs to be entered (e.g. into a web-based form). In this paper, we describe an exploratory study examining the criteria which blind screen reader users utilize to assess credibility. More specifically, we have focused on the common task of web searching and exploring search results. Findings from the study have suggested that mismatches between the title of the search results and their respective snippets, along with the richness and accessibility of the content when search results are selected, can lead to users determining whether sites are indeed credible.