The Objective of SASWAT

Our objective is to investigate, design, and build a homogeneous mapping framework to support the relating of competing visual streams into a single coherent and mediated accessibility stream such that when automatically applied to a Web document a mapping from parallel visual to serial audio can be achieved. Indeed, because serial mappings are cognitively simpler to understand we would also expect to see side-benefits in cognitive impairment, ageing, and the mobile Web.

Outcome: This project has resulted in a prototype Firefox extension that presents dynamic content as a single audio stream. Evaluations have demonstrated that this is an effective tool, and was preferred by a range of participants to how this type of content is currently handled by screen readers.

Areas of Fundamental Research

The project proposed fundamental research in three areas:

• The cognition and perception of dynamic Web based information.
• The nature of the new Web interaction/infrastructure model as it evolves.
• The new Web technologies when applied to visually disabled and sighted users.

Outcomes: We have developed a greater understanding of how sighted users view and interact with dynamic changes to Web pages (deliverable 1). We have characterised the range of updates in a taxonomy (deliverable 2), and determined how current assistive technologies handle them (deliverable 3).

Project Aims of SASWAT

SASWAT is an EPSRC funded project (EP/E062954/1) and qualifies as a medical project under HMCE regulations. SASWAT has been broken down into five major objectives.

1. Determine the visual experiences of sighted users when attempting to assimilate the information and interactions presented in the micro content.
2. Research the nature and evolution of the web infrastructure in its transition from static to dynamic websites.
3. Using the results from the previous goals, develop a model of the web interaction which a mapping from sighted to visually impaired can then be constructed.
4. Create a framework to mediate between the competing demands of the micro content present on the website.
5. Evaluate this system in a repeatable experiment to validate the findings.

These goals have produced corresponding research questions that need to be answered in order to fully validate the work done on SASWAT.

• “What is the User’s Visual Experience?”
• “What is the Intersection of Accessibility Technology, Web 2.0, and How Do Compound Web Pages Conflict?
• “Can Perceptual and Cognitive Interactivity Be Mapped From Sighted to Visually Impaired Users?”
• “How Can We Deliver Composite Multi-Source Dynamic Feedback to Visually Impaired Users?”
• “Can We Effectively Deliver Composite Multi-Source Dynamic Feedback to Visually Impaired Users?”