CAREER: Document Layout and Formatting Helper for Blind Authors

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Most work on computer interaction for blind people focuses on these users as consumers, rather than creators, of information. Work on document creation specifically intended for blind people mainly concentrates on supporting general tasks associated with writing documents rather than on document formatting and layout, even though there is evidence that blind authors' documents are treated dismissively when they do not live up to "expected" standards of document presentation. Many blind authors therefore rely on sighted people to check their documents; consequently, they cannot be as productive as their sighted peers. The PI's goal in this project is to facilitate independence for blind authors in producing documents that meet the presentation standards expected by sighted readers. To these ends, the PI will develop an impact-weighted taxonomy of common document presentation errors of blind authors. She will explore blind authors' mental models and strategies for learning and coping, and how these models and strategies contribute to the success of independent document formatting and layout activities. And she will investigate the content-sharing and voting dynamics of blind authors. These findings will enable her to implement an integrated solution to document preparation for blind authors in the form of a Microsoft Word compatible formatting and layout checker, as well as a fix to the compatibility problems between Word's grammar and spell checkers and commonly used screen readers. And she will develop an accessible content-sharing environment for blind authors with an interface for sighted help from Amazon Mechanical Turk. To achieve her goals the PI will employ, among other techniques, participatory design with blind users and controlled experiments for investigating real-time non-visual presentation of grammar, spelling, formatting and layout statuses, errors and corrections (including through the use of haptic feedback and spatial sound).Broader Impacts: This research will naturally involve blind persons at almost all stages. Project outcomes will reduce the necessity for blind authors to rely on sighted help, thus affording increased independence and productivity to members of this community. The work will likely prove of value to the general population as well, for whom non-visual document presentation information can be of benefit in eyes-busy or phone-based interactions. The PI will conduct numerous educational and outreach activities in conjunction with this project, including distribution of the software tools developed to centers and schools for blind and visually impaired persons, and development of a multidisciplinary and multilevel (undergraduate and graduate) course aimed at both psychology and computer engineering students on "Designing Socio-technical Systems for People with Special Needs."