SBIR Phase I: Re-envisioning alt text for education through concurrent authoring and diagram design

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是为所有学生，包括盲人或低视力(BLV)学生，创建一条在科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)方面取得成功的途径，并为STEM图表提供可用和有效的描述系统。只有3%的BLV人员受雇于STEM领域。缺乏无障碍的住宿条件给这些学生在STEM教育的整个学术旅程中制造了障碍，导致许多学生放弃，尽管他们与普通民众一样有取得学业成功的潜力。所有基于Web的非装饰性图表都需要包括替代(ALT)文本描述，以便与屏幕阅读器一起使用。当前通过ALT文本访问STEM可视化的方法不能扩展或服从动态数字媒体的使用，ALT文本也不能标准化或被学习者证明可用，导致BLV学生失去学习机会。缺乏可靠的自动替代文本生成是教育机构和学术出版商采用新的教学技术的障碍，因为数字内容和学习系统必须包括可访问性。这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目将创建一个首个此类系统，在构建教育资源时生成STEM图的描述。该项目将超越目前的适应标准，为STEM图表的ALT文本表示创建一种创新的分层方法，以便屏幕阅读器用户能够以其技能和先前知识最佳支持的方式与内容交互。技术目标是：1)创建一种系统，该系统为图表的组件和组件之间的空间关系产生机器可读的配置，然后生成图表的基于文本的描述，以及2)设计一种通过描述中的表示层的标准化系统来表示STEM内容的非线性方法。总体描述(目标1)和分层描述(目标2)都将通过将图表配置与上下文驱动的词典相匹配来构建。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to create a pathway to success in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) for all students, including those that are blind or have low vision (BLV), with a usable and effective description system for STEM diagrams. Only 3% of BLV individuals have been employed in a STEM field. The lack of accessible accommodations creates roadblocks for these students in STEM education throughout their academic journey, leading many students to give up, even though they have as much potential for academic success as the general population. All web-based, non-decorative diagrams are required to include alternative (alt) text descriptions for use with screen readers. Current methods for making STEM visualizations accessible through alt text are not scalable or amenable for use with dynamic digital media, nor is alt text standardized or proven usable by learners, resulting in lost learning opportunities for BLV students. The absence of reliable auto alt text generation is a roadblock for educational institutions and academic publishers to adopt new instructional technologies, as digital content and learning systems must include accommodations for accessibility. This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will create a first-of-its kind system that generates descriptions of STEM diagrams as the educational resources are constructed. This project will go beyond current standards for accommodation, by creating an innovative layered approach to the alt text representation of STEM diagrams so that screen reader users can interact with the content in a manner that is best supported by their skills and prior knowledge. The technical objectives are to: 1) create a system that produces machine-readable configurations for the components of a diagram and spatial relationships between the components, and then generates a text-based description of the diagram and 2) devise a non-linear method for representing STEM content through a standardized system of representational layers within the description. Both the general description (objective 1) and layered description (objective 2) will be constructed by matching the diagram configuration to a context-driven lexicon.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.