Contextualised Travel Support for the Visually Impaired Web Users Continuation Report

Visually impaired people have difficulties accessing the Web, either because of the inappropriately designed web pages or the insufficiency of the currently available technological advances. The main focus of the currently available technology is on providing sensory translation rather than supporting mobility. As a consequence of limited mobility support, visually impaired people are less able to browse and travel on the Web. Furthermore, Hypertext design and usability traditionally concentrates upon navigation and/or orientation and neglects the importance of mobility and travel [30]. Harper introduced the notion of travel on the Web and proposes the inclusion of travel and mobility in the usability metrics of web design [32]. The notion of travel extends navigation and orientation to include environment, mobility and the purpose of the travel task. Travel in the virtual, web world is likened to travel in the real, physical world. In consequence, the extensive work undertaken in the mobility of visually impaired people in the physical world can be transferred and adapted to the webbased world [30]. The notion of travel on the Web is also the foundation of this PhD project. Our goal is to improve travel upon the Web by improving the design of web pages and sites – moving the travel component from a craft towards an engineering paradigm. In order to achieve our goal, we are aiming to support travel on the Web by providing a tool that analyses travel support offered within a page and consequently, semi-automatically transforming the page to increase the travel support provided. We are proposing a framework for analysing travel support offered within a web page. This framework forms the basis of the tool that will be created, which aims to increase the provided mobility within a web page. This continuation report presents the context of the research, the work done in the first year of this PhD project, including an evaluation of the framework’s effectiveness, and proposes a work plan for the forthcoming years.