Presenting graphics to blind students using a touchscreen interface extended with haptic and audio feedback

The project will develop a new approach to the presentation of graphics and other 2D information to blind students. It will be based on the Apple iPad extended with audio and haptic feedback. Currently, the standard approach to providing students with accessible graphics is to use tactile graphics which the student can feel. However production of such graphics is expensive and time consuming. Furthermore, it does not allow the student to interactively control the level of detail or to modify or annotate the graphic. Our new approach has the potential to overcome these limitations and to significantly improve the delivery of accessible graphics. The project includes extensive evaluation of the approach in the classroom.