Designing Accessible Adaptations for an Electronic Toolkit with Blind and Low Vision Users

There is a growing availability of computational and electronic toolkits designed for learning and enrichment activities, however, these toolkits are often inaccessible for blind and low vision (BLV) users. We co-designed with BLV participants, several types of adaption and augmentations that can increase the accessibility of a previously developed electronic toolkit. We explored NFC-enabled 3D-printed circuit templates, braided connectors, and other tactile adaptions developed from co-design sessions with BLV users. We evaluated the resulting toolkit with nine blind and low-vision participants and found that they experimentally and tactually learned to compose circuits of increasing complexity. A key design aspect was incorporating redundant methods that enabled participants to exercise their personal modality preferences when identifying components and making connections. Through our work, we highlight how digital fabrication can be applied to adapt modular electronic toolkits to increase the availability of existing electronics learning platforms for the BLV population.