The Potential of Adaptive Interfaces as an Accessibility Aid for Older Web Users
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The document discusses the potential for adaptive interfaces to help address barriers older users face on the web due to age-related declines in capabilities like vision, hearing, and cognition. It outlines a project called SuS-IT that aims to develop an accessibility adaptation framework to detect changes in users' capabilities and apply appropriate interface adaptations. Early user engagement found that older adults were open to adaptations but wary of how personal capability data could be shared or impact perceptions of their abilities. Ongoing challenges include accurately detecting capability changes and applying adaptations, as well as ensuring user acceptance through unobtrusive monitoring and responsible data handling.
The Potential of Adaptive Interfaces as an Accessibility Aid for Older Web Users
- 1. The potential of adaptive interfaces as an accessibility aid for older web users David Sloan , University of Dundee, UK Matthew Tylee Atkinson , Colin Machin , Yunqiu Li Loughborough University, UK W4A 2010, Raleigh, NC, April 27 th 2010
- 2. Outline Barriers to progress in how web accessibility advancements can support age-related decline Adaptations and accessibility The SuS-IT project and our approach to an adaptivity framework for accessibility Early results of user engagement
- 3. Web accessibility developments and age-related decline Progress in: Web content accessibility Assistive technology development Increasing effort paid to supporting the needs of older web users Understanding accessibility/usability issues (WAI-AGE project and others) Simplified browsers/computers Work on understanding how to educate older people to be more informed web users
- 4. Age-related capability decline – barriers to web use Age-related capability decline might take place in: Vision, hearing, dexterity, Fluid intelligence: short term memory, decision-making Decline is dynamic Nature and effect is unpredictable If unaddressed, the outcome may lead to compromised used of the Web/ICT… or abandonment
- 5. Age-related capability decline – barriers to web use Why might current accessibility developments not benefit someone experiencing age-related capability decline? Lack of awareness of one’s changing (increasing) accessibility needs The paradox of discoverability of access solutions – from advice to tools Negative attitude to use of assistive technology
- 6. Adaptation for accessibility Adaptive interfaces have a long history of involvement in accessibility R&D Adaptation acknowledges that ‘universal design’ can mean different solutions benefit different needs Requires two conditions to be fulfilled: Accurate detection of a person’s accessibility needs Appropriate selection and implementation of adaptation(s) that accommodate these needs as helpfully and unobtrusively as possible
- 7. Adaptation for accessibility: related work Notable work includes: IBM Web Adaptation Technology Accessmonkey AEGIS project But…work may be limited to: single applications (e.g. browser) single impairments severe impairments
- 8. User profiling Critical part of adaptivity for accessibility WHO International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health CC/PP ISO 24751 – accessibility metadata for people and resources, from an e-learning context We need: Profiles that can be easily populated and kept up-to-date Profiles that bridge human characteristics and functional capabilities
- 9. Ethical issues Relating to the sensitive nature of data gathered that reveals the extent of age-related decline. (How) should we make that data available to the user? How should we manage the impact on personal well-being of a user on discovering extent of capability decline? (How) should we make that data available to others who might need to know (clinicians, family)? If data gathered revealed some underlying medical issue?
- 10. SuS-IT project and accessibility adaptations for older people SuS-IT is a multi-disciplinary project aim to explore role of IT in sustaining independence for older people… … and minimising negative impact of age-related decline Our contribution: To develop an accessibility adaptation framework To explore how it can accommodate age-related capability decline
- 11. Technical work Developing and evaluating effectiveness of a framework that offers: a library of adaptations that match specific accessibility needs Detection of capability change (implicit or explicitly recorded) Reasoning system to choose appropriate adaptations and apply them to relevant applications Retention and modification of capability/adaptation profile over time
- 12. Early user engagement Used theatre to present early concepts in a prototype to group of older people (n=32) Two groups, one novice users, one more experienced Script designed to expose automated adaptations based on detected capability change, and characters reaction to these changes Deliberately exaggerated adaptations to emphasise effects on interface - and on user(!) Acts paused at strategic moments to provoke discussion on reaction to issues raised
- 13. Key observations Absence of negative reaction to adaptations from both groups Tendency of both groups to see system as being for those less capable than themselves: “would be really helpful for older people…” Shared suspicion of storage, use, and sharing of capability data “ would my optician find out my eyesight had decreased?”
- 14. Ongoing challenges Technical testing of accessibility adaptation framework: Accuracy of capability change detection Accuracy of applying appropriate adaptations User-acceptance Establishment of appropriate levels of obtrusiveness of the monitoring system; Data curation/access Longitudinal studies Exploring to what extent a system such as this successfully sustains ICT access and use by older people?