Accessibility of the smart home for users with visual disabilities: an evaluation of open source mobile applications for home automation

Abstract

The development of solutions known as "smart homes" has been explored to provide accessible resources to aid in the daily lives of disabled people. In particular, the growth in the development of open-source home automation applications based on Internet of Things (IoT) controlled by mobile devices presents numerous opportunities to boost the development of such aids. However, there is little research into how accessible the interfaces of such mobile applications are to people with visual disabilities. This paper presents an evaluation of six open-source mobile systems for home automation using IoT - Domoticz, Freedomotic, Home Assistant, HomeGenie, Mister House and openHAB. The evaluation was performed by means of expert review of accessibility guidelines using smartphones. The results showed that all the applications evaluated had accessibility problems that could prevent visually disabled users from using them, such as inaccessible controls, vision-dependent features, and lack of textual descriptions of images. The paper points out important adjustments that need to be carried out in order for IoT-based smart home applications to fully accomplish their potential of helping visually-disabled users lead more independent lives at home.