WordMelodies: Supporting the Acquisition of Literacy Skills by Children with Visual Impairment through a Mobile App

IF 2.5 Q3 COMPUTER SCIENCE, INTERDISCIPLINARY APPLICATIONS

ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing Pub Date : 2022-10-20 DOI:10.1145/3565029

D. Ahmetovic, C. Bernareggi, B. Leporini, S. Mascetti

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引用次数: 2

Abstract

WordMelodies is a mobile app that aims to support inclusive teaching of literacy skills for primary school students. Thus it was designed to be accessible both visually and through screen reader, and it includes over 80 different types of exercises for practicing literacy skills, each with adjustable difficulty levels, in Italian and in English. WordMelodies is freely available for iOS and Android devices. However, it has not been previously evaluated with children having visual impairments. Thus, in this article, we evaluate the app usability, its perceived ease of use, appreciation and children’s autonomy while using it, as well as the characteristics of the end users. To achieve this, we conducted a user study with 11 primary school students with visual impairments, and we analyzed app usage logs collected from 408 users in over 1 year from the app publication. We show that app usability is high, and most exercises can be completed autonomously. The exercises are also perceived to be easy to perform, and they are appreciated by the participants. Finally, we provide insights on how to address the identified app limitations and propose future research directions.

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文字旋律:通过移动应用程序支持视力障碍儿童获得识字技能

WordMelodies是一款移动应用程序，旨在支持小学生识字技能的包容性教学。因此，它被设计成既可以通过视觉访问，也可以通过屏幕阅读器访问，它包括80多种不同类型的练习识字技能的练习，每种练习都有意大利语和英语的可调整难度级别。WordMelodies可以在iOS和Android设备上免费使用。然而，以前还没有对有视力障碍的儿童进行过评估。因此，在本文中，我们评估了应用程序的可用性，其感知易用性，欣赏性和儿童在使用它时的自主性，以及最终用户的特征。为了实现这一目标，我们对11名有视觉障碍的小学生进行了用户研究，并分析了自应用发布以来一年多来从408名用户收集的应用使用日志。我们发现应用程序的可用性很高，大多数练习都可以自主完成。这些练习也被认为很容易进行，并且受到参与者的赞赏。最后，我们就如何解决已确定的应用程序限制提供了见解，并提出了未来的研究方向。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing COMPUTER SCIENCE, INTERDISCIPLINARY APPLICATIONS-

CiteScore

6.20

自引率

8.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Computer and information technologies have re-designed the way modern society operates. Their widespread use poses both opportunities and challenges for people who experience various disabilities including age-related disabilities. That is, while there are new avenues to assist individuals with disabilities and provide tools and resources to alleviate the traditional barriers encountered by these individuals, in many cases the technology itself presents barriers to use. ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing (TACCESS) is a quarterly peer-reviewed journal that publishes refereed articles addressing issues of computing that seek to address barriers to access, either creating new solutions or providing for the more inclusive design of technology to provide access for individuals with diverse abilities. The journal provides a technical forum for disseminating innovative research that covers either applications of computing and information technologies to provide assistive systems or inclusive technologies for individuals with disabilities. Some examples are web accessibility for those with visual impairments and blindness as well as web search explorations for those with limited cognitive abilities, technologies to address stroke rehabilitation or dementia care, language support systems deaf signers or those with limited language abilities, and input systems for individuals with limited ability to control traditional mouse and keyboard systems. The journal is of particular interest to SIGACCESS members and delegates to its affiliated conference (i.e., ASSETS) as well as other international accessibility conferences. It serves as a forum for discussions and information exchange between researchers, clinicians, and educators; including rehabilitation personnel who administer assistive technologies; and policy makers concerned with equitable access to information technologies.