Mobile Device Accessibility for the Visually Impaired: Problems Mapping and Empirical Study of Touch Screen Gestures

Mobile devices can be a valuable in improving the quality of life of visually impaired people, enabling greater independence to perform daily tasks. A review was carried out to map the existing accessibility problems in the interaction of people with visual impairment with mobile devices. Seven groups of problems were found, which allowed establishment a set of recommendations and future studies to improve accessibility on mobile devices. A case study was planned and conducted addressing the group "gesture-based interaction", which had the highest number of problems in the literature review. The empirical study aimed to evaluate touch gestures made by 12 visually impaired people by using an application developed for this purpose. Gestures represented by the letters "V" and "Z" had performance similar to those already available on the Android Platform. Other factors have influenced the recognition with speed being the main factor in reducing the performance of gestures.