An Activity Centered Approach to Nonvisual Computer Interaction

Abstract

In this work, we apply an activity theory lens to analyze nonvisual computing for blind and low-vision computer users. Our analysis indicates major challenges for users in translating the activities they are working towards into specific tasks to be completed in a system comprehensible manner. Specifically, blind and low-vision students learning to use accessible technologies struggled with organizing their activities, tracking the history and status of their operations, and understanding how the system was acting underneath these interactions. We discuss how activity-centered design can be applied to nonvisual interfaces to better match user behavior in a computational system.