Improving the Web Browsing Environment for Dyslexics by Elaborating Functionalities

1. Improving the Web Browsing Environment • for Dyslexics by Elaborating Functionalities 2009-03-20 Reiko Nagatsuma, Shinji Iizuka, Masakazu Takizawa, Takuya Ohko, Takuji Wada, Takashi Saito IBM Accessibility Center, Tokyo Research Laboratory, Japan

2. Agenda • Motivation • Present status of the studies for people with Learning Disabilities (LDs) * • IBM Easy Web BrowsingTM (EWB) as a baseline tool • Improvement of “EWB for LDs” • Pilot study • Detail of the study • Results of the interviews • Conclusion • Q&A *As you know, the meaning of LD include not only dyslexia disabilities but math, nonverbal LD and so on. Our team will deal with the problems of LD in the future, though now we treat only the problem of dyslexia. IBM, Easy Web Browsing are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.

3. Motivation and Aims Motivation • Background • IBM Accessibility center is concerned with PwD. - research and develop products for easy access to Information Technology (IT). • LD: Difficulties in information processing => A potential area where IT could be used • Highly affected population LD users have many difficulties in various cognitive areas • Governmental policy for developmental disorders in Japan • Recent progress in brain science • Current Status • Little research into the efficacy or sufficiency of existing IT • Challenge • Identify the potentials of assistive technology (AT) • Find out which AT is valuable for them • Find out the hidden needs for LDs thorough their opinions => How about enhancements to our existing software for LD users?

4. Easy Web Browsing – a baseline tool What is Easy Web BrowsingTM (EWB)? An assistive technology which provides user-friendly operations and accessibility features that enable a variety of end-users to easily access websites. There are various barriers. Difficult to read small font Difficult to read bad color combinations Difficult to read long articles Read aloud at the location pointed at with the mouse Customize the background and text colors Enlarge the indicated text Target Users: senior, Novice IT users, users who have limited vision …

5. Sentence Comprehension Process (*1) EWB1.3 EWB2.0 EWBLD Potential functions for LDs contents Font-style changing Magnify c a t Color changing Visual System Enhance Ruler New Enhance [kuh aoh tuh] Phoneme System Colored overlay New Highlight / Masking New Enhance Word Recognition System cat Line / Word / Letter spacing New Enhance Word separation (*2) New Enhance a furry animal that has a long tail and sharp claws. Semantic System - general knowledge - illation - concept formation - vocabulary Reading out Ruby for Kanji (*2) Enhance Text to Image Dictionary / Search Animation Suppressing *1) Sally E. Shaywitz, Reading Disorders, Nikkei Science, Feb.1997. *2) special functions for the Japanese language Extensions for LDs How to extend EWB for LD users?

6. Pilot study Pilot study for LD users

7. Evaluators of the pilot study Summary of the participants They also have writing problems like confused p and q, or “time” and tiem and so on. Reading and writing problems self-assessed. Average age: 37.

8. Pilot study - Result What functions are most needed ? Their needs vary widely and they need a more flexible interface. (*1) Ranking score = [number of top 1] x 8 + [number of top 2]x 4 + [number of top 3] x 2 Each participants were asked to select top 3 functions which they wanted most.

9. 1: Read Out Loud Function Summary of the participants’ comment • By far the most needed When chosen, this function is almost always selected as the “Best” function. • Two main comments for reading out loud • - To understand content with a voice because of difficulty in reading characters • - To compare the characters on the PC with a voice sound (to learn the words) • They have additional requirements. • One strong opinion is….

10. A candidate of effective display method- KARAOKE There was a small school near the river. Summary of the participants’ comments • Karaoke-like indicator is liked by most users • Two main comments on karaoke feature: • - Makes it easier to follow the characters with their eyes (similar to tracing a line with their fingers) • - Easier to understand the meaning of the sentences. (Easier to combine the words and corresponding sounds.)

11. The Stardust spacecraft is on a mission to collect interstellar dust and samples from comets. 2:Colored Overlay Summary of the participants’ comment • One of the most preferred functions • It was significantly more effective than interviewees expectations • Two main comments are: • 1) Stabilizes how the characters look– irritation decreased with lower contrast • 2) Makes words clearer- characters are • crisper and sharper and seem to float • *Participants A&C choose 2 colors: • 1 - Japanese • 2 – English

12. a e L u c n 9 9 h S d s t t e a r u n h d i 1 9 , t a c s p e a s o m l t e o c c r f t i n a i on o c l s s t n e l a o e e l d s t m c t i t r s t r a l f o m s e u d s n s a p r m 3: Line Height Summary of the participants’ comment • Easier to follow the sentences with their eyes • Reduces confusion with neighboring lines • Easier to grasp the shapes of words • Easier to see stable word shapes • We did not enhance this parameter, but are just reporting selected comments.

13. Sentence Comprehension Process (*1) corresponding functions contents eye Visible? c a t Visual System read out loud [kuh aoh tuh] Phoneme System Does the reading out loud function substitute for phonetic processing? The reading out loud function seems to have a positive influence on visual processing and word recognition. Word Recognition System cat Meaning? a furry animal that has a long tail and sharp claws. Semantic System - general knowledge - reasoning - concept formation - vocabulary *1) Sally E. Shaywitz, Reading Disorders, Nikkei Science, Feb.1997. Considerations - 1 Adaptation of adequate model for our assistive functions. (1) Phoneme System

14. corresponding functions Sentence Comprehension Process (*1) contents eye Colored Overlay c a t Visual System Line height [kuh aoh tuh] Phoneme System Word Recognition System cat • Irlen Syndrome? a furry animal that has a long tail and sharp claws. Semantic System - general knowledge - illation - concept formation - vocabulary *1) Refer to : Sally E. Shaywitz, Reading Disorder ,NIKKEI SCIENCE , Feb.1997. Considerations - 2 Adaptation of adequate model for our assistive functions. (2) Visual system

15. Demonstration

16. Assessment of efficacy 1: Purpose: To study the efficacyof ATs. 2: Metrics: Reading speed and fluency. 3: Functions: ATs they selected. without AT(s) with AT(s) 38.8 36.1 36.8 29.1 37.3 36.3 43.3 34.6 71.3 63.1

17. Conclusion Conclusion • We improved some of the functions in IBM Easy Web Browsing (EWB), which was developed for people with limited vision and senior citizens, to help LD users. • We evaluated the efficacy of the functions. • Our conclusions: - ATs are certainly helpful, though their needs vary widely. - The top 3 functions were: 1: Reading out loud, 2: Colored overlays (yellow), and 3: Line height - Their reading speed was better with the ATs The users wanted more flexible customizations and combinations of the ATs.

18. Conclusion To next stage… Why are certain ATs effective? How are brains working? • The functions still need improvements. • We want a highly customizable UI programming framework. • User modeling would support fast and easy individual adaptations.

19. The Most Impressive Comment The ease of access level for Web browsing is directly connected to the quality of life. Therefore this factor influences one's thinking of whether to become pessimistic or optimistic for the inevitable stage of aging. Mail from 6 Sep. 2008

20. Q & A

21. Thank You Very Much! contact: reiko@jp.ibm.com 20, Mar, 15:30- 17:00, demonstration of EWB for LD at #270

22. Other functions Since discovering her own daughter's struggle with reading and Irlen Syndrome Since discovering her own daughter's struggle with reading and Irlen Syndrome Since discovering her own daughter's struggle with reading and Irlen Syndrome ふ 　じ 　さん 富 士 山 富 士 山 岸に 小さな 　学校が　 ありました 岸に小さな学校がありました。 There was a little school near the river There was a little school near the river

23. Evaluators of the pilot study Corresponding table between reading problems and AT

24. 1: Purpose: To study the efficacyof ATs. 2: Metrics: Reading speed and fluency. 3: Functions: ATs they selected. without AT(s) with AT(s) 56.4 42.2 86.0 65.0 34.6 28.1

25. Assessment of efficacy Assessment pages