Accessible Gesture Typing for Non-Visual Text Entry on Smartphones

Area of Science:

• Human-Computer Interaction
• Assistive Technology
• Accessibility Research

Background:

• Gesture typing is common for sighted smartphone users but inaccessible to blind individuals due to the lack of visual cues.
• Current non-visual text entry methods for blind users often lack the efficiency of gesture-based input.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and evaluate an accessible gesture typing system for blind users on smartphones.
• To enable blind users to utilize efficient gesture-based text input.

Main Methods:

• Developed an accessible gesture typing system integrating screen-reader touch exploration for key location identification.
• Implemented seamless mode switching between exploration and typing via finger lift.
• Provided continuous audio-visual feedback during gesture tracing and distinct earcons for mode differentiation.

Main Results:

• A user study with 14 blind participants demonstrated a 35% increase in typing speed.
• The system successfully allowed users to navigate and perform gesture typing without visual access.

Conclusions:

• Accessible gesture typing offers a promising and efficient text entry method for blind smartphone users.
• The integrated audio-visual feedback and mode switching design significantly enhances usability for non-visual input.