CamIO in the Browser: A Cross-Platform Audio Label Tool for Tactile Graphics

Area of Science:

• Assistive Technology
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Accessibility Research

Background:

• Tactile graphics (TGs) are crucial for spatial understanding for visually impaired individuals but have limited data capacity, especially for semantic information.
• Current audio label systems for TGs are often proprietary, hardware-dependent, and costly, restricting accessibility.
• There is a need for an open-source, universally accessible solution to enhance TGs with rich semantic audio information.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop an open-source, web-based audio labeling system for tactile graphics.
• To overcome the limitations of existing closed-system audio label solutions.
• To enable users to create and customize TGs with audio descriptions.

Main Methods:

• Developed CamIO-Web, a browser-based version of the Camera Input-Output (CamIO) system.
• Implemented features for users to create TGs with custom audio labels, including audio recordings and text-to-speech.
• Designed an open-source codebase for extensibility and wider adoption.

Main Results:

• CamIO-Web runs on various devices (computers, mobile) via web browsers, enhancing accessibility.
• The system allows for unlimited semantic information delivery through audio labels, surpassing TG limitations.
• Users can create their own TGs with personalized audio feedback, fostering independent content creation.

Conclusions:

• CamIO-Web provides an open-source, accessible, and extensible solution for enhancing tactile graphics with audio labels.
• This technology significantly improves the semantic information conveyed by TGs for blind and low-vision users.
• The web-based nature and customization options democratize the creation and use of enhanced tactile graphics.