Examining Augmented Virtuality Impairment Simulation for Mobile App Accessibility Design

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Choo, Kenny Tsu Wei, Balan, Rajesh Krishna, Lee, Youngki
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Choo, Kenny Tsu Wei
Balan, Rajesh Krishna
Lee, Youngki
author_facet Choo, Kenny Tsu Wei
Balan, Rajesh Krishna
Lee, Youngki
contents With mobile apps rapidly permeating all aspects of daily living with use by all segments of the population, it is crucial to support the evaluation of app usability for specific impaired users to improve app accessibility. In this work, we examine the effects of using our \textit{augmented virtuality} impairment simulation system--\textit{Empath-D}--to support experienced designer-developers to redesign a mockup of commonly used mobile application for cataract-impaired users, comparing this with existing tools that aid designing for accessibility. We show that the use of augmented virtuality for assessing usability supports enhanced usability challenge identification, finding more defects and doing so more accurately than with existing methods. Through our user interviews, we also show that augmented virtuality impairment simulation supports realistic interaction and evaluation to provide a concrete understanding over the usability challenges that impaired users face, and complements the existing guidelines-based approaches meant for general accessibility.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2503_12851
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Examining Augmented Virtuality Impairment Simulation for Mobile App Accessibility Design
Choo, Kenny Tsu Wei
Balan, Rajesh Krishna
Lee, Youngki
Human-Computer Interaction
With mobile apps rapidly permeating all aspects of daily living with use by all segments of the population, it is crucial to support the evaluation of app usability for specific impaired users to improve app accessibility. In this work, we examine the effects of using our \textit{augmented virtuality} impairment simulation system--\textit{Empath-D}--to support experienced designer-developers to redesign a mockup of commonly used mobile application for cataract-impaired users, comparing this with existing tools that aid designing for accessibility. We show that the use of augmented virtuality for assessing usability supports enhanced usability challenge identification, finding more defects and doing so more accurately than with existing methods. Through our user interviews, we also show that augmented virtuality impairment simulation supports realistic interaction and evaluation to provide a concrete understanding over the usability challenges that impaired users face, and complements the existing guidelines-based approaches meant for general accessibility.
title Examining Augmented Virtuality Impairment Simulation for Mobile App Accessibility Design
topic Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2503.12851