"They Aren't Built For Me": An Exploratory Study of Strategies for Measurement of Graphical Primitives in Tactile Graphics

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Khalaila, Areen, Harrison, Lane, Kim, Nam Wook, Cashman, Dylan
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2025
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author Khalaila, Areen
Harrison, Lane
Kim, Nam Wook
Cashman, Dylan
author_facet Khalaila, Areen
Harrison, Lane
Kim, Nam Wook
Cashman, Dylan
contents Advancements in accessibility technologies such as low-cost swell form printers or refreshable tactile displays promise to allow blind or low-vision (BLV) people to analyze data by transforming visual representations directly to tactile representations. However, it is possible that design guidelines derived from experiments on the visual perception system may not be suited for the tactile perception system. We investigate the potential mismatch between familiar visual encodings and tactile perception in an exploratory study into the strategies employed by BLV people to measure common graphical primitives converted to tactile representations. First, we replicate the Cleveland and McGill study on graphical perception using swell form printing with eleven BLV subjects. Then, we present results from a group interview in which we describe the strategies used by our subjects to read four common chart types. While our results suggest that familiar encodings based on visual perception studies can be useful in tactile graphics, our subjects also expressed a desire to use encodings designed explicitly for BLV people. Based on this study, we identify gaps between the perceptual expectations of common charts and the perceptual tools available in tactile perception. Then, we present a set of guidelines for the design of tactile graphics that accounts for these gaps. Supplemental material is available at https://osf.io/3nsfp/?view_only=7b7b8dcbae1d4c9a8bb4325053d13d9f.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2508_14289
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle "They Aren't Built For Me": An Exploratory Study of Strategies for Measurement of Graphical Primitives in Tactile Graphics
Khalaila, Areen
Harrison, Lane
Kim, Nam Wook
Cashman, Dylan
Human-Computer Interaction
Advancements in accessibility technologies such as low-cost swell form printers or refreshable tactile displays promise to allow blind or low-vision (BLV) people to analyze data by transforming visual representations directly to tactile representations. However, it is possible that design guidelines derived from experiments on the visual perception system may not be suited for the tactile perception system. We investigate the potential mismatch between familiar visual encodings and tactile perception in an exploratory study into the strategies employed by BLV people to measure common graphical primitives converted to tactile representations. First, we replicate the Cleveland and McGill study on graphical perception using swell form printing with eleven BLV subjects. Then, we present results from a group interview in which we describe the strategies used by our subjects to read four common chart types. While our results suggest that familiar encodings based on visual perception studies can be useful in tactile graphics, our subjects also expressed a desire to use encodings designed explicitly for BLV people. Based on this study, we identify gaps between the perceptual expectations of common charts and the perceptual tools available in tactile perception. Then, we present a set of guidelines for the design of tactile graphics that accounts for these gaps. Supplemental material is available at https://osf.io/3nsfp/?view_only=7b7b8dcbae1d4c9a8bb4325053d13d9f.
title "They Aren't Built For Me": An Exploratory Study of Strategies for Measurement of Graphical Primitives in Tactile Graphics
topic Human-Computer Interaction
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2508.14289