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1. Visualization without Vision – How Blind and Visually Impaired Students and Researchers Engage with Molecular Structures

   https://doi.org/10.14448/jsesd.12.0012  

   J. Laconsay, Croix; B. Wedler, Henry; J. Tantillo, Dean (October 2020, The Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities)

   null (Ed.)

   This article examines the tools and techniques currently available that enable blind and visually impaired (BVI) individuals to visualize three-dimensional objects used in learning chemistry concepts. How BVI individuals engage with and visualize molecular structure is discussed and recent tactile (or haptic) and auditory methods for visualization of various chemistry concepts are summarized. Remaining challenges for chemistry education researchers are described with the aim of highlighting the potential value of educational research in further enabling BVI students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. 

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2. Universal pictures: A lithophane codex helps teenagers with blindness visualize nanoscopic systems

   https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adj8099  

   Alonzo, Emily A; Lato, Travis J; Gonzalez, Mayte; Olson, Trevor L; Savage, Quentin R; Garza, Levi N; Green, Morgan T; Koone, Jordan C; Cook, Noah E; Dashnaw, Chad M; et al (January 2024, Science Advances)

   People with blindness have limited access to the high-resolution graphical data and imagery of science. Here, a lithophane codex is reported. Its pages display tactile and optical readouts for universal visualization of data by persons with or without eyesight. Prototype codices illustrated microscopy of butterfly chitin—fromN-acetylglucosamine monomer to fibril, scale, and whole insect—and were given to high schoolers from the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired. Lithophane graphics of Fischer-Spier esterification reactions and electron micrographs of biological cells were also 3D-printed, along with x-ray structures of proteins (as millimeter-scale 3D models). Students with blindness could visualize (describe, recall, distinguish) these systems—for the first time—at the same resolution as sighted peers (average accuracy = 88%). Tactile visualization occurred alongside laboratory training, synthesis, and mentoring by chemists with blindness, resulting in increased student interest and sense of belonging in science. 

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3. Computer Science Principles for Teachers of Blind and Visually Impaired Students

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3287324.3287453  

   Stefik, Andreas; Ladner, Richard E.; Allee, William; Mealin, Sean (January 2019, Proceedings Article published 2019 in Proceedings of the 50th ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education - SIGCSE '19)

   The College Board's AP Computer Science Principles (CSP) content has become a major new course for introducing K-12 students to the discipline. The course was designed for many reasons, but one major goal was to broaden participation. While significant work has been completed toward equity by many research groups, we know of no systematic analysis of CSP content created by major vendors in relation to accessibility for students with disabilities, especially those who are blind or visually impaired. In this experience report, we discuss two major actions by our team to make CSP more accessible. First, with the help of accessibility experts and teachers, we modified the entire Code.org CSP course to make it accessible. Second, we conducted a one-week professional development workshop in the summer of 2018 for teachers of blind or visually impaired students in order to help them prepare to teach CSP or support those who do. We report here on lessons learned that are useful to teachers who have blind or visually impaired students in their classes, to AP CSP curriculum providers, and to the College Board. 

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4. “I stepped into a puddle”: Non-Visual Texting in Nomadic Contexts

   https://doi.org/10.1145/3587281.3587285  

   Karimi, Pegah; Brady, Erin; Martin-Hammond, Aqueasha; Bolchini, Davide (April 2023, ACM)

   W4A '23: Proceedings of the 20th International Web for All Conference April 2023 Pages 32–43 (Ed.)

   Despite growing interest in accessible texting for people who are blind and visually impaired (BVI), little is known about the practice of texting when on the move, and especially while using assistive technologies. To address this gap, we conducted an interview-based study with 20 BVIs who text while travelling. Our findings revealed that participants engage in text outside their home in four recurrent situations: walking to a destination, waiting for public transportation, riding in a vehicle, or approaching a point of interest. Moreover, to safely send a text, participants express the need for receiving a range of information about their surroundings, including the distance to destination, upcoming obstacles, traffic jams, and weather conditions. Based on these findings, we examine three modes of situational feedback cues to integrate with messaging applications: text-based, sound effects, and tactile. Our work discusses design directions to enhance the texting experience in nomadic contexts for people who are blind and visually impaired. 

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5. The HapBack: Evaluation of Absolute and Relative Distance Encoding to Enhance Spatial Awareness in a Wearable Tactile Device

   https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60149-2_20  

   Duarte, Bryan; McDaniel, Troy; Tadayon, Ramin; Chowdhury, Abhik; Low, Allison; Panchanathan, Sethuraman (January 2020, Lecture notes in computer science)

   null; null; null; null (Ed.)

   For the significant global population of individuals who are blind or visually impaired, spatial awareness during navigation remains a challenge. Tactile Electronic Travel Aids have been designed to assist with the provision of spatiotemporal information, but an intuitive method for mapping this information to patterns on a vibrotactile display remains to be determined. This paper explores the encoding of distance from a navigator to an object using two strategies: absolute and relative. A wearable prototype, the HapBack, is presented with two straps of vertically aligned vibrotactile motors mapped to five distances, with each distance mapped to a row on the display. Absolute patterns emit a single vibration at the row corresponding to a distance, while relative patterns emit a sequence of vibrations starting from the bottom row and ending at the row mapped to that distance. These two encoding strategies are comparatively evaluated for identification accuracy and perceived intuitiveness of mapping among ten adult participants who are blind or visually impaired. No significant difference was found between the intuitiveness of the two encodings based on these metrics, with each showing promising results for application during navigation tasks. 

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