Search for: All records

Automatic Text Simplification (ATS) software aims at automatically rewrite complex text to make it simpler to read. Prior research has explored the use of ATS as a reading assistance technology, identifying benefits from providing these technologies to different groups of users, including Deaf and Hard-of-hearing (DHH) adults. However, little work has investigated the interests and requirements of specific groups of potential users of this technology. Considering prior work establishing that computing professionals often need to read about new technologies in order to stay current in their profession, in this study, we investigated the reading experiences and interests of DHH individuals with work experience in the computing industry in ATS-based reading assistance tools, as well as their perspective on the social accessibility of those tools. Through a survey and two sets of interviews, we found that these users read relatively often, especially in support of their work, and were interested in tools to assist them with complicated texts; but misperceptions arising from public use of these tools may conflict with participants’ desired image in a professional context. This empirical contribution motivates further research into ATS-based reading assistance tools for these users, prioritizing which reading activities users are most interested in seeing the application of this technology, and highlighting design considerations for creating ATS tools for DHH adults, including considerations for social accessibility. 

Without a commonly accepted writing system for American Sign Language (ASL), Deaf or Hard of Hearing (DHH) ASL signers who wish to express opinions or ask questions online must post a video of their signing, if they prefer not to use written English, a language in which they may feel less proficient. Since the face conveys essential linguistic meaning, the face cannot simply be removed from the video in order to preserve anonymity. Thus, DHH ASL signers cannot easily discuss sensitive, personal, or controversial topics in their primary language, limiting engagement in online debate or inquiries about health or legal issues. We explored several recent attempts to address this problem through development of “face swap” technologies to automatically disguise the face in videos while preserving essential facial expressions and natural human appearance. We presented several prototypes to DHH ASL signers (N=16) and examined their interests in and requirements for such technology. After viewing transformed videos of other signers and of themselves, participants evaluated the understandability, naturalness of appearance, and degree of anonymity protection of these technologies. Our study revealed users’ perception of key trade-offs among these three dimensions, factors that contribute to each, and their views on transformation options enabled by this technology, for use in various contexts. Our findings guide future designers of this technology and inform selection of applications and design features. 

Research has explored using Automatic Text Simplification for reading assistance, with prior work identifying benefits and interests from Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) adults. While the evaluation of these technologies remains a crucial aspect of research in the area, researchers lack guidance in terms of how to evaluate text complexity with DHH readers. Thus, in this work we conduct methodological research to evaluate metrics identified from prior work (including reading speed, comprehension questions, and subjective judgements of understandability and readability) in terms of their effectiveness for evaluating texts modified to be at various complexity levels with DHH adults at different literacy levels. Subjective metrics and low-linguistic-complexity comprehension questions distinguished certain text complexity levels with participants with lower literacy. Among participants with higher literacy, only subjective judgements of text readability distinguished certain text complexity levels. For all metrics, participants with higher literacy scored higher or provided more positive subjective judgements overall. 

Automatic Text Simplification (ATS) software replaces text with simpler alternatives. While some prior research has explored its use as a reading assistance technology, including some empirical findings suggesting benefits for deploying this technology among particular groups of users, relatively little work has investigated the interest and requirements of specific groups of users of this technology. In this study, we investigated the interests of Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) individuals in the computing industry in ATS-based reading assistance tools, motivated by prior work establishing that computing professionals often need to read about new technologies in order to stay current in their profession. Through a survey and follow-up interviews, we investigate these DHH individuals’ reading practices, current techniques for overcoming complicated text, and their interest in reading assistance tools for their work. Our results suggest that these users read relatively often, especially in support of their work, and they were interested in tools to assist them with complicated texts. This empirical contribution provides motivation for further research into ATS-based reading assistance tools for these users, prioritizing which reading activities users are most interested in seeing application of this technology, as well as some insights into design considerations for such tools. 

To make it easier to add American Sign Language (ASL) to websites, which would increase information accessibility for many Deaf users, we investigate software to semi-automatically produce ASL animation from an easy-to-update script of the message, requiring us to automatically select the speed and timing for the animation. While we can model speed and timing of human signers from video recordings, prior work has suggested that users prefer animations to be slower than videos of humans signers. However, no prior study had systematically examined the multiple parameters of ASL timing, which include: sign duration, transition time, pausing frequency, pausing duration, and differential signing rate. In an experimental study, 16 native ASL signers provided subjective preference judgements during a side-by-side comparison of ASL animations in which each of these five parameters was varied. We empirically identified and report users' preferences for each of these individual timing parameters of ASL animation.