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International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction

HCII 2020: Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Design Approaches and Supporting Technologies pp 445–464Cite as

Usable and Accessible Robot Programming System for People Who Are Visually Impaired

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Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNISA,volume 12188))

Abstract

In the 1960s, Papert introduced Logo language that commanded a graphic turtle. These were the first advances in the field of educational robotics. Many environments were created in this theme; however, most programming environments are highly graphical, so they do not provide accessible interfaces for visually impaired users. Thus, our research presents challenges and recommendations in terms of usability and accessibility in designing a robot programming environment for people who are visually impaired. We conjectured that by using a programming language to guide a robot in a virtual environment, the person who is visually impaired could better understand orientation and mobility skills. Hence, we created the GoDonnie programming language based on the Logo language. GoDonnie runs in a programming environment called Donnie. We show all the design process of Donnie, that was based on interactive design. Participates in this study, people who are visually impaired and sighted programming professors. Results indicate that GoDonnie and Donnie have good usability, supports the development of orientation and mobility in visually impaired people, and meets the expectations regarding the programming environment. Finally, we created a set of design guidelines for developing robot programming environments for people who are visually impaired.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    https://github.com/lsa-pucrs/donnie-assistive-robot-sw.

  2. 2.

    https://donnie-user-manual.readthedocs.io/en/latest/docs/godonnie/index.html.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul (PUCRS), School of Technology, Porto Alegre, Brazil

    Juliana Damasio Oliveira & Vanessa Stangherlin Machado Paixão-Cortes

  2. Inedi College – CESUCA, Cachoeirinha, Brazil

    Márcia de Borba Campos

Authors
  1. Juliana Damasio Oliveira
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  2. Márcia de Borba Campos
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  3. Vanessa Stangherlin Machado Paixão-Cortes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Juliana Damasio Oliveira .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Margherita Antona

  2. University of Crete and Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Constantine Stephanidis

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Damasio Oliveira, J., Campos, M.d.B., Stangherlin Machado Paixão-Cortes, V. (2020). Usable and Accessible Robot Programming System for People Who Are Visually Impaired. In: Antona, M., Stephanidis, C. (eds) Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Design Approaches and Supporting Technologies. HCII 2020. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 12188. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49282-3_32

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49282-3_32

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-49282-3

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