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Unified user interface development: the software engineering of universally accessible interactions

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Abstract

In the information society, the notion of “computing-platform” encompasses, apart from traditional desktop computers, a wide range of devices, such as public-use terminals, phones, TVs, car consoles, and a variety of home appliances. Today, such computing platforms are mainly delivered with embedded operating systems (such as Windows CE, Embedded/ Personal Java, and Psion Symbian), while their operational capabilities and supplied services are controlled through software. The broad use of such computing platforms in everyday life puts virtually anyone in the position of using interactive software applications in order to carry out a variety of tasks in a variety of contexts of use. Therefore, traditional development processes, targeted towards the elusive “average case”, become clearly inappropriate for the purposes of addressing the new demands for user- and usage-context diversity and for ensuring accessible and high-quality interactions. This paper will introduce the concept of unified user interfaces, which constitutes our theoretical platform for universally accessible interactions, characterized by the capability to self-adapt at run-time, according to the requirements of the individual user and the particular context of use. Then, the unified user interface development process for constructing unified user interfaces will be described, elaborating on the interactive-software engineering strategy to accomplish the run-time self-adaptation behaviour.

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Notes

  1. The AVANTI browser has been developed in the context of the AVANTI project.

  2. See the Acknowledgements section

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge with appreciation the guidance of the managing editor and the contribution of the anonymous reviewers in significantly improving the quality of the manuscript during the peer review process. The unified interface development method has been originally defined in the context of the ACCESS TP1001 (the development platform for unified ACCESS to enabling environments) project, partially funded by the TIDE Program of the European Commission, and lasted 36 months (from January 1st, 1994 to December 31st, 1996). The partners of the ACCESS consortium are: CNR-IROE (Italy) - Prime contractor; ICS-FORTH (Greece); University of Hertforshire (UK); University of Athens (Greece); NAWH (Finland); VTT (Finland); Hereward College (UK); RNIB (United Kingdom); Seleco (Italy); MA Systems & Control (UK); PIKOMED (Finland). The first large-scale application of the unified interface development method has been carried out in the context of the AVANTI AC042 (Adaptable and Adaptive Interaction in Multimedia Telecommunications Applications) project, partially funded by the ACTS Program of the European Commission, and lasted 36 months (from September 1st, 1995 to August 31st, 1998). The partners of the AVANTI consortium are: ALCATEL Italia, Siette division (Italy) - Prime Contractor; IROE-CNR (Italy); ICS-FORTH (Greece); GMD (Germany), VTT (Finland); University of Siena (Italy), MA Systems and Control (UK); ECG (Italy); MATHEMA (Italy); University of Linz (Austria); EUROGICIEL (France); TELECOM (Italy); TECO (Italy); ADR Study (Italy). The PALIO “Personalised Access to Local Information and Services for Tourists” project (IST-1999–20656) is partly funded by the Information Society Technologies Program of the European Commission—DG Information Society. The partners in the PALIO consortium are: ASSIOMA S.p.A. (Italy)—Prime Contractor; CNR-IROE (Italy); Comune di Firenze (Italy); FORTH-ICS (Greece); GMD (Germany); Telecom Italia Mobile S.p.A. (Italy); University of Sienna (Italy); Comune di Siena (Italy); MA Systems and Control Ltd (UK); FORTHnet (Greece). The NAUTILUS “Unified Web Browser for People with Disabilities” project is funded by EPET-II Programme (Operational Programme for Research & Technology of the General Secretariat for Research and Technology, Hellenic Ministry of Development). The partners in the NAUTILUS Consortium are: ICS-FORTH (Greece), TRD International SA (Greece) and NCDP (Greece).

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  1. Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas, Institute of Computer Science, Science and Technology Park of Crete, GR-71110, Heraklion, Crete, Greece

    Anthony Savidis & Constantine Stephanidis

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  1. Anthony Savidis
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Correspondence to Constantine Stephanidis.

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Savidis, A., Stephanidis, C. Unified user interface development: the software engineering of universally accessible interactions. Univ Access Inf Soc 3, 165–193 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-004-0096-8

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