Usability analysis of adaptive characteristics in mobile phones for visually impaired people

Abstract

In this modern era, mobile phones have become the most useable and popular devices in this world. These mobile phones provide a large number of applications that fulfill the needs of Visually Impaired People (VIP). The navigational complexity, the persistence of layout, an inconvenient input method, cross-device interactions, and accessibility is a part of the usability problem with today's touchscreen mobile applications for VIP. In modern mobile phones, many adaptive features help the VIP to fulfill their tasks. The objective of this paper is to investigate efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction based on existing adaptive features in mobile phones. The adaptive features in iOS and Android platforms consist of voice commands, screen rotation, kid mode, and LED notification. The efficiency and effectiveness have measured the task completion in a specific time period and satisfaction is measured through the After-Scenario Questionnaire Technique. There are around 63 VIP took part in this experiment. The results show the different attractive patterns of usability. There is a lot of usability and accessibility problems using mobile applications. In order to conclude, there is a need for an adaptive user interface that is visual impairment friendly for performing basic activities on mobile phones.