Audio Display of Spatial Information: Analyzing Movement Strategies in Exploration of Thematic Maps
Megen Brittell
Committee:
Bachelors Thesis(Sep 2013)
Keywords:

Auditory displays can improve accessibility of geospatial data and geographic information systems (GIS) for people who are blind. This paper characterizes and quantifies patterns in stylus movements that users who are blind employed to interact with a minimal Geographic Information System (mGIS) and complete a Region Lab educational intervention. Analysis of data collected during behavioral testing that represents participants responses to two tasks (exploration and selection) reveals a tendency for participants to move the stylus along orthogonal axes and identifies a check-neighbors gesture that represents participants actions in response to the two tasks. A GOMS-style model describes observed patterns and variation in performance across the two tasks and across repetitions within each task are explored in a quantitative analysis.