Accessibility of Android-based mobile devices: a prototype to investigate interaction with blind users

The study presented in this paper is part of mobile accessibility research with particular reference to the interaction with touch-screen based smartphones. Its aim was to gather information, tips and indications on interaction with a touch-screen by blind users. To this end we designed and developed a prototype for an Android-based platform. Four blind users (two inexperienced and two with experience of smartphones) were involved from the early phase of prototype design. The involvement of inexperienced users played a key role in understanding expectations of smart phones especially concerning touch-screen interaction. Skilled users provided useful suggestions on crucial aspects such as gestures and button position. Although the prototype developed is limited to only a few features for the Android operating system, the results obtained from blind user interaction can be generalized and applied to any mobile device based on a touch-screen. Thus, the results of this work could be useful to developers of mobile operating systems and applications based on a touch-screen, in addition to those working on designing and developing assistive technologies. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.