Person:

Mynatt, Elizabeth D.

Permanent Link

https://hdl.handle.net/1853/71544

Associated Organization(s)

Organizational Unit

School of Interactive Computing

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Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 14

Providing access to graphical user interfaces : the mercator project

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1996) Mynatt, Elizabeth D. ; Foley, James D.
Transforming graphical interfaces into auditory interfaces

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1995-08) Mynatt, Elizabeth D.
An Architecture for Transforming Graphical Interfaces

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1995) Edwards, W. Keith ; Mynatt, Elizabeth D.

While graphical user interfaces have gained much popularity in recent years, there are situations when the need to use existing applications in a nonvisual modality is clear. Examples of such situations include the use of applications on hand-held devices with limited screen space (or even no screen space, as in the case of telephones), or users with visual impairments. We have developed an architecture capable of transforming the graphical interfaces of existing applications into powerful and intuitive nonvisual interfaces. Our system, called Mercator, provides new input and output techniques for working in the nonvisual domain. Navigation is accomplished by traversing a hierarchical tree representation of the interface structure. Output is primarily auditory, although other output modalities (such as tactile) can be used as well. The mouse, an inherently visually-oriented device, is replaced by keyboard and voice interaction. Our system is currently in its third major revision. We have gained insight into both the nonvisual interfaces presented by our system and the architecture necessary to construct such interfaces. This architecture uses several novel techniques to efficiently and flexibly map graphical interfaces into new modalities.
Providing Access to Graphical User Interfaces - Not Graphical Screens

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1995) Edwards, W. Keith ; Mynatt, Elizabeth D. ; Stockton, Kathryn

The 1990 paper "The Graphical User Interface: Crisis, Danger and Opportunity" summarized an overwhelming concern expressed by the blind community: a new type of visual interface threatened to erase the progress made by the innovators of screen reader software. Such software (as the name implies) could read the contents of a computer screen, allowing blind computer users equal access to the tools used by their sighted colleagues. Whereas ASCII-based screens were easily accessible, new graphical interfaces presented a host of technological challenges. The contents of the screen were mere pixel values, the on or off "dots" which form the basis of any bit-mapped display. The goal for screen reader providers was to develop new methods for bringing the meaning of these picture-based interfaces to users who could not see them. The crisis was imminent. Graphical user interfaces were quickly adopted by the sighted community as a more intuitive interface. Ironically, these interfaces were deemed more accessible by the sighted population because they seemed approachable for novice computer users. The danger was tangible in the forms of lost jobs, barriers to education, and the simple frustration of being left behind as the computer industry charged ahead. Much has changed since that article was published. Commercial screen reader interfaces now exist for two of the three main graphical environments. Some feel that the crisis has been adverted, that the danger is now diminished. But what about the opportunity? Have graphical user interfaces improved the lives of blind computer users? The simple answer is not very much. This opportunity has not been realized because current screen reader technology provides access to graphical screens, not graphical interfaces. In this paper, we discuss the historical reasons for this mismatch as well as analyze the contents of graphical user interfaces. Next, we describe one possible way for a blind user to interact with a graphical user interface, independent of its presentation on the screen. We conclude by describing the components of a software architecture which can capture and model a graphical user interface for presentation to a blind computer user.
Designing with auditory icons

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1994-11) Mynatt, Elizabeth D.

Current research in auditory interfaces has produced a number of interesting interfaces without resulting in the compilation of design guidelines for creating descendent interfaces. This lack of a common design methodology may be partially responsible for the scarcity of commercial interfaces that make use of sound. Factors that affect the usability of auditory interfaces are identified, and are used as the basis for a simple design methodology for incorporating auditory icons in human-computer interfaces. Two steps in this methodology are evaluating the identifiability of auditory cues and evaluating the possible conceptual mappings between the cues and concepts in interfaces. Two experiments that explore these issues are summarized.
Virtual Environments Research at the Georgia Tech GVU Center

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1993) Hodges, Larry F. ; Bolter, Jay David ; Mynatt, Elizabeth D. ; Ribarsky, William ; Van Teylingen, Ron

The Grapics, Visualization, and Usability (GVU) Center was established at Georgia Tech in 1991 in recognition of the central importance of these three disciplines to the future growth of computing. The key emphasis of the GVU Center is effective communication of information between computers and people, as well as use of the computer to facilitate communication between individuals. This is not the domain of a single discipline, but rather draws on many diverse fields. Accordingly, the GVU Center emphasizes an interdisciplinary approach to research and education, bringing together 30 faculty and over 100 graduate students from the College of Architecture, School of Civil Engineering, College of Computing, School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Office of Information Technology, School of Literature, Communication, and Culture, School of Mathematics, Multimedia Technology Lab, and School of Psychology.
Auditory Presentation of Graphical User Interfaces

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1992) Mynatt, Elizabeth D.

This paper describes work to provide mappings between X-based graphical interfaces and auditory interfaces. In our system, dubbed Mercator, this mapping is transparent to applications. The primary motivation for this work is to provide accessibility to graphical applications for users who are blind or visually impaired. In this paper, I describe the design of an auditory interface which simulates many of the features of graphical interfaces. Some of these features have been evaluated in a small user study. I will present lessons learned from this study as well as discuss areas for further work.
Mercator : the design and implementation of auditory interface to Sun Microsystems, Inc.

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1992) Mynatt, Elizabeth D.
The Mercator Environment: A Nonvisual Interface to X Windows and Unix Workstations

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1992) Mynatt, Elizabeth D. ; Edwards, W. Keith

User interfaces to computer workstations are heavily dependent on visual information. These Graphical User Interfaces, commonly found on powerful desktop computers, are almost completely inaccessible to blind and visually impaired individuals. In order to make these types of computers accessible to non-sighted users, it will be necessary to develop a new interface which replaces the visual communication with audio and tactile communication. This paper describes the Mercator Environment--an auditory and tactile interface to X Windows and Unix workstations designed for the visually impaired.
Metaphors for Nonvisual Computing

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 1992) Mynatt, Elizabeth D. ; Edwards, W. Keith

Many of the systems in this book exemplify negotiating a technological barrier in order to provide access to a computer or other device. The necessity of providing access of any kind to existing devices has often outweighed the desire to design systems specifically for a small, although important, group of users. For example, computer access has been almost completely driven by the goal of overcoming more and more technological barriers. Currently, a significant problem in computer access is providing access to Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) for computer users who are blind.