Google DTorial: An interactive tutorial framework for blind users in a Web 2.0 world User Manual
1 introduction
DTorial: An interactive tutorial framework for blind
users in a Web 2.0 world
Joshua Hailpern
1
, Loretta Guarino Reid
2
, Richard Boardman
2
1
University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign. 201 N Goodwin Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
2
Google. 1600 Amphitheatre Pky, Mtn. View, CA 94043, USA
1
2
[lorettaguarino, richb]@google.com
Abstract. Effective tutorial systems can help promote products by reducing
barriers of learning new applications. With dynamic web applications becoming
as complex as desktop programs, there is a growing need for online
tutorial/help systems. For visually impaired users the key limitations of
traditional help systems are 1) poor access to help content with assistive
technology, and 2) frequent reliance on videos/images to identify parts of web
applications and demonstrate functionality. In this paper, we present a new
interaction model, targeted towards screen-reader users, that describes how to
embed an interactive tutorial within a web application. The interaction model is
demonstrated within a system called DTorial, a fully functional dynamic audio-
based tutorial with embedded content. While remaining within the web
application, users can rapidly access any tutorial content, injected inline near
relevant application controls, allowing them to quickly apply what they just
heard to the application itself, without ever losing their position or having to
shift windows. The model and implementation are grounded in sighted user
help-systems literature and an analysis of screen-reader and Web-Application
interactions. Lessons learned from the incremental design and evaluations
indicate that providing visually impaired users with dynamic, embedded,
interactive audio-based tutorial systems can reduce the barriers to new Web-
Applications.
Keywords: Tutorial, Help Systems, Web 2.0, Screen Reader, Blind, Visually
Impaired, Interactive Tutorial, Dynamic Content.
1 Introduction
There are many challenges that arise when ensuring equal opportunity access [6, 18,
25] for visually impaired and blind users. Even with state of the art tools (e.g., screen
readers), one major hurdle for this community is the adoption of new software.
Visually impaired users must rely upon recall to remember the available interface
options. Creating such a mental model is a time consuming process. This process is
complicated by industry’s adoption of Web 2.0 applications (e.g. Dynamic Webmail,
Web Document Editing, etc), complex and dynamic online programs that challenge
users to use a computer in a completely new way: introducing multiple modes of
interaction, including one not in the vernacular of most screen-reader users. While
literature would encourage the use of tutorials [23] existing mechanisms (e.g., video,