Home PageStudentParticipantFaculty MentorGraduate Student AdvisorsProject DescriptionMy Android ApplicationsWeekly Journal DREU Final Report
This summer, my project will have several parts, which are:MobileAccessibility is a project sponsored by the Computer Science and Engineering Department at the University of Washington that uses existing technology in Androids and IPhones to develop new accessible applications for blind, low-vision, and deaf-blind that provide useful mobile functionality. Potential users are actively involved in designing and testing process by providing ideas and feedback. For more information, go to http://mobileaccessibility.cs.washington.edu/.
I will be testing the various applications that Chandrika Jayant develops in the FocalEyes Camera Focalization Project. This projecct works on using computer vision and user input for semi-autonomous camera focalization for blind people. For more information, go to http://mobileaccessibility.cs.washington.edu/projects/.
I will be helping Shaun Kane develop new gestures and test existing ones for touch screen devices, such as IPhones and IPads. The goal of the study is to find out which gestures, or types of gestures, work best for blind users.
I will learn how to write code for Android applications and then use my newly acquired skills to develop accessible Android applications. For details about the individual applications, go to My Android Applications page.
The National Federation of the Blind 2010 Junior Science Academy is a program for blind students to learn about science and for parents to learn about meeting the needs of their blind children. Richard and I will be holding three sessions; the first will be a hands on activity with the students that simulates a computer sorting algorithm, the second will be talking to the parents about computer science and experiences with blind students, and the third will be talking to both the parents and the students. For the third session, we will split up into two groups. Richard will do an activity with string where strings are folded in half and held by the center so that their ends hang down, but it is not possible to tell which strings connect. Then, the students and parents randomly tie the ends of the strings together, the idea being to discuss all of the possible outcomes for a given number of strings. Shani and I will be showing the other group Android applications developed by MobileAccessibility, including the Color Namer, V-Braille, and my calculator. For more information about the 2010 Junior Science academy, go to http://www.blindscience.org/ncbys/Junior_Science_Academy_Mentor_Info.asp For more information about the NFB, go to http://www.nfb.org/nfb/default.asp?SnID=974813357
Astronomy for the Sight Impaired (ASI) is a multilesson curriculum for teaching sight impaired elementary students about astronomy. The lessons are designed to teach the students the information that is required by Washington State. The University of Washington Astronomy Department is looking for visually impaired underGraduate Student Advisors to role play elementary students and provide feedback and recommendations about ASI, which I will do this summer. For more information, go to http://www.astro.washington.edu/groups/observatory/ASI/index.html.