Download full issue (PDF 2.1MB) - Council of European ...

Information Technologies for Visually Impaired People
Technology and Education in the Field of Visual Impairment
Sílvia Boix-Hernández, Mª Teresa Corbella-Roqueta, Lucía Melchor-Sánchez
In this article we look at the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in the education of visually
impaired learners with a view to ensuring that they achieve the maximum degree of independence in society. We start by
looking at the present situation, mentioning the tools used (hardware and software) and the working methodology from
early childhood up to adulthood. We reflect on the difficulties that we encounter and their possible solution, and we
consider how the design of assistive tools in accordance with accessibility guidelines can help the visually impaired.
Keywords: Accessibility, Digital Tools, Educational
Portals, Low Vision and Blindness, Magnifier, Screen
Reader, Usability.
1 Introduction
Learners with visual impairment need to acquire basic
competencies in the communication and information society
[1] and enjoy the same learning opportunities in ICT as
their sighted counterparts.
Sighted children observe, imitate, and are constantly
surrounded by technology. They press buttons, touch computers
and “play” on them whenever they are allowed to.
However, visually impaired children need help and support
at this initial stage. They require existing resources to be
adapted to their needs and presented to them by others.
Authors
Sílvia Boix-Hernàndez is a graduate in Psychology and works
as an Instructora en Tiflotecnologia (trainer in IT for the visual
impaired). She is a member of the New Technologies
Department team at ONCE’s Educational Resources Centre in
Barcelona. She is also a member of ACCEDO (ONCE
Accessibility to Educational Content Group) which was set up
in 2004. She has published a number of contributions on the
subject of the application of new technologies in the teaching
of learners with special educational needs as a result of their
visual impairment at an early age, and the development of IT
resources for the same purpose. .
Mª Teresa Corbella-Roqueta is a graduate in Industrial
Engineering specializing in Business Administration. She has
worked for ONCE since 1987, first as an IT specialist before
moving into the field of educational IT using technologies
adapted to the needs of the visually impaired (1990). Since
2000 she has been working at ONCE’s Educational Resources
Centre in Barcelona, coordinating research into new
technologies and resources for learners who have been visually
impaired since an early age, up until primary education. Since
2005 she has been a member of ACCEDO (ONCE Accessibility
to Educational Content Group). She has regularly collaborated
with the Departament d’Educació de la Generalitat de
Catalunya as an in-class and distance learning trainer (sessions,
material creation workshops, visual impairment courses, and
Thus it is difficult for visually impaired learners to access
technology at an early age. As professionals we need
to be creative, innovative, and find alternative ways for
these children to access computers in these early stages.
We will divide our approach into two stages: from early
childhood up until 7 or 8 years old we will use "guided
applications" (applications that can be used without a screen
reader), and from 8 years old on, "unguided applications"
(applications that require screen reading software and/or
hardware).
2 Working Methodology and Basic Resources in
the First Stage
When visually impaired children reach school age at the
age of three, they attend a regular school where their spe-
ICT). She has also performed guidance and training work
related to new technologies and accessibility. She has
participated as a speaker (and been published in the
corresponding proceedings) in national and international
conferences related to visual impairment, and has also been
published in specialist journals. .
Lucía Melchor-Sánchez worked as a support teacher in
integrated education programmes for visually impaired children
from 1992, forming part of blended learning teams and the
compulsory education team of the Joan Amades Educational
Resources Centre (CREc). In 1998 she began to study
Psychopedagogy (Educational Psychology) at the Universitat
Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), where she used all the Internetenabled
tools available to students. Between 1998 and 2005
she researched into the possibilities afforded by the Web in
terms of helping the blind become more independent, focusing
especially, though not exclusively, on the field of education.
Since 2005 she has formed part of ACCEDO group of the Joan
Amades Educational Resource Centre, where she has
participated in a great many training courses, delivered either
to other professionals in the field of education or to visually
impaired learners. She has taken an active part in various
conferences, sessions, round tables, and forums related to
technology for the visually impaired. .
62 UPGRADE Vol. VIII, No. 2, April 2007 © Novática