Creating webpages requires generating content and arranging layout while iteratively refining both to achieve a coherent design, a process that can be challenging for blind individuals. To understand how blind designers navigate this process, we conducted two rounds of co-design sessions with blind participants, using design probes to elicit their strategies and support needs. Our findings reveal a preference for content and layout to co-evolve, but this process requires external support through cues that situate local elements within the broader page structure as well as multimodal interactions. Building on these insights, we developed TangibleSite, an accessible web design tool that provides real-time multimodal feedback through tangible, auditory, and speech-based interactions. TangibleSite enables blind individuals to create, edit, and reposition webpage elements while integrating content and layout decisions. A formative evaluation with six blind participants demonstrated that TangibleSite enabled independent webpage creation, supported refinement across content and layout, and reduced barriers to achieving visually consistent designs.

PCB (printed circuit board) substrates are often single-use, leading to material waste in electronics making. We introduce PCB Renewal, a novel technique that "erases" and "reconfigures" PCB traces by selectively depositing conductive epoxy onto outdated areas, transforming isolated paths into conductive planes that support new traces. We present the PCB Renewal workflow, evaluate its electrical performance and mechanical durability, and model its sustainability impact, including material usage, cost, energy consumption, and time savings. We develop a software plug-in that guides epoxy deposition, generates updated PCB profiles, and calculates resource usage. To demonstrate PCB Renewal's effectiveness and versatility, we repurpose a single PCB across four design iterations spanning three projects: a camera roller, a WiFi radio, and an ESPboy game console. We also show how an outsourced double-layer PCB can be reconfigured, transforming it from an LED watch to an interactive cat toy. The paper concludes with limitations and future directions.

Perceiving spatial information of a virtual object (e.g., direction, distance) is critical yet challenging for blind users seeking an immersive virtual reality (VR) experience. To facilitate VR accessibility for blind users, in this paper, we investigate the effectiveness of two types of haptic cues—vibrotactile and skin-stretch cues—in conveying the spatial information of a virtual object when applied to the dorsal side of a blind user’s hand. We conducted a user study with 10 blind users to investigate how they perceive static and moving objects in VR with a custom-made haptic apparatus. Our results reveal that blind users can more accurately understand an object’s location and movement when receiving skin-stretch cues, as opposed to vibrotactile cues. We discuss the pros and cons of both types of haptic cues and conclude with design recommendations for future haptic solutions for VR accessibility.

The iterative prototyping process for printed circuit boards (PCBs) frequently employs surface-mounted device (SMD) components, which are often discarded rather than reused due to the challenges associated with desoldering, leading to unnecessary electronic waste. This paper introduces SolderlessPCB, a collection of techniques for solder-free PCB prototyping, specifically designed to promote the recycling and reuse of electronic components. Central to this approach are custom 3D-printable housings that allow SMD components to be mounted onto PCBs without soldering. We detail the design of SolderlessPCB and the experiments conducted to evaluate its design parameters, electrical performance, and durability. To illustrate the potential for reusing SMD components with SolderlessPCB, we discuss two scenarios: the reuse of components from earlier design iterations and from obsolete prototypes. We also provide examples demonstrating that SolderlessPCB can handle high-current applications and is suitable for high-speed data transmission. The paper concludes by discussing the limitations of our approach and suggesting future directions to overcome these challenges.

We propose JetUnit, a water-based VR haptic system designed to produce force feedback with a wide spectrum of intensities and frequencies through water jets. The key challenge in designing this system lies in optimizing parameters to enable the haptic device to generate force feedback that closely replicates the most intense force produced by direct water jets while ensuring the user remains dry. In this paper, we present the key design parameters of the JetUnit wearable device determined through a set of quantitative experiments and a perception study. We further conducted a user study to assess the impact of integrating our haptic solutions into virtual reality experiences. The results revealed that, by adhering to the design principles of JetUnit, the water-based haptic system is capable of delivering diverse force feedback sensations, significantly enhancing the immersive experience in virtual reality.