Figure 1: a) A student switch-adapting a bubble blower, b) student-generated suggested labels to improve the Tinkercad workspace, and c) a site lead working with a student to solder.

Block-based programming is a popular coding method for computer science education but is often inaccessible to children with disabilities. This work expands on the Blocks4All iPad app, a block-based programming environment designed to be accessible to children of all abilities, with an emphasis on children who are blind or have low vision. We strengthen Blocks4All by improving on the app's ability to be navigated by people with motor disabilities, implementing universal design, and creating a new “Virtual Robot” mode. Additionally, we describe a preliminary user study with two children using Switch Control, and while they could complete tasks, there clearly remains a great deal of work to make it truly accessible.

Block-based programming environments are a popular way to learn programming. Many of these libraries, including Scratch and MIT's App Inventor, are built on the Blockly library from Google. Unfortunately, programs built with the Blockly library are currently not accessible for people with visual impairments. We describe two designs to make the Blockly library accessible using a screen reader on a touchscreen device.

Blocks-based programming environments are often inaccessible for children with visual impairments who cannot interact with their visual components. We present our work on expanding Blocks4All, a touchscreen-based blocks-based programming environment that is accessible with screen readers, to improve its accessibility and expand its functionality. We describe our designs to support more complex functionality such as modifiable blocks, variables and functions and provide our code to encourage others to make their own environments accessible. We plan to evaluate the updated interface with children with low vision participating in a robotics competition

The use of technology in educational settings is extremely common. For many visually impaired children, educational settings are the first place they are exposed to the assistive technology that they will need to access mainstream computing devices. Current laws provide support for students to receive training from Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVIs) on these assistive devices. Therefore, TVIs play an important role in the selection and training of technology. Through our interviews with TVIs, we discovered the factors that impact which technologies they select, how they attempt to mitigate the stigma associated with certain technologies, and the challenges that students face in learning assistive technologies. Through this research, we identified three needs that future research on assistive technology should address: (1) increasing focus on built-in accessibility features, (2) providing support for independent learning and exploration, and (3) creating technologies that can support users with progressive vision loss.

Block-based programming environments such as Scratch are designed to make programming easier to learn for both children and adults. Unfortunately, these environments rely so heavily on visual features that they are inaccessible to people who are blind and use screen readers. To address this problem, we created Blocks4All, a block-based environment for the Apple iPad, which uses the touchscreen and VoiceOver, the built-in screen reader for iOS, to help make the environment accessible. Blocks4All differs from existing block-based environments in three main ways: (1) it uses select, select, drop instead of drag and drop to move blocks, (2) the blocks are placed on the bottom of the screen and are a fixed size so that they can easily be found by touch even without sight, and (3) it uses both audio and spatial cues to convey information about statements nested inside repeat loops and conditionals. In our presentation, we will show the features we developed and demonstrate how to write code that uses both conditional statements and repeat loops. We anticipate the demo will be useful both for instructors with students with visual impairments and developers of block-based environments. Handouts will be provided that describe Blocks4All and information about how to download a beta version.

Blocks-based programming environments are a popular tool to teach children to program, but they rely heavily on visual metaphors and are therefore not fully accessible for children with visual impairments. We evaluated existing blocks-based environments and identified five major accessibility barriers for visually impaired users. We explored techniques to overcome these barriers in an interview with a teacher of the visually impaired and formative studies on a touchscreen blocks-based environment with five children with visual impairments. We distill our findings on usable touchscreen interactions into guidelines for designers of blocks-based environments.

To successfully function within a team, students must develop a range of skills for communication, organization, and conflict resolution. For students on the autism spectrum, these skills mirror the social, communicative, and cognitive experiences that can often be challenging for these learners. Since instructors and students collaborate using a mix of technology, we investigated the technology needs of neurodiverse teams comprised of autistic and non-autistic students. We interviewed seven autistic students and five employees of disability services in higher education. Our analysis focused on technology stakeholder values, stages of small-group development, and Social Translucence -- a model for online collaboration highlighting principles of visibility, awareness, and accountability. Despite motivation to succeed, neurodiverse students have difficulty expressing individual differences and addressing team conflict. To support future design of technology for neurodiverse teams, we propose: (1) a design space and design concepts including collaborative and affective computing tools, and (2) extending Social Translucence to account for student and group identities.

Blocks-based programming environments, such as Scratch and Blockly, are designed to make learning programming easier for young children. They are increasingly being used for both formal and informal curriculum, such as many of Code.org's hour of code projects. However, these block-based environments rely heavily on visual metaphors and interactions, making them inaccessible for blind children. We describe our initial design of a touchscreen-based blocks environment that is accessible for blind children.

In a neurodiverse team, such as one comprised of students with autism and neurotypical students, social interaction and cognitive styles differ. We used a Value-Sensitive Design (VSD) approach to explore the role of technology in supporting the diverse values of neurodiverse teams. We conducted interviews with higher education disability services staff, followed by interviews with students with autism. We analyzed the students' values using the Q-Methodology. We found that key values of students with autism are: freedom from stigma, individual comfort, social comfort, social connection, and team cohesion. Through a VSD technical investigation, we found that current collaboration and affective technologies focus on supporting social connection and team cohesion. However, these technologies tend to not enable tailoring the user experience for the individual comfort that can benefit autistic users.

People who are blind or low-vision may have a harder time participating in exercise due to inaccessibility or lack of experience. We employed Value Sensitive Design (VSD) to explore the potential of technology to enhance exercise for people who are blind or low-vision. We conducted 20 semi-structured interviews about exercise and technology with 10 people who are blind or low-vision and 10 people who facilitate fitness for people who are blind or low-vision. We also conducted a survey with 76 people to learn about outsider perceptions of hypothetical exercise with people who are blind or low-vision. Based on our interviews and survey, we found opportunities for technology development in four areas: 1) mainstream exercise classes, 2) exercise with sighted guides, 3) rigorous outdoors activity, and 4) navigation of exercise spaces. Design considerations should include when and how to deliver auditory or haptic information based on exercise and context, and whether it is acceptable to develop less mainstream technologies if they enhance mainstream exercise. The findings of this work seek to inform the design of accessible exercise technologies.

It can be difficult for a blind developer to understand and navigate through a large amount of code quickly, as they are unable to skim as easily as their sighted counterparts. To help blind developers overcome this problem, we present StructJumper, an Eclipse plugin that creates a hierarchical tree based on the nesting structure of a Java class. The programmer can use the TreeView to get an overview of the code structure of the class (including all the methods and control flow statements) and can quickly switch between the TreeView and the Text Editor to get an idea of where they are within the nested structure. To evaluate StructJumper, we had seven blind programmers complete three tasks with and without our tool. We found that the users thought they would use StructJumper and there was a trend that they were faster completing the tasks with StructJumper.

Textbook figures are often converted into a tactile format for access by blind students. These figures are not truly accessible unless the text within the figures is also made accessible. A common solution to access text in a tactile image is to use embossed Braille. We have developed an alternative to Braille that uses QR codes for students who want tactile graphics, but prefer the text in figures be spoken, rather than in Braille. Tactile Graphics with a Voice (TGV) allows text within tactile graphics to be accessible by using a talking QR code reader app on a smartphone. To evaluate TGV, we performed a longitudinal study where ten blind and low vision participants were asked to complete tasks using three alternative picture taking guidance techniques: 1) no guidance, 2) verbal guidance, and 3) finger pointing guidance. Our results show that TGV is an effective way to access text in tactile graphics, especially for those blind users who are not fluent in Braille. In addition, guidance preferences varied with each of the guidance techniques being preferred by at least one participant.

Textbook images are converted into tactile graphics to be made accessible to blind and low vision students. The text labels on these graphics are an important part of the image and must be made accessible as well. The graphics usually have the labels embossed in Braille. However, there are some blind and low vision students who cannot read Braille and need to be able to access the labels in a different manner. We present Tactile Graphics with a Voice, a system that encodes the labels in QR codes, which can be read aloud using the application, TGV, we developed. TGV provides feedback to support the user in scanning the QR code and allows the user to select which QR code to scan when multiple are close together.

There are many educational smartphone games for children, but few are accessible to blind children. We present BraillePlay, a suite of accessible games for smartphones that teach Braille character encodings to promote Braille literacy. The BraillePlay games are based on VBraille, a method for displaying Braille characters on a smartphone. BraillePlay includes four games of varying levels of difficulty: VBReader and VBWriter simulate Braille flashcards, and VBHangman and VBGhost incorporate Braille character identification and recall into word games. We evaluated BraillePlay with a longitudinal study in the wild with eight blind children. Through logged usage data and extensive interviews, we found that all but one participant were able to play the games independently and found them enjoyable. We also found evidence that some children learned Braille concepts. We distill implications for the design of games for blind children and discuss lessons learned.

We present VBGhost: an accessible, educational smartphone game for people who are blind or low vision. It is based on the word game Ghost, in which players take turns adding letters to a word fragment while attempting to not complete a word. VBGhost uses audio and haptic feedback to reinforce Braille concepts. Players enter letters in the game by using Braille dot patterns on a touchscreen interface. Players can raise or lower dots to create Braille characters using taps and audio feedback from the phone. When a "raised" dot is touched on the screen, the phone vibrates. In VBGhost, a player can either play against the computer or against another person. We demonstrate the potential for the development of fun, accessible and educational games.