This research will explore the tactile recognition of the ELIA, Braille and Roman alphabets. The speed and accuracy with which the three alphabets are read will be compared. The alphabets will be presented at a number of font sizes and with varying line widths, letter spacing and letter raises, or, in the case of Braille, varying font sizes, letter spacing, dot widths, and letter raises. Presentation variables (font size, spacing, etc.) will be studied to ascertain whether varying them affects recognition speed and accuracy and whether there are optimal presentations of the alphabets for different tactile sensitivities. There will be 36 subjects in the study. The subjects will be randomly assigned to one of three alphabet groups. Subjects will familiarize themselves with the alphabets visually and tactilely and then pass criterion tests. Their tactile sensitivities will be measured with a number of tactile acuity tests. They will then be tested on varied presentations of the alphabets. Total training and testing time will be approximately 30 hours. Phase II of the grant will explore the modification of commercially available technology that can produce inexpensive tactile texts, labels and displays, and the development of new tactile production means.
Thesaurus Terms: blind aid, computer graphics /printing, computer system design /evaluation, form /pattern perception, language, reading, touch sensory signal detection, sensory threshold, size perception, vision disorder behavioral /social science research tag, clinical research, human subject
