AmbiAccess
Full Title
Accessible Health Tracking with Ambient Feedback for Visually Impaired PeopleDescription
People are increasingly using mobile and wearable devices to track and manage their health, such as their diet and physical activity. Surveys from 2022 [Loucks, 2022] and 2023 [Dalla, 2023] have noted that over 40% of adults use technologies to track their health, across a range of goals, including learning and self-improvement [Rooksby, 2014]. These numbers are likely to continue to rise as new sensors arise that facilitate the automatic tracking of health behaviours, and health tracking functionalities, are increasingly embedded in the ecosystem of these devices.
The goal of this project is to improve blind and low-vision people’s ability to interact with, and gain awareness of their self-tracked health data on mobile and wearable devices. In spite of the increasing prevalence of health tracking tools, their use is largely inaccessible to blind and low-vision people [Lee, 2023]. While health tracking involves both data collection and feedback – both with accessibility issues [Lee, 2024], this project focuses specifically on improving the accessibility of health feedback—how tracked data is presented and made actionable. We specifically focus on scenarios where health data is automatically collected (e.g., through wearables, mobile sensors) and aim to improve how this data is surfaced to users in a way that supports reflection and action.