Bridging the Digital Divide for the Differently-Abled (Tamil) Students in Higher Education

Transcription

1 Abstract Bridging the Digital Divide for the Differently-Abled (Tamil) Students in Higher Education J. Jerald Inico, Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science Dr. T. Edwin Prabakaran, Associate Professor, PG & Research Department of Statistics, Loyola, Chennai Information and Communication Technology, popularly known as ICT, brought us many new avenues to create, connect, communicate, collaborate and do many creative works. Educators are using ICT for demonstrating their students various aspects of a concept. The students themselves update their knowledge and determine what they want to learn from time to time. The Parents find enough guidelines to guide their wards to choose right subject at the right time. The members of faculty are searching for the alternate theory or alternate solution for the similar kind of problem. The managements of the educational institutions too are looking for information about new courses to be offered that fetch immediate job to the new generation of students. Hence, all the stake holders of education are highly relying on ICTs to grow further. The ICT consists of a computer system, internet connectivity and other associated assistive devices with necessary software system to create, connect, communicate and to collaborate. The computer system may range from small PDAs, Palmtops, Laptops, Personal Computers, Mini computers, Super Computers, up to MainFrame Computers. Today even the smart phones or other modern gadgets have the similar capacity of a computer which help the user to connect to the internet. There is no end to innovation and numerous numbers of innovative computer hardware and software products are produced every day. The free form style of internet encourages everyone to publish their articles, stories, photos, videos, etc, and it brought numerous volume of data available in the web. The search engines are employed to fetch the right data wanted by the users. The social networking websites have also created a new way of communicating and collaborating with the users. The modernized interfaces are easy to learn and help everyone to interact with the web. Not only the experts but also the kids can operate computer systems with a little bit of experience. Though the ICT has given us a lot of sophisticated hardwares, softwares and data, they have also created a digital divide among us. The differently-abled, persons with no or partial, are really under priviledged, as they can not use mouse with ease. This research aims to analyze the utility of ICT by the differently-abled (Tamil Literature) students and to promote necessary assistive devices/ facilities in Tamil language to enable them to use web on a par with others. Keywords Information and Communication Technology, Internet, Persons with Visual Disability, Web Accessibility, Web Content Accessibility, Web Personalization Introduction Every one is enjoying the fruits of ICT as it opens many new avenues to create, connect, communicate, and to collaborate world wide. Almost all the stake holders of education are utilizing it for their academic purpose also. A student with vision impairment mostly depend on someone who can read texts that they want or require someone who can write what they tell, namely Scribes. They also can not use mouse and other sensitive devices which others can use. This creates a Digital Divide. There are few accessibility softwares called screen readers, which may read the contents in the screen and they have emerged recently as a great help in utilizing the resources in the web. The screen readers including JAWS, NVDA, VOICE OVER, ZOOM TEXT, WINDOWS EYES, CHROME VOX, and SYSTEM ACCESS are the popular among them. Apart from the screen readers, a student with low can utilize the features such as Screen Enlarger, Increased Browser Text, Browser Zoom and High Contrast, introduced recently. The screen readers for the mobile devices were also introduced to help them, utilize Nuance Talks, Mobile Speak, Voice Over, Talk back for Android, Mobile Accessibility for Android, IDEAL, Orator for BlackBerry, Galaxy Talk, etc. Many such facilities are available for English language but are not available for Tamil language. The emergence of new hand held devices namely Tablets and other touch screen devices have also created some challenges only for the persons with vision impairment, which can be termed as a Digital Divide. This paper primarily aims to identify the level of digital divide by conducting a preliminary survey among the differently-abled Tamil Literature 479

2 students in Higher Education. The problem identification is the first step towards finding the solution. The Objective of the Study ICT consists of many components including Information, Computer and Internet. The devices used vary from user to user, depending on the features, comfort, availability, affordability, support, etc. Since the differently-abled can not see or realize any graphical items that others may refer in ICT, they need some assistive devices or softwares which help them to understand what information is available in front of them. The assistive devices are mostly from the Optical Character Recognition, Speech Recognition, Web Accessibility and Web Content Mining. The main objective of this study is to identify whether or not those products of ICT are available, accessible, affordable and usable by the differently-abled (Persons with no and low ) using those assistive devices and to identify the problems faced by them. The Motivation of the study The motivation behind this study is very unique. Many NGOs are closely working with differently-abled students by arranging them scribes who are working professionals, for reading and writing on certain days of the week. To avail these facilities, they may have to travel from one place to another, sometimes to far away places where they may not reach in time, may loose their opportunity or miss their scribe and to their portions too. Due to non availability of standard scribes, many such students are disappointed. The only viable alternative to all the above problems is ICT. ICT is really a boon in the life of every differently-abled person in this World. Text to Speech, Speech to Text and the Web Accessibility are the main research areas where the difficulties of differently-abled can be mitigated. There are some problems in the usage of ICT that create digital divide among the Differently-Abled that can be eliminated by giving proper attention at the right time. Since they can not use graphical oriented menu system that is triggered by the mouse, they have to use only Tab Keys and the Arrow keys to navigate the page. There is a chance of missing a menu item that leads to repeated pressing of Tab key in a cyclic way and fail to go to the required position and it may eat the productive time of them. They also have to remember all the short Cut Keys to select a menu item which also contribute to the development of Digital Divide. This is the right time to initiate any suitable measure to reduce those Digital Divide and to achieve 100% of utilization of web resources by the differently-abled students. The Scope and coverage of the study The Universities in India, usually offer courses that are recognized by the University Grants Commission of India (UGC) for the undergraduate, postgraduate, Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy programmes. The s in India offer courses that are recognized by their affiliating universities. Those who have successfully completed their higher secondary level of school education are permitted to enroll in higher education. The differently-abled are also enrolling themselves for higher education either in a or in a University. They are now-a-days very successful in Tamil Literature, English Literature, History, Sociology, Business Administration and Commerce. It is obvious that the differently-abled students are scattered all around the country but this study covers the students who are presently engaged in their study at either a University or a in Chennai particularly those pursuing their B. A., B. Ed., M. A., M. Ed., M. Phil., and PhD degree in Tamil Literature and who have consented to record their opinion on a particular date and time during a visit to their institution and to their hostels. This study primarily tries to measure the level of digital divide created by ICT among the Persons with no and Persons with less, starting from the awareness about ICT, usage of assistive softwares, Tamil web resources etc. The Methodology used in the Study In order to conduct preliminary survey, model questions were selected from the popular web site WEBAIM 2 that conducts online survey for screen reader accessibility. Thirty questions were prepared to measure the Digital Divide among the Differently-Abled (Tamil Literature) students. The questionnaire to be filled was analyzed thoroughly to check for the awareness, availability, usability condition of the web resources before actual conduct of the survey. Some additional columns were given to record their personal data including name, roll number, course studying, date of birth, place of birth, father s occupation, mother s occupation, school last studied, demography, gender and the nature of disability to make it more reliable. The questions present in the questionnaire were: Do you own a Personal Computer / Laptop with internet facility? Do you use internet regularly? Do you refer to any website for your study? How many Tamil websites are available for you to refer 480

3 your subjects matter? Do you use a screen reader due to a disability? Please rate your screen reader proficiency. Please rate your proficiency using the Internet. On which of the following devices, do you use a screen reader? Which operating system do you use in your desktop/laptop? Which of the following is your primary desktop/laptop screen reader? What is the main reason for using your primary screen reader? Which of the following visual features, if any, do you use? Which browser do you use most often with your screen reader? Have you ever customized your screen reader settings? Do you feel that free or low-cost screen readers (such as NVDA or VoiceOver) are viable alternatives to commercial screen readers? Do you use a screen reader on a mobile phone or mobile handheld device? Which of the following is your primary mobile platform? Which of the following mobile screen readers do you commonly use? Which of the following best describes your feelings regarding the accessibility of web content? In general, how accessible are social media web sites to you? How often do you navigate by landmarks in your screen reader? When trying to find information on a lengthy web page, which of the following do you use mostly? When a "skip to main content" or "skip navigation" link is available on a page, how often do you use it? CAPTCHAs are images presenting text used to verify that a user is a human user. How difficult are CAPTCHAs to you for usage? Do you visit Tamil websites using mobile phone? If yes, how do you rate the accessibility of Tamil websites in your mobile phone? For what purpose, do you visit Tamil web sites mostly? How will you know about any new Tamil web sites mostly? Do you exchange Tamil greetings in your ? If yes, which font do you use mostly? Please specify. Do you use any assistive device for your study? If yes, which device do you use mostly? Please specify. The questions in the questionnaire were clearly explained to the student respondents to avoid any error in data collection. While observing data, the one to one approach, the direct personal interview method was adopted, to avoid influences of their neighbor. The Digital Divide can be measured through the questions like the use of screen readers, proficiency level of using screen readers, the ability to change the screen reader settings, proficiency level of using internet, usage of visual features, accessibility of social media web sites, the ability to identify CAPTCHAs, accessibility of tamil web sites, typing tamil greetings, use of screen readers in Mobile, etc. The IBM SPSS software package is used to analyze the opinion taken. The data entry was checked thoroughly and analyzed to understand the needs of the differently-abled and are narrated in the following section: The Statistics Twelve city colleges were considered for conducting the survey, as listed below with details: Number of Students participated Name of the Gender Disability type No Less I B A II BA III BA I MA Course studying II MA B. Ed M. Ed M. Phil PhD Total Apollo of Education Chellamal for women Ethiraj for Women Govt Arts & Female Female Female Female 481

4 Number of Students participated Name of the Gender Disability type No Less I B A II BA III BA I MA Course studying II MA B. Ed M. Ed M. Phil PhD Total Science, Nandanam Loyola Female Madras Christian Pachayappa s Presidency Quaid-E-Milleth for Women Queen Mary s University of Madras World Tamil Research Centre Female Female Female Female Female Female Female Total It is really fortunate to have the responses from the equal number of respondents, both the persons with no and the persons with less. Summary table on the Digital Divide between Person with no and less 482

5 Measure of Digital Divide Responses from Person with no Sight Responses from Person with less Sight Own a Computer/ Laptop with Internet 21% YES 29% No 24% YES 26% No Use internet regularly 22% YES 28% No 21% YES 29% No Refer Websites for Academic Purposes 21% YES 29% No 24% YES 26% No Tamil Web sites for Academic Purposes 0 20%, %, %, %, above 20 4% 0 19%, %, %, %, above 20 3% Use of screen reader 35% YES 15% NO 45% YES 5% NO Screen Reader usage - proficiency level 7% High, 20% Moderate, 23% Low Internet usage- proficiency level 6% High, 16% Moderate, 28% Low 8% High, 24% Moderate, 18% Low 2% High, 25% Moderate, 23% Low The device where those screen readers are used mostly 13% None, 15% Desktop, 19% Laptop, 3% Mobile, 6% None, 14% Desktop, 25% Laptop, 5% Mobile The Operating System used 1% ios, 49% Windows 2% Linux, 48% Windows The Screen Reader Used (Multiple Responses obtained) 33% JAWS, 28% NVDA 34% JAWS, 1% Voice Over, 24% NVDA, 2% Zoom Text The reason to choose a particular screen reader 14% Comfort, 7% Features, 1% Cost, 22% Availability, 6% Support 14% Comfort, 5% Features, 2% Cost, 20% Availability, 9% Support Visual features used by the persons with less 50% none 19% Screen Enlarger, 7% Increased browser text, 11% Browser Zoom, 13% High Contrast The browser used with the screen reader 41% Internet Explorer, 6% FireFox, 2% Safari, 1% Netscape 37% Internet Explorer, 10% FireFox, 2% Chrome, 1% Opera, 1% Netscape Their ability to change the settings of the screen reader 18% YES 32% NO 30% YES 20% NO Is low cost screen readers are alternate to the commercial softwares 19% YES, 18% No, 13% I don t know 26% YES, 15% No, 9% I don t know The usage of screen readers in Mobile devices 12% YES 38% NO 18% YES 32% NO 483

6 The Primary Mobile Platform 2% Android, 3% Windows Phone, 45% Nokia 2% IPhone, 2% Android, 1% Windows Phone, 43% Nokia, 2% Blackberry The Mobile screen reader 31% None, 4% Voice Over, 5% Nuance Talk, 8% Mobile Speak, 1% Talkback for Android, 2% Orator 27% None, 5% Voice Over, 7% Nuance Talk, 7% Mobile Speak, 2% Talkback for Android, 1% IDEAL, 1% Orator Accessibility of Web Content 7% VV Good, 8% V Good, 10% Good, 15% Bad, 10% Very Bad 2% VV Good, 12% V Good, 14% Good, 11% Bad, 11% Very Bad Accessibility of Social Media Web sites 5% Very Much Accessible, 4% Some What Accessible, 3% Somewhat Inaccessible, 38% Very Inaccessible 1% Very Much Accessible, 12% Some What Accessible, 4% Somewhat Inaccessible, 33% Very Inaccessible The use of Landmarks 2% Very Often, 7% Often, 3% Sometimes, 38% Never The most usage pattern 37% Headings, 3% Find, 3% Links, 2% Landmark, 5% entire page 6% Very Often, 8% Often, 8% Sometimes, 28% Never 29% Headings, 9% Find, 5% Links, 2% Landmarks, 5% entire page Usage of Skip to main content option or Skip Navigation 8% Very Often, 4% Often, 14% Sometimes, 24% Never 9% Very Often, 4% Often, 19% Sometimes, 18% Never Tolerate level of CAPTCHA s while authentication 41% VV difficult, 4% V Difficult, 3% Difficult, 2% Not Difficult 32% VV difficult, 12% V Difficult, 4% Difficult, 2% Not Difficult Accessing Tamil Webs in mobile phone 4% YES 46% NO 10% YES 40% NO Accessibility of Tamil Web sites in Phone 46% No Access, 3% Access Partially, 1% Access little bit 40% No Access, 2% Access Completely, 4% Access Partially, 4% Access little bit The purpose of visiting Tamil Webs 24% Entertainment, 10% Academic, 10% Downloading, 6% News 15% Entertainment, 20% Academic, 6% Downloading, 9% News The propagators 8% Professors, 1% Lab Instructors, 37% Friends, 1% Parents, 3% Ads 10% Professors, 4% Lab Instructors, 28% Friends, 3% Parents, 5% Ads Tamil Greetings in 9% YES 41% NO 10% YES 40% NO Assistive Devices for study 45% YES 5% NO 41% YES 9% NO 484

7 The Findings from the survey This study reveals that 86% of the Differently-Abled students are using some kind of assistive devices for their study which is very much encouraging. 45% of them own a desktop/ laptop with internet facility, 43% of them are regularly using internet, 45% of them are referring internet for their academic purposes. The Digital Divide measured from the above table is described below: The use of screen readers is 80%. The proficiency level of using screen readers are 15% High, 44% Moderate, 41% Low. The ability to change the screen reader settings are 48% Only. The proficiency level of using internet are 8% High, 41% Moderate, 51% Low. The usage of visual features are 50% Not Possible, 19% use Screen Enlarger, 7% use Increased browser text, 11% use browser zoom, and 13% use high contrast. The accessibility of social media web sites are revealed, 71% Very Inaccessible, 7% Somewhat inaccessible, 16% Somewhat Accessible, 6% Very much Accessible. The usability status of CAPTCHAs are 73% Very very difficult, 16% Very difficult, 7% Difficult, and 4% No difficult. The accessibility status of of tamil web sites are 14% Yes, 86% No. The use of tamil greetings in are 19% Yes and 86% No. The use of screen readers in Mobile are 30% Yes and 70% No. Apart from the survey, a personal interaction is also made to realize the status of Digital Divide among the Differently-Abled students. Most of them have agreed that ICT is the gift to reduce the divide that make them live on a par with others. They appreciated web sites like Madurai Project, Tamil Virtual University, etc, from where they get contents for their academic purposes. A few of them informed that the group mails including Valluvan Parvai, Inaiya Thendral, etc, created a new way of exchanging their idea, but most of them, are not aware of these group s or some of them are not participating due to the non availability of a Computer with internet facility or the restrictions in the hostel as well as in the s keep them away from their social networking groups. Most of them said that NVDA and espeak, the screen reading softwares, offering them an opportunity to learn from Tamil web sites but are not satisfying their expectations that is also creating some amount of Digital Divide. In order to attract the users, many web sites are using Graphical tools that are not accessible by the person with no. Too many frames, image maps, Java scripts, etc in a web page creates navigational problems. Lack of assistive softwares for non-unicode fonts made them inaccessible. Hence, the study proved that the ratio of Digital divide increased for the Differently-Abled to utilize the resources available now. A few suggestions to mitigate disability to use ICT The study reveals that the Person with Visual disabilities can not use many of the modern facilities available. In order to overcome those disability, the whole Tamil Computing community must follow the guidelines given by the World Wide Web (W3) Consortium like the Web Accessibility Guidelines 3 and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 4 to make web resources are accessible by everyone. The Differently-Abled are definitely depending on TAB keys, Short Cut Keys and the Arrow keys for navigation, the number of frames in a web page can be limited, the list of short cut keys and other navigational information can be added in the help menu that may reduce Digital Divide. The Device Personalization 1 is a technique by which the type of device can be identified so that the web shall automatically generate exclusive content that is suitable for the device or selects the readymade web page that is suitable to view in that particular device. The Tamil Web sites may adopt such a technique to eliminate digital divide and hence, the resources can be fully utilized. Future Direction This survey is the first of its kind to measure the Digital Divide through availability, accessibility, usability of Tamil Web Resources for the differently-abled or the real users, undergoing higher education in Chennai, Tamilnadu, India. This survey can also be observed for the students in other parts of Tamilnadu or in India with a little modification in the questionnaire. It can also be modified to accommodate new facilities in Tamil Language that emerge as of now. The same survey can be extended to the members of the differently-abled faculty of Tamil literature to find their usage pattern of Tamil Web sites. Acknowledgement The authors are thankful to the management of Loyola, Chennai, India for providing all the necessary facilities to conduct the survey smoothly. They are grateful to the Computer Society of India, Chennai Chapter for the financial assistance to present this paper in the 12th International Tamil Internet Conference. They also acknowledge the help rendered by the Principals, Head Of the Departments and the esteemed members of faculty of Tamil Department in Chennai City s. 485

8 Conclusion The study proved that there are many differently-abled (Tamil Literature) students in higher education, who rely on ICT for their academic purposes. It also revealed that there are difficulties in using the resources currently available that paved the way for the Digital Divide among differently-abled. The degree of Digital Divide may vary from person to person but can be eliminated by giving proper attention to the new and existing resources and offering periodical training to the users. It must be an ongoing process that the technical team should interact regularly with the students and make some remedy to meet the demands of the real users. References Jerald Inico, J. and Edwin Prabakaran, T. (2012). Computing Intelligence to enhance Web Personalization, INTELLIGENT Computer Society of India COMMUNICATIONS Dec 2012, 10-11, Screen Reader User Survey #4 Results, seen on June 10, Easy Checks - A First Review of Web Accessibility updated on $Date: :29:50 $ Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0, seen on July 01,