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This presentation aims to look at
the feasibility of developing a framework for localising assistive
technologies
and also online technologies that disabled users may find difficult to
access
that means making technology suitable for
any culture and language
those of us working on the project have come from a far afield
as Mumbai in India, Doha in Qatar
Stockholm in Sweden and Southampton in UK
this has meant that we are all experiencing very different cultures
languages and learning situations and in particular
the way assistive technologies are used within these environments
whilst developing the framework
we've been on a journey that of discovering
not only the way localisation
impacts on the development of assistive technologies
but also looking at the way assistive technologies
work with web pages, e-texts, e-books and mobiles
in different countries. We've had to develop an understanding
and to translate what we've learned into the requirements for the development of
particular technologies. The word translate has two meanings in
this case that of moving from one language to another
as well as taking user needs and developing suitable technologies
it's important that the users are with us at all points
on this journey not just at the end when
we're asking them to test our ideas.
Having gathered requirements for development
whether it's to make actual tools
or to evaluate how easy it is for someone to access a website
there is a need to communicate the concepts
to check a specification is in place that will actually fit
local cultures, languages, skills, environment
and the tasks being undertaken. But why localization so important?
The world is growing smaller thanks
in part to technology and therefore there has been
more collaboration between groups. In our case
this has been the development of a web browser toolbar and a desktop
application.
These tools and others that the team have been using
have provided us with case studies to help us learn more about localisation
As an example of the use of
assistive technology and how differences
in particular countries occur, in Qatar
it was found that there was a gap in the awareness of what
could be achieved with the use of assistive technology, especially
those with learning difficulties
and in part this has also been experienced in the UK
where recent research has shown that students
transitioning from school to higher education
have not necessarily understood the meaning of assistive technology
perhaps this is not surprising
that we find it hard to describe what assistive technology really is
we tend to say its any tool, device or software
that will help someone who is disabled and yet we're all using assistive
technology
from glasses to mobile phones that provide alarms & calendars
perhaps it's rather more helpful to look at assistive technologies
as a range of items that go from access tools
to the personalisation and accessibility options
of technology, encompassing productivity tools
such as word processors, right down to the free
portable an online technologies available. So the screen reader
may be at the top at the triangle, perhaps an expensive piece of software
providing access to computerised technologies for the Blind
the next layer for the productivity tools
include spell checkers, word prediction and
items that speed up the way we work
and finally there are the open-source and portable apps and
programs that can also require localizing
but may often be the items that can support those who cannot afford the expensive
technologies at the top of the triangle.
So with these ideas in mind
we looked at the cultural nuances around the world
and the impact they had the development of technology
having said that, we were only able to look at the basics
but there are researchers that divide the world into different cultural areas
there are others like Geert Hofstede who decide to use the term
dimensions rather than regions
and offered different explanations under six headings in this case
for these variations
we translated six of these dimensions into aspects of assistive technology use
and we found that under Power Distance
this was relevant in terms of the acceptance of expert advice
when choosing devices
so for instance India and Qatar there would be high scores in this
area but in the UK and Sweden
lower scores occurred where a user may also be considered as an expert
when seeking help
In terms of 'Individualism'
there were high scores in Sweden and UK
as a high value is put on independence
as opposed to considering dependence within a community
as in Qatar and India. It's important to realise
that these are all incredible generalisations
and in terms of 'Long Term Orientation'
there aren't even any scores for Qatar
in India there is more acceptance of assistive technologies
that have already been used by others rather than a wish to perhaps
trial and experiment with the latest offerings
such as might be the case in Sweden and the UK.
Under the heading of Indulgence there are yet to be any
scores and in a way it is felt that the comments in
these sections replicate the ones that are linked
to those who wish to use tools and devices that a similar to other people,
to their peers, which is actually perhaps the case
across many cultures. Under the heading of cultural appropriateness
we've learnt that the way we speak or the way we
write is not just about translation but also
down to the social nuances, such as the opening phrases in a conversation or
greetings. The researcher
Kaplan has provided images to illustrate
these nuances. The directness of
English, the formal and expressive Arabic
openings when beginning a conversation,
perhaps talking around a subject when you're in China or
Japan and the not so
direct French and Russian languages.
Rather as with the cultural dimensions one wonders how appropriate some of these
images are?
But it's important to always consider using the most polite
terms, avoiding acronyms and words with double meanings
as well as making sure images used
illustrate something written and leave no doubt
as to the meaning, whatever the culture
In terms of addressing design, the look and feel of
any item should adhere to the culture once again.
Those elements including colour, graphics, symbols and
layout are all very important and flexibility in design is essential.
Language has a huge impact on layout say you may have tiny menus for Chinese
but need up to 25 percent more space for Portuguese, Spanish, German or
even French. You may need larger fonts for
Arabic so that you could decipher individual characters
as this language is always written in the cursive style.
The breaks in sentences and paragraphs going to be different
depending on the language and 'white space'
can help enormously.
It's important to think of your print impaired readers not just those who are
blind
but also those who may have dyslexia.
So contrast levels and the way text flows make also have an impact.
English tends to have left justification
whereas it's been found that full justification in Arabic
with increased spacing can aid reading.
Translating text is not always easy, in particular where
terminology is complex and technical
which is invariably the case when developing software programs
it helps to have a glossary of terms as a separate file
no hard coding so changes can be made by linguists at
any time. You may choose to do your translation by crowdsourcing
or volunteers or to employ a professional company.
It's not wise to depend on automatic translation alone
unless you know the language and can make corrections
Always double-check what has been translated by reverse translating
so that you can see the differences
The technical issues that arise localisation depend on the operating
system
as well as the device being used
but there are some key elements that need to be taken into account
such as the use of Unicode and UTF-8 coding.
Keyboard access with localised controls, appropriate on-screen support
and recognition for built in assistive technologies as well as those that
will be personal to the user
Development without regard to the potential user is a real problem.
People underestimate the skills and ability of most disabled users
There is a need to incorporate flexible alternatives and universal design
whilst also addressing the practicalities of the activities undertaken
within a particular environment.
Developers need to understand the accessibility options
available and constantly be aware that users
can help with testing.
When thinking about the technologies that might be needed in the Arabic world
it soon became clear that there were very few free and open source
technologies to support disabled users of computers.
There are also a few good quality free text to speech voice available at
present
Speech recognition and Optical Character
Recognition remain a challenge
other than from commercial companies
Free symbol sets for those who find it hard to communicate
have yet to be developed fully in Arabic
There is a need for community support to enhance translations
and to disseminate information about assistive technology
the Mada portal has been set up to help with this process
and we have all harnessed the power of social networking
including YouTube to create a network of support.
For the development of sound products and services services
a basic localisation framework has been
developed that involves the user at the outset
in order to discover cultural contexts
the environment and the impact language on design
as well as translation issues and individual needs that
will depend on the activities they are doing and their skills
The framework allows us to see each of the important elements
that make up the process of developing assistive technologies in different
languages
but it doesn't cover all aspects
of use and during development it will always be important
to look at other aspects of software development such as licensing
that goes with open source software, how it will continue in its development,
its maintenance and the agreements made for any changes.
There is a need to constantly revisit aspects of the development process
in the ATbar case, this is about looking for a new voices
checking for errors in translation, correcting images,
language used in help files, constantly testing and
communicating with users to maintain feedback.
When the desktop version of the ATbar was developed, we discovered that
the text to speech was going to be the main issue, if it was to become a free
resource. Should it just be developed for Windows
with the move to mobile technologies or should we be thinking
mobile-first ? We'll also be needing to look at responsive design
for the differences between the tablet and the phone
so that ATbar will work with web apps in the future.
All documentation is very important, but it must remain open and available to
everyone
in a variety of accessible formats as well as the provision of
different languages. We used Mediawiki
WordPress and GitHub. Obviously email also plays a big part,
so there is a provision for a contact for both languages.
Solutions tend to come with collaborative working,
writing good code and sharing multiple means of
engagement. That makes it sound easy
but there's been a lot of research that has also gone into the work
we have done and I've listed some of the papers and websites
that have helped us arrive at this point I hope this has been helpful
and please browse our new localisation website
and provide us with feedback the URL
is http://localisation.atbar.org/
http://localisation.atbar.org/
http://localisation.atbar.org/