Papers by Konstantinos Papadopoulos
Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 2005
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Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness
Introduction: This study investigated the user requirements of individuals with visual impairment... more Introduction: This study investigated the user requirements of individuals with visual impairments regarding the information to be included in orientation and mobility (O&M) aids in order for optimally useful audio-tactile maps of campuses to be developed. In addition, this study aimed at investigating the importance (usefulness) that individuals with visual impairments attribute to environmental information of campuses. Methods: The researchers listed 213 pieces of environmental information concerning campuses and address them in survey by conducting a respective questionnaire. Participants were asked to evaluate the information, regarding the importance or usefulness of the information in regard to safety, location of services, and orientation and wayfinding during movement. Through convenience sampling 115 adults (aged from 18 to 64 years) with visual impairments from four countries (Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, and Germany) took part in the research. Results: Pieces of environmental ...
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Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness
ABSTRACT
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Disability and Rehabilitation
Abstract Purpose: This study examines: (a) the attitudes of 196 private sector employers toward h... more Abstract Purpose: This study examines: (a) the attitudes of 196 private sector employers toward hiring individuals with visual impairments and (b) the impact of the employers’ individual characteristics (age, gender, and educational level), attitudes toward visual impairment, social contact with them, and the form of business entity on their attitudes toward hiring such individuals. Materials and methods: The research tool used is a questionnaire of 15 closed-type questions. Results: The results of this research verify that the examined variables are significant individual predictors of the employers’ attitudes that are expressed in 7 out of 15 questions. Conclusions: The majority of the participants provided negative or neutral answers for most of the questions and exhibited the same attitudes with regard to the employment of individuals with visual impairments. Only two variables from the examined ones – “frequency of social contact” and “attitudes toward visual impairment” – appear to affect the employers’ intentions to hire people with visual impairments. Implications for rehabilitation The target should be more favorable employer attitudes toward individuals with visual impairments. The target should be more informative employers in regard to individuals with visual impairments and their skills and capabilities Vocational rehabilitation professionals should be aware that employers’ individual factors, age, gender and educational level are factors shown to affect their attitudes toward the vocational integration of people with disabilities. Informative seminars can be based on the variables and the factors shown to affect employers’ attitudes.
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Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness
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Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness
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Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness
Previous research has identified the problems or impediments that are associated with the employm... more Previous research has identified the problems or impediments that are associated with the employment of individuals with visual impairments (Crudden, McBroom, Skinner, & Moore, 1998; O'Day, 1999; Robin, 2002). An important area, investigated in this study, is the ...
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Assistive technology : the official journal of RESNA, Jan 4, 2017
Individuals with visual impairment face significant challenges traveling in the physical environm... more Individuals with visual impairment face significant challenges traveling in the physical environment. Independent movement is directly connected to the quality of someone's life, and thus, orientation and mobility issues are always listed among the top priorities of research in the field. The aim of the present research was to examine the level of accuracy of the cognitive map developed through the use of a verbal description versus the cognitive map developed using an audio-tactile map. A comparison of the effectiveness of the two mobility aids in detecting specific points of interest in the physical environment was an objective of the research. The procedure involved the study of a map using the two mobility aids, and an assessment through the transfer to the corresponding physical environment. The results suggest that an individual with visual impairment can acquire and use a functional cognitive map through the use of an audio-tactile map, while relying on a verbal descripti...
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Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2016
The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of audio-tactile maps on the improvement o... more The aim of the present study was to examine the impact of audio-tactile maps on the improvement of cognitive maps of individuals with blindness. The area mapped on the aid was known and familiar to the participants. Twenty adults with blindness (total blindness or only light perception) took part in the research. The age ranged from 20 years to 52 years (M = 37.05). The subjects participated in two experiments. During the first experiment the participants depicted their cognitive maps of a familiar city route on a haptic model using the materials materials given. In the second experiment the participants read the audio-tactile map of this route, and then they were asked to depict anew their cognitive map of the same route on a haptic model. The findings highlight the positive effect of the use of audio-tactile maps from individuals with blindness on the knowledge of a familiar city area.
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Assistive technology : the official journal of RESNA, Jan 16, 2016
Disorientation and inability of wayfinding are phenomena with a great frequency for individuals w... more Disorientation and inability of wayfinding are phenomena with a great frequency for individuals with visual impairments during the process of travelling novel environments. Orientation and mobility aids could suggest important tools for the preparation of a more secure and cognitively mapped travelling. The aim of the present study was to examine if spatial knowledge structured after an individual with blindness had studied the map of an urban area that was delivered through a verbal description, an audio-tactile map or an audio-haptic map, could be used for detecting in the area specific points of interest. The effectiveness of the three aids with reference to each other was also examined. The results of the present study highlight the effectiveness of the audio-tactile and the audio-haptic maps as orientation and mobility aids, especially when these are compared to verbal descriptions.
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Entre Dos Mundos Revista De Traduccion Sobre Discapacidad Visual, 2005
En este articulo se examina la posibilidad de preparar unos examenes escritos que los estudiantes... more En este articulo se examina la posibilidad de preparar unos examenes escritos que los estudiantes con discapacidad visual puedan realizar. Se presentan las diferentes ventajas de los examenes escritos y se describe la construccion de una herramienta que permita que los alumnos con discapacidad visual puedan realizar dichos examenes.cualquier nivel lo pueden utilizar con toda facilidad. Igual importancia tiene que esta totalmente adaptado a los rasgos y necesidades especiales de las personas con ceguera y deficiencia visual.
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Procedia Computer Science, 2015
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Augmentative & Alternative Communication
ABSTRACT
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University community, like the rest of the society, includes people who have different mobility s... more University community, like the rest of the society, includes people who have different mobility skills or different ability of perception. Basic right of all members of this community is the freedom of movement and access to all public places, but this is not easily accomplished, since there are often permanent or temporary obstacles in many places, interrupting the main route people with disabilities may follow, so that it is not possible for them to move around completely freely without obstructions. The aim of this paper is the construction of an accessibility map in printed and digital-interactive form, based on data collected by fieldwork taken place in the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, concerning particular spots in the open space of the University Campus, where people with disabilities will encounter difficulties to move freely or to have access to the buildings. This map helps these people to find the best way to their destinations but also, emphasizes that m...
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International journal of special education
The aim of this study is to explore the differences in personality traits amongst adults with bli... more The aim of this study is to explore the differences in personality traits amongst adults with blindness, adults with low vision and sighted adults. Moreover, the relationship between the four scales of Eysenck’s personality questionnaire and the demographic characteristics of participants with visual impairments was examined. Τhere are no statistically significant differences amongst the three groups in scales P, N and E. However, the sighted adults have a lower score on the L scale. Τhe older individuals with visual impairment reveal less extraversion and greater neuroticism. Moreover, the women with visual impairments show greater neuroticism than the men with visual impairments.
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The present study examines the comprehension of texts presented via synthetic and natural speech ... more The present study examines the comprehension of texts presented via synthetic and natural speech in individuals with and without visual impairments. Twenty adults with visual impairments and 65 sighted adults participated in the study. Both individuals with and without visual impairments performed at a similar level in the comprehension of texts that were presented via synthetic and natural speech. The findings indicate that prospective difficulties in intelligibility do not affect comprehension. It seems that context cues provided by the text assisted the participants in identifying and comprehending the text more effectively. Moreover, the results reveal no significant differences between sighted participants and participants with visual impairments regarding the comprehension of natural and synthetic speech.
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Papers by Konstantinos Papadopoulos