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Evaluation of two virtual cursors for assisting web access to people with motor impairments

Published: 01 December 2019 Publication History

Highlights

We developed 2 virtual cursors to assist link selection for people with motor impairments.
A web-based study with 15 users was carried out to evaluate usability of cursors.
Keyboard users benefited from both variants but especially from the cross cursor.
Joystick and trackball users only benefited from the area cursor.
Results suggest improvement on performance with frequent usage of virtual cursors.

Abstract

People with motor impairments (MI) may face accessibility barriers when using computers due to their health conditions and therefore need to use alternative devices to a standard mouse for pointing and clicking in graphical user interfaces (GUI). In this study with users of different pointing devices, we evaluate 2 virtual cursors (the novel cross cursor and the standard area cursor) implemented for assisting link selection on the Web by reducing respectively cursor displacement and the precision required. Both cursor adaptations were developed for this work based on previous research, and have been compared with the original unassisted cursor in a web-based study with fifteen regular computer users applying their usual pointing device. Nine participants with MIs participated, including 4 using keyboards as an alternative pointing device, 4 joystick users and 1 trackball user. Six participants without MIs also participated in the study applying a standard mouse to complete the same experimental tasks. User interactions with the pointing device, as well as subjective assessments about the usability of the cursor variants tested were gathered from study participants. An in-depth analysis of point and click trajectories showed that virtual cursors improved the effectiveness and efficiency of most participants with MIs in link selection. Subjective assessments about cursor variants tested showed that a majority of participants with MIs generally preferred one of either the two virtual cursors to the original one for web navigation.

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  • (2022)Web accessibility and beyond in eGovernmentProceedings of the 19th International Web for All Conference10.1145/3493612.3520443(1-3)Online publication date: 25-Apr-2022

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          Published In

          cover image International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
          International Journal of Human-Computer Studies  Volume 132, Issue C
          Dec 2019
          162 pages

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          Academic Press, Inc.

          United States

          Publication History

          Published: 01 December 2019

          Author Tags

          1. Web accessibility
          2. Link selection
          3. People with motor impairments
          4. Alternative pointing devices
          5. Virtual cursors
          6. Empirical measurements

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          • (2022)Web accessibility and beyond in eGovernmentProceedings of the 19th International Web for All Conference10.1145/3493612.3520443(1-3)Online publication date: 25-Apr-2022

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