Technology access is vital for daily participation
We are living in a time in which technology is essential for almost every important task in our daily lives. Most people living in developed countries have at the very least, a computer with connection to the internet plus a smartphone. If we listed all the activities that depend upon these technology tools, it would be clear how easy it would be to become disconnected without them.
Access to technology offers not only a source of information but also a way to engage socially, be financially independent, complete study, and pursue interests. This access becomes even more important for people with physical disabilities who are at a higher risk of becoming socially isolated (AIHW, 2022).
Many users with complex physical needs, such as those with Motor Neurone Disease (MND), Cerebral Palsy (CP), Spinal Cord Injury (SCI), Brain Injury, or degenerative neurological or muscular conditions, face reduced access to technology. Eye gaze technology, among other alternative access methods, is designed to allow users who cannot use a keyboard, mouse, or touchscreen, to access a computer environment with their eyes.
However, many mainstream user interfaces e.g. web browsers, word processing and spreadsheet software, art and music creation platforms, feature small targets and functions that are difficult to use when accessing a system using eye gaze.
Digital inclusion
Digital inclusion is one of the lenses we can use to frame our thinking about the importance of technology access. Generally, the concept of digital inclusion focuses on:
- Affordability – for example, the financial ability to have a secure household connection to the internet and hardware like PCs, and smart devices.
- Skills and knowledge – the ability to use the internet and digital technologies effectively.
The Australian Digital Inclusion Index (2023) defines it as follows:
‘Digital inclusion is about ensuring that all Australians can access and use digital technologies effectively. We are experiencing an accelerating digital transformation in many aspects of economic and social life. Our premise is that everyone should have the opportunity to benefit from digital technologies: to manage their health, access education, and services, participate in cultural activities, organise their finances, follow news and media, and connect with family, friends, and the wider world.’
A case study published in 2017 by the Australian Digital Inclusion Index found that while there were improvements since earlier surveys, digital inclusion remained relatively low for people with a disability. More exploration is needed to understand the specific impact that physical access has on this gap.
A quick overview of eye-tracking
Eye-gaze is an access method that is an alternative to a person using their hands or another part of their body to control a mouse, keyboard, or touch screen. An eye tracker or eye gaze camera is connected to a computer, tablet, or speech-generating device. The eye-tracking technology allows the person to use their eyes to make selections. Eye-tracking hardware works like this:
- The eye tracker sends out near-infrared light.
- The light is reflected on the surface of the eyes.
- Those reflections are picked up by cameras in the eye tracker.
- The eye tracker processes the images to know where the device user is looking on the screen.
Download this guide for more details about how eye gaze works and the importance of positioning.
Learning how to use eye tracking is a process that takes time, but when practised, a person can use eye tracking to access their whole computer environment depending on their needs and ability with eye tracking. Well-designed, eye-gaze-specific software is extremely important to increase the ease with which a person can access key computer functions using eye gaze.
Eye gaze software bridging the gap
In recent years there have been improvements in eye gaze access to phone, web browsing, and computer functions through a suite of software developed by Tobii Dynavox for use with their eye gaze hardware – the TD Access Suite. TD Access suite includes TD Control, TD Browse, TD Phone, and TD Talk.
Whilst there have been eye gaze-friendly formats within access and AAC software for email, phone, web, and computer access in the past, the TD Access Suite has introduced a level of intuitive access more closely aligned with how these technologies are normally used. Previously, in eye-gaze accessible page sets for these functions, eye-gaze users often needed to go through additional steps to complete basic functions such as double-clicking to open a software program or opening an attachment in an email. This increased the time needed to perform functions and potentially increased fatigue for the eye gaze user.
Now, TD Access Suite is enabling more direct access to email, phone, web, and computer functions, allowing users to take advantage of all the features of standard browsers, software, and streaming services.
What is evident in the development of these software programs is the incorporation of research and user feedback. Each of these software programs has its own development story, outlining the reasons behind every one of the deliberate design features:
TD Access Suite accessibility highlights
TD Phone – Phones allow us to stay connected with the important people in our life, and to communicate what and with whom we want, whenever and wherever we want. TD Phone is designed to mimic the experience of a standard smartphone. It allows your phone to connect to your eye gaze device just using Bluetooth. Navigation is optimised for the eye-gaze user, and all text and phone functions are eye-gaze friendly. Receive a call or a text wherever you are and choose whether to use your natural voice or your device’s synthesized voice to speak on the phone.
TD Control – Your computer environment is a hub of so many important life tasks – checking your emails, opening a document or spreadsheet, accessing a streaming service, or playing games. TD Control allows the user to access all these functions using their eyes, with fewer steps involved. Recent updates to this software have introduced modes that allow you to set up TD Control with specific efficiencies for certain tasks. Repeat Click Mode is great for online games, Drawing Mode allows you to do refined drawing or adjusting of sliders on mixing or editing software, and Continuous Mode is great for repeatedly dragging and dropping photos to create an album or photo collage.
Repeat Click Mode can be used to play games like chess that require just a repeated left mouse click.
Drawing Mode allows you to precisely place the cursor and draw straight or free-form lines. The gaze tool in Drawing Mode is also great for moving sliders in image or music editing software.
Continuous Mode with drag and drop selected is great for creating photo collages or similar.
TD Browse – The first ever purpose-built eye gaze web browser, TD Browse has made a huge difference in the ease with which the internet can be accessed by eye-gaze users. Historically, web browsing with eye gaze required the user to have a separate interface open to perform functions like scrolling and clicking. Targets like search fields and links could be almost impossible to target this way. TD Browse features a unique colour-coding system for hitting the link you want every time, it intelligently presents drop-down menus in an eye-gaze accessible format and offers an easy toggle between scroll and click. TD Browse also automatically knows when you are accessing a video streaming service. Whether it’s Netflix or YouTube, TD Browse will automatically open the media controls which allow the eye gaze user to play, pause, manage volume, and rest eye gaze to access entertainment seamlessly.
The TD Browse home page, favourites, top bar, and keyboard are all eye-gaze accessible.
Colour-coded targets in TD Browse allow you to select targets from the region of the screen where you are looking.
The media player automatically appears when you need it.
Using TD Access Suite as an introduction to eye gaze
The software programs within TD Access Suite have great potential to be used therapeutically. Often, users who are new to eye gaze are evaluated right away for assessment or funding recommendations. However, it is important to remember that eye gaze is often a new motor skill and needs to be learned and practised. These software programs can be used to practise eye gaze skills in a way that is more enjoyable and meaningful for the user. Some ideas:
Take advantage of interests.
- From movies to sports, start on a webpage that relates to the user’s interests.
- Practical access to banking and medical sites may be important and meaningful, and powerful for users to be able to access independently.
Use prior knowledge
- Eye tracking and assistive technology are new to many eye gaze users.
- Browsing is typically not new.
- This prior knowledge of browsing gives new eye-gaze users one less thing to learn.
Assess and tweak eye tracking in a lower-stress situation
- Get a more accurate assessment because the person is only focusing on one new skill (eye tracking).
- Engaging with something meaningful or fun will be more inherently motivating and help the user to understand the value that eye gaze access could present.
Here are some resources to get you started with the TD Access Suite range of software:
References:
Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) (2022) Social Inclusion, People with disability in Australia, https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-in-australia/contents/social-support/social-inclusion, Accessed 2 February 2024
Australian Digital Inclusion Index (2023), Measuring Australia’s Digital Divide, Accessed 2 February 2024, https://www.digitalinclusionindex.org.au/
Hemmingsson, H., & Borgestig, M. (2020), Usability of Eye-Gaze Controlled Computers in Sweden: A Total Population Survey. International journal of environmental research and public health, 17(5), 1639. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17051639
