Using assistive technology to help visually impaired people to develop their mathematical skills
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Full Text E-thesis
Date
2025
Authors
Shoaib, Muhammad
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Volume Title
Publisher
University College Cork
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Abstract
In the absence of vision, visually impaired people rely upon the tactile sense and hearing to obtain information about their surrounding environment. These senses cannot fully compensate for the absence of vision, so visually impaired people often experience difficulty with many tasks, including learning. When studying mathematics, it is difficult for visually impaired students to access rich visual information, such as graphs, algebraic notations, geometric shapes, and statistical formulas. However, if possible, it is always better for visually impaired people to learn mathematical skills alongside their sighted peers. This thesis explores the development and evaluation of technology-based solutions designed to improve access to mathematics teaching materials for visually impaired and blind students. This study investigates various modern techniques, tools, and methods to make learning more effective and accessible. The study started with an extensive review of existing solutions, highlighting significant developments in digital tools, tactile displays, and audio feedback that have the potential to enhance visually impaired students learning in mathematics. Another study was conducted in order to investigate the impact of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing assistive technology's vital role in enabling ongoing education in emergencies. Another contribution of this study is a survey of the accessibility of mathematics education in primary schools, evaluated by a thematic analysis of responses from students, teachers, and expert professionals. This analysis reveals several themes and subthemes that are very helpful in understanding the various perspectives of this group of stakeholders. Another study was conducted in which mobile application development platforms were assessed, comparing native and cross-platform environments: Xamarin, Unity, Android, and iOS. The advantages and disadvantages of these platforms were examined, particularly in regard to accessibility features and the implications of these for the design and development of accessible educational apps. We have also taken established guidelines, such as the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), primarily designed for web content, and explored how these standards and procedures can be applied and interpreted within a mobile context. Following this, two accessible solutions were developed, and the design process was described in detail, demonstrating how user-centered design principles, extended design guidelines, and accessibility features can be used to enhance learning mathematics. Using multimodal feedback helps visually impaired students to improve their problem-solving abilities and action awareness. User evaluations showed that the solutions were effective and easy to use. Overall, this thesis advances the field of assistive technology by offering a thorough evaluation of available options, pointing out potential gaps, and suggesting novel strategies to help visually impaired and blind students with their mathematics education. The results emphasize how crucial it is to conduct further research and development in this field in order to provide inclusive and accessible learning environments.
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Keywords
Assistive technology , Visually impaired , Learning , Mathematics , Education , Accessibility
Citation
Shoaib, M. 2025. Using assistive technology to help visually impaired people to develop their mathematical skills. PhD Thesis, University College Cork.