Investigating Microinteractions for People with Visual Impairments and the Potential Role of On-Body Interaction
Uran Oh, Lee Stearns, Alisha Pradhan, Jon E. Froehlich, Leah Findlater · 2017 · Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '17) · doi:10.1145/3132525.3132536
Summary
This paper investigates how well microinteractions — brief, high-frequency mobile tasks that take sighted users only a few seconds to complete — are currently supported for people who are blind or visually impaired (VI). While modern smartphones are reasonably accessible through screen readers like VoiceOver and TalkBack, they are not necessarily efficient for quick tasks such as checking the weather, reading a notification, or controlling music playback. The authors argue that this inefficiency is particularly problematic for microinteractions, where the interaction overhead of a screen reader can turn a two-second task into a fifteen-second ordeal. The research addresses two interrelated questions: how well are microinteractions currently supported for VI users, and how should on-body interaction — which uses the body itself as the input surface — be designed to support these quick tasks? Two studies were conducted. The first was an online survey comparing microinteraction patterns between 61 VI and 56 sighted smartphone users, examining task frequency, completion time, speech input usage, and attitudes toward smartwatches and on-body interaction. The second was an in-person study with 12 VI screen reader users who evaluated a real-time wearable on-body interaction prototype featuring finger-worn sensors, a camera, and an IMU. Participants tested three contrasting input techniques: location-independent gestures (taps and swipes anywhere on the body), location-specific gestures on the palm, and location-specific gestures mapped to semantically meaningful body locations.
Key findings
The survey revealed that VI users take significantly longer than sighted users to complete most microinteractions via manual input. Only two tasks — checking the time and controlling a music player — were reported as taking under five seconds by a majority of VI respondents. Text entry was the largest gap, with only 23% of VI participants reporting they could respond to a message in under five seconds compared to 55.4% of sighted users. VI participants were significantly more likely to use speech input (36.1% used it most of the time versus 8.9% of sighted users), confirming speech as a critical workaround for screen reader inefficiencies. In the prototype evaluation, location-independent gestures were most preferred overall and rated easiest to use due to their flexibility and similarity to existing phone interaction. Location-specific palm gestures were perceived as most efficient because they allowed direct access to application categories, and their touch-and-explore feature supported learning. Location-specific body gestures were least preferred due to large required movements and memorization demands, though their semantic mappings (e.g., wrist for clock, ear for voice input) aided recall. Social acceptability was a notable concern — gestures on visible body locations like the ear or thigh were seen as less appropriate for public use than discreet palm or hand interactions.
Relevance
This research highlights a significant gap in mobile accessibility: while smartphones may be technically accessible, they are far from efficient for the quick, frequent interactions that characterize much of everyday device use. For accessibility practitioners, the findings underscore that compliance-level accessibility (making something usable) is not the same as practical accessibility (making something efficient). The paper also demonstrates the potential of on-body input as an alternative interaction modality for VI users, particularly in mobile contexts where hands may be occupied with a cane or guide dog. The tradeoffs identified between efficiency, learnability, social acceptability, and on-the-go use provide a useful framework for evaluating any new assistive interaction technique. As wearable devices become more prevalent, these findings offer guidance for designing non-visual interaction systems that balance speed with social comfort.
Tags: microinteraction · on-body interaction · visual impairment · wearable technology · mobile accessibility · screen readers · gesture interaction · speech input