WCSE

Computer Programming Education System for Visually Impaired Individuals

Abstract— Block-based programming environments, widely used for teaching beginners, pose accessibility challenges for individuals with visual impairments due to limited support for screen readers and keyboard navigation. To address this issue, a previous study has proposed a novel user interface (UI) for navigating between code blocks using keyboards. However, this approach requires users to memorize block structures in advance, leading to cognitive strain. Additionally, visually impaired individuals often struggle to comprehend entire code sections at once due to the sequential nature of screen reader output, making debugging difficult. In response to these challenges, this paper proposes a novel UI for block-based programming that includes two key components to alleviate cognitive load and improve comprehension for users with visual impairments. Firstly, instead of navigating between code blocks, the proposed UI facilitates navigation between lines, reducing cognitive strain. Secondly, a debugging support method utilizing conversational AI is proposed to generate comprehensive code summaries in natural language, aiding in comprehension. The effectiveness of the proposed UI was evaluated through subjective assessment, demonstrating improvements in both task completion time and UI usability compared to existing methods.

Index Terms— Block-based Programming, Accessibility, Visual Impairments, User Interface, Screen Reader, Keyboard Navigation, Debugging Support, Conversational AI

Takamatsu, Naoki
Shibaura Institute of Technology, JAPAN
Eiji Kamioka
Shibaura Institute of Technology, JAPAN
Chanh Minh Tran
Shibaura Institute of Technology, JAPAN
Phan Xuan Tan
Shibaura Institute of Technology, JAPAN

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Cite: Takamatsu, Naoki, Eiji Kamioka, Chanh Minh Tran, Phan Xuan Tan, "Computer Programming Education System for Visually Impaired Individuals," 2024 The 14th International Workshop on Computer Science and Engineering (WCSE 2024), pp. 63-67, Phuket Island, Thailand, June 19-21, 2024.