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Demonstration of Wheeler: A Three-Wheeled Input Device for Usable, Efficient, and Versatile Non-Visual Interaction

Md Touhidul Islam, Noushad Sojib, Imran Kabir, Ashiqur Rahman Amit, Mohammad Ruhul Amin, Syed Masum Billah

TL;DR

Blind and low-vision users face slow navigation through modern, multi-level UI hierarchies when using screen readers. Wheeler is a stationary, three-wheeled input device that maps each wheel to a UI hierarchy level, enabling faster traversal through an application's structure via H-nav and 2d-nav modes, with NVDA integration. The work contributes hardware design (three wheels and two side buttons), multimodal feedback (audio/haptics), and software integration (NVDA plugin, UI Automation) plus practical navigation techniques such as CTRL-based level shifts and 2d-T-nav teleportation. The demonstrated approach has potential to reduce keystroke load and improve accessibility for complex desktop apps, broadening usable non-visual interaction.

Abstract

Navigating multi-level menus with complex hierarchies remains a big challenge for blind and low-vision users, who predominantly use screen readers to interact with computers. To that end, we demonstrate Wheeler, a three-wheeled input device with two side buttons that can speed up complex multi-level hierarchy navigation in common applications. When in operation, the three wheels of Wheeler are each mapped to a different level in the application hierarchy. Each level can be independently traversed using its designated wheel, allowing users to navigate through multiple levels efficiently. Wheeler's three wheels can also be repurposed for other tasks such as 2D cursor manipulation. In this demonstration, we describe the different operation modes and usage of Wheeler.

Demonstration of Wheeler: A Three-Wheeled Input Device for Usable, Efficient, and Versatile Non-Visual Interaction

TL;DR

Blind and low-vision users face slow navigation through modern, multi-level UI hierarchies when using screen readers. Wheeler is a stationary, three-wheeled input device that maps each wheel to a UI hierarchy level, enabling faster traversal through an application's structure via H-nav and 2d-nav modes, with NVDA integration. The work contributes hardware design (three wheels and two side buttons), multimodal feedback (audio/haptics), and software integration (NVDA plugin, UI Automation) plus practical navigation techniques such as CTRL-based level shifts and 2d-T-nav teleportation. The demonstrated approach has potential to reduce keystroke load and improve accessibility for complex desktop apps, broadening usable non-visual interaction.

Abstract

Navigating multi-level menus with complex hierarchies remains a big challenge for blind and low-vision users, who predominantly use screen readers to interact with computers. To that end, we demonstrate Wheeler, a three-wheeled input device with two side buttons that can speed up complex multi-level hierarchy navigation in common applications. When in operation, the three wheels of Wheeler are each mapped to a different level in the application hierarchy. Each level can be independently traversed using its designated wheel, allowing users to navigate through multiple levels efficiently. Wheeler's three wheels can also be repurposed for other tasks such as 2D cursor manipulation. In this demonstration, we describe the different operation modes and usage of Wheeler.
Paper Structure (3 sections, 2 figures)

This paper contains 3 sections, 2 figures.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Wheeler: an Overview
  3. Interaction Using Wheeler

Figures (2)

  • Figure 1: Wheeler's H-nav mode in action. (a) and (b) shows the three-level hierarchies of two applications. Yellow, blue, and green colors represent the first, second, and third levels, respectively, in the hierarchy of either app. (c) shows the tree representation of either hierarchy---different levels of which can be traversed efficiently using Wheeler's wheels.
  • Figure 2: Wheeler's 2d-nav mode in action. (Top) shows the steps in moving the cursor from the lower-left corner to the upper-right corner of a 2D screen. (Bottom) shows the sequence of wheel operations required at different steps to achieve this goal.