Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
16
Web Solut
ions for Rehabilitation and Daily Life
G. Liotta, E. Di Giacomo, R. Magni, and F. Corradi
CONTENTS
16.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 361
16.2 The Simplification of the World Wide Web for Disabled Users: The
WhatsOnWeb Search Engine ......................................................................................... 362
16.2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 362
16.2.2 The Interaction Model ....................................................................................... 363
16.2.3 The Information Visualization Approach ...................................................... 365
16.2.3.1 The Application Information Visualization Approach: The
Web Accessibility for Disabled Users ............................................ 366
16.2.3.2 A Sonification Example .................................................................... 367
16.2.3.3 A Usability Evaluation ..................................................................... 368
16.3 The Telemedicine: The Nu!Reha Desk .......................................................................... 369
16.3.1 Introduction to Telemedicine ........................................................................... 369
16.3.2 Telerehabilitation ............................................................................................... 370
16.3.3 The Nu!Reha Platform ....................................................................................... 370
16.3.4 Proposed Approach ........................................................................................... 371
16.3.5 Clinical Evaluation ............................................................................................ 372
16.3.5.1 Results and Discussion .................................................................... 373
16.3.6 Future Evolutions ............................................................................................... 374
16.4 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 375
Summary of the Chapter ........................................................................................................... 376
References .................................................................................................................................... 376
16.1 Introduction
This chapter presents two studies: the first one discusses the design and the evaluation
process of a tool for extending the possibility for disabled users to search and access the
information on the Internet; the second discusses the development of a telemedicine
tool for rehabilitation. Both the tools are created by a User Centered Design perspective
(Norman, 1983) with a test-retest process:
• The irst tool, called WhatsOnWeb, is a soniied clustering web search engine
that makes use of visualization techniques to improve the effectiveness and effi-
ciency of web searching. The whole information is presented to the user simulta-
neously in an interactive and sonified visual map, simplifying the user's ability
to access and find information. This technology is very important in a world
in which more than two Exabytes of new information are created every year
(Lyman and Varian, 2003).
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