Deriving Information Requirement in the Design of a Mathematics Workstation for Visually Impaired Students

Mathematics presents particular access problems for students who are visually impaired. Although multi-media, computer technologies provide opportunities for creative solutions, a lack of empirical analyses of people who are visually impaired doing mathematics remains an obstacle for designers. We demonstrate the use of task analysis, and particularly the ‘Wizard of Oz’ technique, for eliciting user requirements in this context. The analysis highlights requirements relevant to the units of information used, the strategies employed for gaining and manipulating information, initiative in the interaction, and memory constraints when doing mathematics.