Analysis

  At the beginning it was very challenging to find and interview people with disabilities. We interviewed three individuals one with hearing losses and the other two with visual impairment. We personally found it very difficult to interview them because many people do not like such an idea and they might feel defended. Therefore, we used a qualitative approach where we asked them questions individually. __Hearing Loss.__ When we had an interview with a girl who has hearing loss she was very comfortable with our questions and gave us very good feedback. She stated that it would be better to connect the BTE to the laptop. We decided to add the BTE connection to the laptop since she suggested it would be a good idea. During the interview she mentioned that the computer‘s volume is not loud enough even if the volume is to the max. Also, when the volume is not loud enough she has to connect her speakers to hear the output audio data louder. It is very hard for her to hear sounds of high frequency, for example the alert sound of MSN. So, if flashing screen is used it would be helpful and it would get her attention. However, when we introduced our idea of adding the vibration in addition to flash she said “vibration would be the best and more than enough” Therefore, we decided to add the BTE connection switch via intra radiation, and sound alert. Also, we choice to add more speakers to increase the sound source . This way people would have the option to choice flash, vibration or both. Visual impairment. We interviewed an individual who was partially blind. He uses a screen reader program such as JAWS. While having the interview with him he mentioned that JAWS need a lot of memory and it’s incomparable with MAC. When he used the software on a MAC laptop he faced a problem because JAWS used up a lot of his computer's RAM and it slowed down. He preferred to have a laptop with a larger screen so it would be easier to have a clear view of what is on the screen. When asked if adding a beam of light on top of the laptop monitor would be helpful. He said that it wouldn’t be helpful for those who are completely blind and those who wear glasses. But, it would be very useful for people who are visually impaired. Also, we asked him if his computer has Braille Alphabets and his answer was "No". Since he doesn't have a Braille Alphabets we thought of adding additional “Braille Alphabet” keyboard on top of the laptop. His feedback about our idea was that it will save space and there will be no need to carry an extra piece around. He also said that it’s not a good idea to have larger keyboard because people are used to the way they type in other words “Finger memory”. In addition, adding built-in “Screen Reader” software in order to avoid any issues concerning the software compatibility. Therefore, when redesigning a new laptop we decided to add the Braille Alphabet, and light on top of the laptop monitor.
 * Analysis and interpretation of the collected data to identify patterns or themes. **