Designing Wearable Mobile Device Controllers for Blind People: A Co-Design Approach
Catherine Feng · 2016 · Proceedings of the 18th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (ASSETS '16) · doi:10.1145/2982142.2982144
Summary
This poster paper explores the design space of wearable controllers that enable blind people to operate their smartphones more efficiently while on the go, without needing to directly interact with the phone's touchscreen. Blind people rely heavily on mobile phones for navigation, communication, and accessing critical information while traveling, but using a phone while walking is particularly cumbersome because they must simultaneously listen to their environment for safety, hold a cane or guide dog harness in one hand, and manipulate a touchscreen with the other. Prior research found that it takes blind users about eight seconds on average just to enter a 4-digit PIN — a time that would likely increase further when factoring in mobility. The study conducted a co-design process with eight blind participants, using design probes to explore wearable controller concepts for four on-body placements: hip, head, hand, and wrist. Participants interacted with the probes to design controllers that would operate the screen reader on a smartphone, evaluating each placement for naturalness, discreteness, ease of use, and practicality during travel.
Key findings
Most participants preferred wrist- and hand-mounted controllers because they were perceived as allowing more natural and discreet interactions compared to hip- or head-mounted options. Based on these findings, the author designed an early-stage smart ring controller prototype — a compact ring-form wearable that allows one-handed control of smartphone screen reader functions. The ring form factor was chosen because it is small and inconspicuous, requires only one-handed interactions (leaving the other hand free for a cane or guide dog), and is always available without needing to retrieve a device from a pocket or bag. The design requirements identified through the co-design process stipulate that wearable control interfaces for blind users should be: one-handed (freeing the other hand for mobility aids), always-available (no retrieval step), and eyes-free (inherent for blind users but also relevant for situational impairments).
Relevance
This research addresses a practical mobility gap that connects to the microinteraction efficiency research by Oh et al. at the same conference series: even when smartphones are technically accessible via screen readers, the physical mechanics of accessing them while traveling create a significant barrier for blind users. The co-design methodology is notable for involving blind participants not just as evaluators but as active designers, using design probes to generate ideas rather than simply validating researcher-driven concepts. For accessibility practitioners, the key insight is that wearable controllers should complement rather than replace touchscreen interaction — the goal is not to eliminate phone use but to enable quick, common actions (checking notifications, getting navigation directions) without the full overhead of retrieving and directly manipulating the phone. The finding that wrist and hand placements were preferred over hip and head aligns with social acceptability research, suggesting that assistive wearables should occupy familiar accessory locations rather than conspicuous positions.
Tags: blindness · wearable technology · mobile accessibility · co-design · interaction design · screen reader · gesture interaction · on-body interaction