VoxLens

In recent times, interactive visualizations have changed the way of our lifestyle. For instance, we can know the number of coronavirus infections in every state. But sometimes, people using screen readers can't access graphics.

Besides, people who use software programs even can not access them. The software program scans the contents of a PC display. Thus, the program makes it available through a synthesized voice.

There are plenty of Americans who use screen readers. You can find them used for different purposes. For instance, they use it to complete or partial blindness. Besides, they use it to learn about disabilities or motion sensitivity. 

VoxLens:

VoxLens is a JavaScript plugin that has one additional line of code. It enables you to interact with visualizations. Do you use the plugin? If yes, you can gain a high-level summary of the information described in a graph.

Besides, you can hear a graph translated into sound. In addition, you can use voice-activated commands if required. It enables you to ask particular questions regarding data.

You can find data visualizations available on the Web. Experts and non-experts can use it to explore and analyze simple and complex data. In addition, they help people to extract details effectively.

They use the human mind to detect and interpret visual patterns in this case. But the visual nature of data visualizations may disenfranchise screen-reader users, and these users might not see or recognize visual patterns. Screen-reader users use a screen reader to read the contents of a PC display.

VoxLens is an open-source JavaScript plugin that can offer screen-reader users a multi-modal solution. We have given three modes. You can use this solution with three interactive modes.

(1) Question-and-Answer mode: In this case, the mode allows you to interact with the visualizations yourself.

(2) Summary mode: Hence, the plugin describes the summary of details contained in the visualization.

(3) Sonification mode: It helps to map the data in the visualization to a musical scale. Thus, you can interpret the data trend if you're a listener.

The sonification feature of this plugin is open-source. In addition, it supports other libraries and allows you to customize them. Moreover, it decreases the burden on visualization creators.

You can apply accessibility features to the data visualizations. Furthermore, it lets you insert a single line of JavaScript code during visualization creation.

Even screen-reader users can explore information using the plugin as they want. In these cases, they don't have to depend on visualization creators. Besides, they also do not need to process data in their minds.

In recent times, the plugin is suitable for visualizations that need JavaScript libraries. D3, chart.js, or Google Sheets are a few examples of it. The team wants to expand other famous visualization platforms. According to the researchers, people may find the voice-recognition system frustrating to use.

Screen-reader users usually can't access the data visualizations. However, the data visualization comes with a few normal accessibility functions like alternative text or a data table. In addition, they need to remember and process more details mentally. Seeking the maximum or minimum value in a chart is one example.

What did Katharina Reinecke say?

He was the co-senior author and UW associate professor in the Allen School. According to him, it is a very big agenda for them. He also added that they thought of people first while creating technology. It is for those who come with similar abilities as we do and who are like us. D3 helps to understand the information in an improved way. It is essential for us to start thinking more about technology like how to make, etc.

Major contribution:

These are a few of the major contributions:

●  The plugin helps to improve online data visualizations' accessibility. It means that screen-reader users can access online data visualization.

●  Using the javascript plugin, you can explore these both holistically and in a drilled-down manner. If you want, find design and architecture, functionality, commands, and operations.

●  In addition, the plugin boosted the accuracy of extracting details by 122%. Moreover, it reduced interaction time by 36% compared to not using VoxLens.

What is Voxlens?

VoxLens is an open-source JavaScript plugin that needs only a single line of code. Besides, it also uses voice-activated commands for screen-reader users.

Design:

We present the design and implementation of the Javascript plugin. Thus, it helps to improve the accessibility of online data visualizations.

You can find it made with the help of a user-centered iterative design process.

Holistic exploration comes with overall trend, extremum, labels, and ranges for each axis. On the flip side, drilled-down interaction offers to examine individual data points. It combines "vox" ("voice" in Latin) and "lens."

In addition, the plugin lets you explore, examine, and extract information from online data visualizations. But recently, it has been compatible with two-dimensional single-series data.

Limitations & Future Work:

●      The plugin is now limited to two-dimensional data visualizations with a single data series.

●      Future work uses n-dimensional data visualizations to study the experiences of screen-reader users. In addition, it can extend the functionality based on the findings.

●      Moreover, the javascript plugin is only fully functional on Google Chrome. The reason is that the browser doesn't allow it to use the Web Speech API's speech recognition feature.

●      We hope to use alternatives in the future of the Web Speech API. As a result, it can provide cross-browser support for speech recognition.

Conclusion:

If you are willing to assess the performance of VoxLens, look at the task-based experiments that we conduct. Besides, you should see the interviews with screen-reader users. According to the results, we also have proof that screen-reader users considered it a "game-changer." Thus, it can offer new ways to interact with online data visualizations. As a result, you can save both time and effort.

If you want, take the help of open-sourcing code for it and sonication solution. The reason is that they can improve the accessibility of online data visualizations continuously. They also help to research by guiding in the future to make data visualizations accessible.