Design and evaluation of a technology-driven intervention to represent graphical data in a non-visual form

Visual representation of data in graphical form is ubiquitous in science teaching. However, this is often inaccessible to visually impaired students, with few alternative formats available. Where alternatives exist, they are often expensive, complex, and limited in scope. This research aimed to design and build an inexpensive system that could take real-world data typical in chemistry degree courses, in this case from a high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) or gas chromatography (GC) instrument and present it in a form that engaged visually impaired students could engage. Several methods were used to achieve this. 3D CAD using a visual programming language was used to convert data into 3D models for 3D printing. A resistive touchscreen, simple electronics, and a voice synthesiser were used to "read" the 3D prints. Participants under simulated blindness conditions evaluated the system in two sessions. The initial results were promising. The evaluations showed it was possible to analyse data holistically, spot trends, and drill down to extract discrete values. Further development opportunities leading towards a viable production version were identified.