SBIR-STTR Award

Goal-Oriented Browsing: A Next Generation Web Technology for the Vision Impaired Abstract This SBIR Phase I Project will investigate the feasibility of goal-oriented browsing - the underpinning of a next-generation web accessibility technology that will take web browsing to the next level. Goal-orientation will be realized by enabling usable automation of browsing tasks. The envisioned technology will allow users to stay focused on high-level browsing tasks, while the browser does low-level operations such as clicking on links, filling forms, etc., necessary to accomplish the tasks. To enable automation, a computational model will be designed to encode users' browsing history as sequences of browsing actions. Algorithms will be developed to analyze this history to infer macros, which are useful sequences that users could replay to automate tasks. To make the model resilient towards changes in structure and content of web pages, robust addressing techniques with self-repair capability will be developed. End-user interfaces will be designed for usable interaction with the model and for model validation. Finally, automated experiments and user studies with blind subjects will be conducted to determine the feasibility of the project. Goal-oriented browsing will go a long way towards bridging the growing web accessibility divide between the ways people with and without vision impairments browse the Web. For people with visual impairments, goal- oriented browsing will usher in a new era of independence and employability in our global Web-based economy. Thus, from a broader perspective, goal-oriented browsing will exemplify the vision of the Universally Accessible Web whose thesis is "equal access for all", i.e. anyone should be able to reap the benefits of the Web without being constrained by any disability.

Public Health Relevance:
This SBIR Project seeks to do Research and Development on goal-oriented browsing - the next generation web accessibility technology that will elevate web browsing up a notch by allowing users to stay focused on high-level browsing tasks while the browser does low-level operations like clicking on links, filling forms, etc., necessary to accomplish the tasks. For people with visual impairments it will usher in a new era of independence and employability in our global Web-based economy. Goal-oriented browsing will go a long way towards bridging the growing web accessibility divide between the ways people with and without vision impairments browse the web. Thus from a broader perspective goal-oriented browsing will exemplify the vision of the Universally Accessible Web whose thesis is "equal access for all", i.e. anyone should be able to reap the benefits of the Web without being constrained by any disability.

Public Health Relevance Statement:
This SBIR Project seeks to do Research and Development on goal-oriented browsing - the next generation web accessibility technology that will elevate web browsing up a notch by allowing users to stay focused on high-level browsing tasks while the browser does low-level operations like clicking on links, filling forms, etc., necessary to accomplish the tasks. For people with visual impairments it will usher in a new era of independence and employability in our global Web-based economy. Goal-oriented browsing will go a long way towards bridging the growing web accessibility divide between the ways people with and without vision impairments browse the web. Thus from a broader perspective goal-oriented browsing will exemplify the vision of the Universally Accessible Web whose thesis is "equal access for all", i.e. anyone should be able to reap the benefits of the Web without being constrained by any disability.

NIH Spending Category:
Assistive Technology; Bioengineering; Clinical Research; Eye Disease and Disorders of Vision; Neurosciences

Project Terms:
abstracting; Address; Algorithms; Automation; blind; Computer Simulation; Computers; design; disability; Electronic Mail; empowered; Friends; Goals; Impairment; Internet; Lead; Learning; legally blind; Link; Mails; Modeling; next generation; notch protein; Online Systems; operation; Pattern; Phase; Procedures; Process; prototype; Reader; Reading; Recording of previous events; repaired; research and development; Research Design; research study; Reservations; resilience; response; Schedule; Self-Help Devices; Shipping; Ships; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Speed (motion); Structure; success; System; Techniques; Technology; Testing; Time; Update; Validation; Vision; Visual impairment; Visually Impaired Persons; Voice; web page; web site; web-accessible

Web browsing with assistive technologies such as screen readers and magnifiers can often be a frustrating and challenging experience for people with vision impairments, because it entails a lot of searching for content, forms, and links that are required for doing online tasks such as shopping, bill-payment, reservations, etc. This SBIR Phase II project will build on Phase I results and will continue the development and eventual deployment of Capti Screen Reading Assistant - a next-generation assistive technology, enabling goal- directed web browsing for people with visual impairments. With Capti Assistant, users will be able to stay focused on their high-level browsing goals that are expressed in natural language (spoken or typed). The Assistant will lead the users step-by-step towards the fulfillment of these goals by offering suggestions on what action to take at every step of the way and automatically executing the chosen action on behalf of the user. Suggested actions will include operations such as form filling, activating controls (e.g., clicking buttons and links), et. Capti Assistant will dramatically reduce the time spent by people with visual impairments on performing tasks online. The Assistant will significantly improve the speed and efficiency with which they can interact with the Web, thereby, making people with disabilities more productive in today's web-based economy. Given a user browsing goal, expressed in a natural-language form, Capti Assistant will utilize a predictive model to guide the user toward the goal. The unique aspect of the Assistant is that its suggestions will be automatically learned from the user's own history of browsing actions and commands, as well as from the user's demonstration of how to accomplish browsing tasks that have not been done before. The Assistant will process user commands and present the suggested browsing actions to the user on demand, giving the user a choice between following the suggestions or continue browsing normally without accepting the suggestions. The functionality offered by the Assistant will go far beyond popular personal assistant applications such as Siri, which have not been designed specifically for people with vision impairments, and which cannot be used for ad hocweb browsing. Capti Assistant will go a long way towards bridging the growing web accessibility divide between the ways people with and without vision impairments browse the Web. For them, the Assistant will usher in a new era of independence and employability in our global web-based economy. Thus, from a broader perspective, goal- directed browsing will exemplify the vision of the Universally Accessible Web whose thesis is "equal access for all", i.e. anyone should be able to reap the benefits of the Web without being constrained by any disability.

Public Health Relevance Statement:


Public Health Relevance:
This SBIR Project seeks to do Research and Development on goal-directed web browsing - the next generation accessible technology that will empower people with vision impairments to stay focused on their high-level browsing goals, while the browser will do low-level operations (such as clicking on links and filling forms) necessary to fulfill these goals. Goal-directed browsing will go a long way towards bridging the growing web accessibility divide between the ways people with and without vision impairments browse the web, thus improving independence and employability of the former in our global Web-based economy. From a broader perspective, goal-directed browsing will facilitate rehabilitation of people with disabilities and exemplify the vision of the Universally Accessible Web whose thesis is "equal access for all", enabling anyone to reap the benefits of the Web without being constrained by any disability.

Project Terms:
Automation; base; Blindness; Budgets; Businesses; collaborative environment; commercial application; commercialization; Communication; computer human interaction; Computer software; Computers; Data; design; Development; disability; Disabled Persons; educational atmosphere; empowered; Ensure; Environment; Evaluation; experience; FarGo; Focus Groups; Generations; Goals; Human Resources; Impairment; improved; In Situ; Information Retrieval; innovation; Internet; Internships; Laboratory Study; Lead; Learning; Legal patent; Link; Longitudinal Studies; Machine Learning; Marketing; member; Mining; Modeling; natural language; Natural Language Processing; next generation; novel strategies; Online Systems; operation; Pattern; payment; Phase; Planet Mars; predictive modeling; Probability; Process; Productivity; public health relevance; Publications; Publishing; quality assurance; query optimization; Reader; Reading; Recording of previous events; Rehabilitation therapy; Research; research and development; Research Personnel; Reservations; Resources; response; Schedule; Scheme; Seasons; Self-Help Devices; Small Business Innovation Research Grant; Speed (motion); success; Suggestion; System; technological innovation; Technology; Time; tool; Universities; usability; Vision; Visual impairment; web page; web-accessible; Work