WEBVTT

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Hello,
I'm Alejandro Rodríguez Ascaso,

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lecturer at the Department
of Artificial Intelligence at UNED.

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This video is entitled
"User interfaces".

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It is a key concept
when we talk about

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accessibility and usability
in ICT products and services.

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The user interface
is the part of the system

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that enables communication with us,
human beings.

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It provides the means for users

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to send commands to the system,
this is called input,

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so that the system
behaves in a certain way,

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and for the system to provide
feedback to users about its state

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or any changes.
This is called output.

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In a car,
the inputs of the user interface

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are the steering wheel,
accelerator, and brake pedals,

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while the outputs include,
among others, the speedometer.

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If we describe user interfaces
in a very simple way,

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we can say that communication
between a person and a system

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involves several elements.

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On the human side,
we have perception channels:

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touch, hearing, and sight,

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and expression channels:
speech and movement.

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All of these connect
to the human brain,

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our system of representation.

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On the system side,

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the user interface
includes input channels

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linked to human expression,

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such as the keyboard,
the mouse, the joystick...

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or speech recognition;

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and output channels
linked to human perception

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such as the screen, loudspeakers,
hearing aids, or screen reader.

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These input and output channels

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are managed by a processing element

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that, in turn, communicates
with the rest of the system.

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In a personal computer,

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the input is usually provided
through keyboard and mouse,

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which are operated by hand movements.

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The output consists
of the screen and loudspeakers,

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which generate information
perceived by sight and hearing.

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In the case of a blind person
using a personal computer

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with a screen reader

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and either speech synthesis
or a braille display,

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the input is the keyboard,

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controlled
by the movement of the fingers.

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In this case, the output

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is the voice synthesis
connected to hearing,

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and the tactile information
provided by the braille display,

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or even the raised markings
on the keyboard

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that help identify
the position of each key.

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This user interface model
is indeed a simplified one.

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Interfaces are complex systems,

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and their design
requires considerable effort.

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We have just seen how this model
applies to blind users,

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but we haven't looked at interfaces
adapted for people who cannot hear

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or who have limited movement
in their upper limbs.

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Nevertheless,
this example helps us to understand

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how personal computer interfaces
have evolved over time,

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and what solutions
have been developed

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to ensure
the accessibility of computers

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for particular types of users.
In this case, blind people.

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Information was initially entered
through the keyboard

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and displayed as a series
of command lines on the screen.

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Some of you may remember those days,
although it was quite some time ago.

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Back then, a device was invented

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that allowed blind people
to read information on the screen.

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It was called "the Optacon".

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It converted the text
appearing on the screen,

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or even in a book, into braille,
line by line.

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Soon after,
the WIMP paradigm appeared,

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an acronym for
"windows, icons, menus, and pointer".

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This type of interface
is familiar to everyone,

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but look closer.

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Information
is no longer displayed line by line,

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it is now arranged on a desktop,
in different windows.

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The Optacon's line-by-line
reading solution no longer works.

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In addition, a new element
of interaction appeared, the mouse,

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which is useless for blind users,

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as it requires
coordinating hand movement

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with the visual tracking
of the pointer on the screen.

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To address this,
screen readers were developed,

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programs capable of communicating
with the operating system

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to describe,
through speech or braille,

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the various windows,
menus, and icons,

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allowing blind users
to operate the computer

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entirely through the keyboard,
without needing a mouse.

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So, problem solved?

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I'm afraid not.

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What will
the next interaction paradigm be?

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Think about augmented reality,

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where computers overlay
synthetic information

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onto our perception
of the real world.

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For example, we might see a globe,
a real one,

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with a superimposed synthetic image

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of a satellite orbiting above it.

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What challenge does augmented reality
pose for a blind person?

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These cases suggest that we are
caught in an endless cycle.

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First,
a new interaction technology emerges.

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Then, a new accessibility solution
has to be invented.

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Is it a vicious or a virtuous cycle?

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Can it ever be broken?

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I don't have
the answer to that question.

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Do you?

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Let's leave it for another video.

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In this video, we've explored

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the definition of a user interface,

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a simple model showing its components

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and their relationship
with human senses and actions,

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and concluded with a brief history

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of how technology and accessibility
have evolved.