Page 51 - Handbook of Electronic Assistive Technology

38 HANDBOOK OF ELECTRONIC ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY

The use of technology may be difficult if people have impairments with these types of
attention abilities. For example, impaired ability to sustain visual attention in the face of
distracting stimuli might make it difficult to use, understand information on, and manipu-
late small screens, especially if they contain large amounts of information. Studies that
have investigated the use of personal technology among people with neurological disabili-
ties have described this problem. For example, a focus group study that asked people with
brain injury about their use of smartphone technology for setting reminders established
the challenges associated with visual attention. Many participants voiced concerns about
interacting with a small screen with a lot of information (Jamieson et al., 2015).
In recent years, software developers have worked to create solutions to the prob-
lems created by small screens. For example, by adapting webpages to fit small screens
and enabling the use of the scroll bar so that the text does not become too small to read.
However, there is still a trade-off between the amount of information displayed on each
screen and the number of screens. For menu displays, research has traditionally sup-
ported the use of broad/shallow user interfaces with lots of information presented on a
small number of screens, as opposed to narrow/deep structures (with less information
on a greater number of screens) that can frustrate users and lead the user to become lost
(Lazar et al., 2010). Many widely used reminding apps have also chosen a broad/shallow
approach, and employ methods such as scroll bars and pop-up widgets to fit the necessary
information on a small number of screens.
Research using scheduling software in people with cognitive impairments indicates
that this might be the best approach. For example, de Joode et al. (2012) asked 15 people
with ABI to complete tasks on a PC calendar in a rehabilitation setting, and compared
these to 15 control participants. While the authors did not list the errors made by partici-
pants when setting the reminders, they did report that people with ABI made the same
types of errors as the control participants, but made them more often, and that people
with ABI experienced a higher workload. The authors suggested that more appropriate
software for people with ABI should have an interface which presents only a small amount
of relevant information at a time and which uses stepwise serial data entry to minimise the
burden on working memory and executive abilities. Other studies have established that
people with cognitive disabilities have a preference for narrow/deep compared to broad/
shallow interfaces for web search (Hu and Feng., 2015; Lazar et al., 2010). This research
indicates that the use of software that presents less information on each screen, and the
selection of larger devices, may be preferable for people with visual attention difficulties.
One particular problem that can impact patients’ lives and their use of EAT is a difficulty
switching from environmental stimuli, or stimuli that is immediately enticing, to stimuli
driven by internal goals. For example, if I am sitting working and my phone is flashing next
to my computer, I might be tempted to check my messages or social media. However, as
my long-term goal is to complete this chapter, I must resist this urge and focus on com-
pleting the work. These attention requirements occur frequently when trying to complete
longer-term, less immediate goals in the face of environmental distraction; talking to
my friend instead of the lecturer when my long-term goal is to pass the exam; and not