BrailleApp

Educational Mobile Application to Assist in the Learning of Braille Language

Raul Benites Paradeda

, Ailton Francisco de Luna e Silva

, Jones Granatyr

and Alberto Signoretti

Research Group of Computational Intelligence, Computer Science Department of University of State of

Rio Grande do Norte, Av. Dr. João Medeiros Filho, s/n - Potengi, Natal - RN, 59120-200, Brazil

Research Group of Computational Intelligence – University of Contestado, Jaquim Nabuco Street, Porto União-SC, Brazil

Keywords: Braille System, Accessibility, Android Platform, Educational Application.

Abstract: Aiming to facilitate the learning process of the Braille System, we developed an educational application to

assist people for learning this system. We developed the application initially in Portuguese, it was named as

BrailleApp, and it was designed for mobile devices, which uses the Android Platform. All accessibility

standards were implemented to make it as accessible as possible to all people, helping visually impaired

people and not visually impaired in the learning process of this language. In this first version, the help to

learning Braille is specifically to not blind people, although, with some difficulties, it is possible a blind person

use the application. In future versions we hope to improve and facilitate the use of this application by blind

people too. It is important to emphasize we do not intend to replace the conventional methods which assist in

this task, but to be an application to complement the already existing techniques. In an empirical analysis, the

results show that the application was positive in the sense of system requirements, functionalities, and

accessibility. We expect BrailleApp will be another option to assist users in the teaching-learning process and

contribute to the social integration of visually impaired with technologies.

1 INTRODUCTION

The use of educational tools as teaching resources

aims to facilitate the educational processes, which led

students to build knowledge about specifics subjects.

The inclusion of technology in education brought a

range of new possibilities to facilitate these learning

processes.

One of those possibilities is the Educational

Software (ES). According to Oliveira et al. (2001,

p.74), an ES must have the following features to help

in the interactive knowledge construction processes:

• Grounded in pedagogical resources to enable its

understanding;

• Didactics purposes to lead students to build

knowledge about the observed subject;

• Interaction between the student and the software;

• Ease to use and not requiring specifics or

advanced knowledge in technology, permitting

that anyone can use the software easily and in a

fast way, even in the first contact.

In addition to knowledge construction, they also

are focused on social aspects, where communication

plays an important role, such as verbally or gestural

(Carrão, 2006) (Goldin-Meadow, 1999). For

instance, a visually impaired person may find many

difficulties to communicate in writing languages,

since people around may not know how to

communicate in the Braille System.

This fact will represent a social problem to this

person; once he/she will not be enabled to

communicate his/her needs to other people. A

possible solution for this problem is the existence of

computational tools which helps in the learning

process of Braille language, so it would be easy to

people who present or not visual deficiencies. Based

on this, the first version of our application is based on

an educational mobile application directed to sighted

people, especially the ones who are beginners on

Braille. Indeed, a blind person used the application

with some difficulties. We hope that in the next

versions it could also be used by blind people in an

easy way, such as using a Braille panel, to be still

developed. However, to facilitate the use, the

application was developed based on the concept of

Universal Design, which presents accessibilities

guidelines by the application of services and

accessibility features. We hope we can encourage and

increase the use of Braille, as well as provides social

523

Paradeda R., Francisco de Luna e Silva A., Granatyr J. and Signoretti A..

BrailleApp - Educational Mobile Application to Assist in the Learning of Braille Language.

DOI: 10.5220/0005427805230529

In Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Computer Supported Education (CSEDU-2015), pages 523-529

ISBN: 978-989-758-108-3

 2015 SCITEPRESS (Science and Technology Publications, Lda.)

inclusion to the technological world to visually

impaired people. Importantly, initially the application

was implemented in Portuguese to attend the local

community.

The remaining part of this paper is organized as

follows: Section 2 presents the Braille language and

its main features. Section 3 approaches a briefly

overview about the Android Platform we used as a

base to the application development. Section 4, in

turn, shows techniques to ensure usability, as well as

tests that can be employed to guarantee the quality.

Section 5 describes the developed application, while

Section 6 discusses the obtained results and ideas

about future research. Finally, Section 7 concludes

the paper.

2 BRAILLE SYSTEM

The Braille system was created by Frenchman Louis

Braille in 1825 (Bickel, 1988). From 1854 the Braille

system was adopted in Brazil in its original form, but

in mid-1940 it was necessary to make some changes

due to spelling issues according to Portuguese

language. Since 1996, the Braille commissions from

Brazil and Portugal have been working together in the

development of a normative document to standardize

the system. Nowadays, this cooperation has legal

support in the Collaboration Protocol Brazil/Portugal

in the Mobility Application of Braille system, which

was signed in Lisbon on May 25, 2000 (Brasil, 2006).

2.1 Understanding Braille

The Braille system is composed by 63 symbols or

signs formed by the combination of six raised dots

arranged in two columns of three dots (Fig. 1). This

arrangement of points is called as the fundamental

signals and the space it occupies is called Braille cell.

By this, it is possible to represent letters, numbers,

mathematic and scientific symbols, signs used in

music and in computer contexts, being considered the

Figure 1: Braille Alphabet.

best alternative regarding communication to visually

impaired people (Brasil, 2006).

Aiming to make its understanding easy, the dots

which form the signals are numbered from one to six,

from left to right, and from top to bottom. As

example, the first column is represented by the

numbers 1, 2 and 3 while the second column is

represented by the numbers 4, 5 and 6.

2.2 Reading Braille

To read Braille is necessary to feel the symbols from

left to right and usually using the forefinger, but some

people prefer using the middle finger or the ring

finger (SAC, 2014) (Bertelson et al., 2007).

To facilitate the reading of the symbols, the raised

dots in a cell Braille (Fig. 2) must be accurate and

have the same dimension (Bruno, 2006) (Loomis,

1981).

Figure 2: Braille cell in reading mode.

2.3 Writing Braille

Braille symbols can be written basically in two

different levels. The first one is called integral Braille

and the words are written in full and character-by-

character (signal by signal). On the other hand, the

second level is called abbreviated Braille and the

words can be abbreviated and one signal may

represent two or more letters of a whole word (Brasil,

2006).

Technological development brought some

instruments created to help in the writing task, and

some common examples are “reglete” and “puncture”

and the Braille typewriter (TECE, 2014).

2.4 Application Standards

Most part of the symbols retains its original meaning

of the French language; however, there are some

signals that are represented by unique signs of Braille.

Usually, the signals are applied according to the

normative of the current language and there are norms

and standards that must be followed.

We recommend the work by Brasil (2006) for a

wide and deep view of the Braille language.

CSEDU2015-7thInternationalConferenceonComputerSupportedEducation

524

3 ANDROID PLATAFORM

Android is a complete platform focused in mobile

devices, which is composed by a set of software’s on

a flexible layer compound by an operating system, a

middleware, and applications (Komatineni and

MacLean, 2012).

The main reasons for the use of this platform in

our work are the following: (i) it is a free platform,

which permits the use of its APIs (Application

Programming Interface) without investment; (ii) it

offers a rich API that includes accessibility resources;

(iii) it is based on the Java programming language,

which is one of the most used on this kind of

application (TIOBE, 2014); and finally, (iv) it is the

most used platform for mobile devices according to

Data Corporation (IDC, 2014), allowing to reach

many users.

We recommend the work by Deitel and Deitel

(2014) to have more details about Android.

4 ACCESSIBILITY IN ANDROID

According to the official website for Android

developers, one of the main objectives of the platform

is to provide resources which allow the presentation

of useful and accessible information (Android

Developer, 2014a). In this context, accessibility is

seen as a measure about the success of a product, and

its mission is applied to all users, including visual

impaired, color-blinded, hearing impaired, and motor

limited.

An important concept in the accessibility field is

the Universal Design, which consists in the

development of products that are accessible to all

people regardless their personal characteristics, age or

abilities. Its main idea is about a unique design that

will avoid the need for special products directed to

disabled people (Steinfeld and Maisel, 2012).

Android provides several accessibility tools to

assist impaired people in the execution of their tasks,

facilitating navigation on the device and the execution

of applications. Most part of these tools are directed

to visually impaired people, and it is included

resources such as screen reader, explore by touch,

navigate through gestures and directional controllers.

There are also other accessibility features that allow

increase font size, change audio options, change

speed of reading, and define the voice synthesis

engine.

To a broad view of all resources provided by the

platform, we recommend the consult of the Android

Developer (2014b).

4.1 Developing Accessible Applications

To improve accessibility and guarantee usability of an

application, especially in the creation of interfaces

using standard Android components, some steps are

necessary according to Android Developer (2014c):

• Add descriptive text in user interface controls,

especially in images, button, and checkbox;

• Verify if all interface elements which work with

inputs controls (touch or typing) can be achieved

with a directional controller, as a trackball, D-pad,

or a navigator by gestures, for instance;

• Verify if all warning audios are always

accompanied by other visual alert or notification.

It will help visually or hearing impaired users;

• And finally, test the application using only

accessibility resources.

4.1.1 Guidelines

According to Android Developer (2014d), to

guarantee a considerable level of accessibility on

Android applications, the following guidelines must

the respected:

• Intuitive navigation: users must always know

where they are in the application regardless their

limitations. A well-structured project is necessary

to allow the construction of a mental map of the

system, a user-friendly navigation, and a tactical,

audible, and visual feedback. Directional

navigation is also suitable;

• Use of suitable sizes for touch elements: the

recommended size is 45dp (density-independent

is a virtual unit related to screen size). However,

educational applications demand the use of larger

elements;

• Alternatives to display temporal elements: users

cannot perceive elements on the screen that are

displayed for a period of time and then they

disappear. As an example, a screen reader should

not present a temporary text unless it is focused,

otherwise users may not know its content.

Also according to Android Developer (2014d),

there are some others guidelines which can influence

the performance of accessibility:

• Tooltips in text fields: it is recommended to set

help texts to indicate the expected content when

the field is empty;

• Controls with more than one function: controls or

buttons which change their function according to

the context of the application should provide

audio prompts to indicate its current state;

• Images and decorative graphics: this kind of

BrailleApp-EducationalMobileApplicationtoAssistintheLearningofBrailleLanguage

525

elements, especially the ones which do not present

content or do not allow actions should not be

having accessibility descriptions.

There are other special cases, such as the

implementation of custom user interface through

Android API, which should be observed and taken

into account to provide better accessibility. The

compliance of these guidelines must be followed by

the test step, which we will describe in the next

section.

4.2 Accessibility Tests

The test step is an important phase to make the

application accessible to all users, since accessibility

problems that were not detected on the development

phase may be detected now.

According to Android Developer (2014e), the

following guidelines must be taken into account to

guarantee the minimum accessibility to an

application:

• Directional navigators: verify if the application

can be used only by directional controllers to

perform the main tasks of the system, without the

use of touch screen;

• Audio prompts: verify if the elements that present

information (texts, images, graphics) or the ones

responsible for actions present clear audio

descriptions;

• Explore by touch: verify if the elements that

present information (texts, images, graphics) or

the ones responsible for actions present clear

descriptions, when the “explore by touch”

resource is activated;

• Size of touchable elements: all the elements that

the user can select or perform some action must

follow the minimum recommendation of 45dp;

• Gestures and screen readers: verify if items, such

as image zoom and scrolling bar skill, work when

a screen reader is enabled;

• Feedbacks: all audio alerts should be

accompanied by another kink of notification, such

as tactile feedback or visual alert.

4.2.1 Test Recommendations

According to Android Developer (2014e), the

following guidelines are necessary to ensure the

accessibility and quality of an application:

• Repetitive audio alert: verify if the closely related

elements do not repeat the same alert. For

example, in a contacts list that contains a contact

picture, written name and title, the prompts should

not simply repeat the same name for each item.

• Overload or under load of audio alerts: verify if

the closely related elements present an adequate

number of audio information to allow users

understand and act on a screen element. A very

short or very long can make it difficult to

understand.

5 BrailleApp

Our application was developed for mobile devices,

which uses Android 4.0 or higher. As stated before on

this paper, the application aims to assist all type of

people who would like to learn Braille. Its

development was based on the Universal Design

concept and following the guidelines described on the

last sections.

Our application was based on Braille specifically

to the Portuguese language, and it has the following

features:

• Translation from Braille to Portuguese: there is an

interactive virtual Braille cell where the user is

able to write the texts, being possible to send SMS

(Short Message Service);

• Translation from Portuguese to Braille: the user

writes the text in a common keyboard;

• Listing of Braille signs: all signs and meanings are

listed on the screen;

• Reference guide: there is a document where the

user is able to consult Braille signs in Portuguese

language;

• Braille reading exercises: written words in Braille

are presented and the user can try to translate them

to Portuguese;

• Braille writing exercises: written words in

Portuguese are presented and the user can try to

translate them to Braille.

Figure 3 shows the application features through a use

case diagram. It is possible to see all functions of the

application. When the user start the application, the

database is created (containing all Braille signals,

information about the software e for future needs of

the system, how, the personalization of application

according to profile user) and the voice package is

downloaded, then the main page is presented. In this

page, there is the possibility to choose to translate to

Portuguese and Braille, check a list of signals, and

also a reference guideline is available, in which it is

possible to do exercises (both writing or reading

Braille), configure the application (change volume,

vibration or font size) and read more information

about the developer.

CSEDU2015-7thInternationalConferenceonComputerSupportedEducation

526

Figure 3: Use Case Diagram of BrailleApp.

5.1 User Interface

According to Bevan (1995), usability in information

systems is directly related to the quality of system´s

interaction with the users and depends on several

aspects, such as: ease of use, learning facility, user

satisfaction, flexibility, and productivity.

The user interface on BrailleApp was developed

according to the standards defined in Android

Developer (2014c). These standards suggest some

characteristics, such as structure, layout, navigation,

action bar, notification, accessibility, among others.

Figure 4 shows the initial screen of BrailleApp

and the following features are presented: Transcritor

BR (users write in Braille and the application displays

the word in Portuguese, Fig. 5 left), Transcritor PT

(users write in Portuguese and the application

displays the word in Braille, Fig. 5 right), List of

signals (Fig. 6 left), Reference guide (Fig. 6 right),

and Exercises (Fig. 7).

To improve the communication between blind

and not blind person using a mobile, it was necessary

an alternative to make the software easy. One of the

possibile solutions is to provide a screen reader. The

screen reader system allows a blind person use the

application, since it reads the texts aloud, the user can

easily perform the requested action.

Figure 4: Initial Screen of BrailleApp.

BrailleApp-EducationalMobileApplicationtoAssistintheLearningofBrailleLanguage

527

Figure 5: On the left is presented the translation into

Portuguese. On the right is showed the translation into

Braille.

Figure 6: On the left is presented the list of signals. On the

right is showed the guidelines about the language.

Figure 7: On the left is presented an exercise where the user

needs to know the Portuguese word that is presented in

Braille. The opposite is presented on the right.

6 RESULTS

In an empiric analysis, we argue BrailleApp complies

the guidelines with accessible applications, such as

norms, standards, and the translations defined on the

normative document. In addition, it meets the

requirements of educational software.

All accessibility tests, according the guidelines

mentioned before, were carried out and the

requirements were met.

Additionally, the application was tested by a

totally blind person, and this was possible because of

some reasons, such as: (i) the way how the software

was built allowed the correct use of some resources

of usability in Android, (ii) availability and

interaction with screens readers systems, and finally

(iii) Android functionalities which facilitate the use

of the system by blind people. We have received good

feedback about the performed tests, for instance: it

was possible to use the system even without seeing,

missed of something to feel when he is touching the

mobile phone, like the raised dots of Braille system,

this is because the screen of cellphone tested was a

touch screen. However, he said, the system is a good

step to improve the learning of Braille and the

communication between blind and not blind.

The application is available to download in the

Google Play store (https://play.google.com/store/

apps/developer?id=Ailton+Luna). The installation

number is between 100 and 500 (accessed on

December 5, 2014) and an amount of 13 reviews, 12

five stars (maximum possible) and 1 four stars.

There is also, the possibility to improve

BrailleApp, developing a functionality such as a

Braille keyboard to input data. The layout of this

keyboard may be set similarly to “reglete” or a

Perkins typewriter. Additionally, other future

research is the development of text editing using the

Braille virtual keyboard, web version, and finally, a

Braille board that would permit the read of digital

books using a tactile way.

7 CONCLUSIONS

We believe the use of our application will assist

visually impaired users in the learning process of the

Braille language. Additionally, it will contribute to

their social inclusion, stimulating them in social

interactions.

According to the feedback of the user (which is

entirely blind), this application is a good tool to the

improvement of the learning Braille techniques.

CSEDU2015-7thInternationalConferenceonComputerSupportedEducation

528

However, it is important to emphasize that the

application has better results mainly with sighted

people who want to learn the Braille signals.

Although, the system can be used by blind people

with the purpose of training and improving their

skills. This use on a touch screen mobile it is possible

through to your functionality of screen read aloud.

With this, it is possible the user know where your

finger is above, and, completing or not the action.

However, there is much to do, this is the first version

of this idea, and we believe in the future, this app can

be an essential tool for learning and communication

in Braille.

Additionally, we hope the application will provide

to blind people more independence and quality of life,

as well as serving as a tool for training students and

teachers in the Braille language.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The present work was realized due to the support of

CNPq, National Council of Scientific and

Technological development - Brazil, and University

of State of Rio Grande do Norte – Natal, RN.

REFERENCES

Android Developer, 2014a. Accessibility. Available at:

<http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/accessib

ility/index.html> [Accessed on 03 December of 2014]

Android Developer, 2014b. Building Accessibility Services.

Available at:

<http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/accessib

ility/services.html> [Accessed on 03 December of

2014]

Android Developer, 2014c. Making Applications

Accessible. Available at:

<http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/accessib

ility/apps.html> [Accessed on 03 December of 2014]

Android Developer, 2014d. Accessibility Developer

Checklist. Available at:

<http://developer.android.com/guide/topics/ui/accessib

ility/checklist.html> [Accessed on 03 December of

2014]

Android Developer, 2014e. Accessibility Testing Checklist.

Available at:

<https://developer.android.com/tools/testing/testing_a

ccessibility.html> [Accessed on 03 December of 2014]

Bertelson, P., Mousty, P., D`Alimonte, G., 2007. A study of

braille reading: 2. Patterns of hand activity in one-

handed and two-handed reading. The Quarterly Journal

of Experimental Psychology Section A. Vol. 37, Iss. 2,

1985.

Bevan, N., 1995. Measuring usability as quality of use.

Software Quality Journal 4(2): 115-130.

Bickel, L., 1988. Triumph Over Darkness: The Life of Louis

Braille. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. Adult biography.

Brasil, 2006. Grafia Braille para a Língua Portuguesa.

Ministério da Educação. Secretaria de Educação

Especial. SEESP. Brasília, 2

edition. Elaboration:

Cerqueira, J. B. [et al.]. Secretaria de Educação

Especial. Available at:

<http://portal.mec.gov.br/seesp/arquivos/pdf/grafiaport.pdf

> [Accessed on 03 December of 2014]

Bruno, M. M. G., 2006. Educação infantil: saberes e

práticas da inclusão: dificuldades de comunicação

sinalização: deficiência visual. Secretaria de Educação

Especial. MEC. Brasília, 4

edition.

Carrão, E. V., 2006. Repensar a informática educativa:

construção de um dispositivo para dar vez e voz aos

professores na utilização de softwares educacionais.

Doctoral Thesis. Universidade do Minho, Portugal.

Available at: <http://hdl.handle.net/1822/5547>

[Accessed on 05 December of 2014]

Deitel, H., P. Deitel, 2014. Android: How to Program.

Pearson Education, Limited.

Goldin-Meadow, S., 1999. The role of gesture in

communication and thinking. Trends in Cognitive

Sciences, Elsevier. Volume 3, Issue 11, 419 – 429.

IDC, 2014. International Data Corporation. Available at:

<http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24

676414> [Accessed on 15 May of 2014]

Komatineni, S., MacLean, D., 2012. Pro Android 4. Apress.

Loomis, J., 1981. On the tangibility of letters and braille.

Perception & Psychophysics 29(1): 37-46.

Oliveira, C. C., da Costa, J. W., Moreira, M., 2001.

Ambientes Informatizados de Aprendizagem: Produção

e Avaliação de software Educativo. Papirus. Campinas-

SP, 1

edition.

SAC, 2014. Sociedade de Assistência aos Cegos. Available

at: <http://www.sac.org.br/APR_BR2.htm> [Accessed

on 15 May of 2014]

Steinfeld, E., Maisel, J., 2012. Universal Design: Creating

Inclusive Environments. Wiley.

TECE, 2014. Tecnologia e Ciência Educacional Ltda.

Manual de uso de regletes. Available at:

<http://www.tece.com.br> [Accessed on 14 June of

2014]

TIOBE, 2014. TIOBE Software: TIOBE Index. Available

at: <http://www.tiobe.com/index.php/content/paper

info/tpci/index.html> [Accessed on 12 April of 201]

BrailleApp-EducationalMobileApplicationtoAssistintheLearningofBrailleLanguage

529