4 October 2006

Touch User Interface (TUI) technology could allow many disabled Internet users a greater level of accessibility than is currently available, an expert has claimed.

The new technology could allow users to touch the page of a paper-to-digital content book, which those with motor impairments may find easier to use.

Allowing users to launch applications and retrieve content, the assistive technology has been designed to recreate the intuitive act of reading a book.

The system revolves around a sensor-based sheet, which slips next to the cardboard in a hard-backed book.

In The Journal of Literacy and Technology, by Matthew J Benus of Purdue University Calumet and Michael Seth Mott of Saint Xavier University, published by Somatic Digital, the potential benefits are highlighted.

"Numerous research studies support the supplementary use of visual/video and audio adjunct elements to support students' learning of content," the journal states.

"Separately packaged video, audio and computer programs fail to connect a reader immediately to digital content during the actual text-based reading process."

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