Accessibility Lunch Seminar - Akshay Nayak
September 21, 2026 12:30PM—1:30PM
Location:
In Person
-
Newell-Simon 3305
Speaker:
AKSHAY NAYAK,
PhD candidate, Accessible Computing Laboratory, Old Dominion University
Data charts are widely used to share information, but they remain difficult for people with low vision who rely on screen magnifiers. Little is known about how these users perceive charts. We first study how low-vision users read bar charts. The results show that they interpret charts much like sighted users, but magnification, blurred vision, and the need to pan across the screen make comparisons harder, especially when bars are far apart, unaligned, or surrounded by tall bars. Based on these findings, we developed two mobile systems. GraphLite lets users create personalized chart views by selecting only the data points they care about and adjusting the chart's appearance. ChartSync connects a chart with its surrounding text and presents the key data points as a narrated slideshow of magnified views. User studies show that both systems help low-vision users complete chart tasks faster and with less effort, understand charts better, and find them easier to use than with just standard screen magnifiers.
For More Information:
pmowar@andrew.cmu.edu