skip to main content
10.1145/2910674.2910694acmotherconferencesArticle/Chapter ViewAbstractPublication PagespetraConference Proceedingsconference-collections
research-article

Accessible Tourism for the Deaf via Mobile Apps

Authors Info & Claims
Published:29 June 2016Publication History

ABSTRACT

Accessible tourism seeks to integrate people with impaired abilities --e.g. mobility, vision, hearing-- in travel and leisure activities. The attention to this field has been growing in the past decade, thanks also to technological advancements in smart devices. This paper illustrates the enterprise of accessible tourism applications for smartphones and tablets, tailored for a Deaf Community audience. Specifically, we designed, developed and tested two apps for visiting indoor/outdoor archaeological sites. The apps were implemented for the National Roman Museum Palazzo Massimo, and the open-air archaeological excavation site of Ostia Antica, both in Rome, Italy. The apps are available for free download/use, and have been awarded the European Excellence Award for Accessible Tourism in Brussels, Belgium (2014).

References

  1. Darcy, S. and Dickson, T.J., 2009. A Whole-of-Life Approach to Tourism: The Case for Accessible Tourism Experiences. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management 16, 1, 32--44. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1375/jhtm.16.1.32.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  2. Buhalis, D. and Darcy, S., 2010. Accessible tourism: concepts and issues. Channel View Publications.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  3. Buhalis, D. and Law, R., 2008. Progress in information technology and tourism management: 20 years on and 10 years after the Internet - The state of eTourism research. Tourism Management 29, 4 (Aug), 609--623. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2008.01.005.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  4. Ferri, M.A., 2014. A business model for accessible tourism. Handbook of research on management of cultural products: e-relationship marketing and accessibility perspectives, 287--302.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  5. Domínguez, T., Fraiz, J.A., and Alén, E., 2013. Economic profitability of accessible tourism for the tourism sector in Spain. Tourism Economics 19, 6, 1385--1399. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.5367/te.2013.0246.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  6. Domínguez Vila, T., Darcy, S., and Alén González, E., 2015. Competing for the disability tourism market -- A comparative exploration of the factors of accessible tourism competitiveness in Spain and Australia. Tourism Management 47, 261--272. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2014.10.008.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  7. Antona, M., Basdekis, I., and Stephanidis, C., 2006. White Paper: promoting Design for All and e-Accessibility in Europe. Universal Access in the Information Society 5, 1, 105--119. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  8. Buhler, C. and Stephanidis, C., 2004. European co-operation activities promoting design for all in information society technologies - Introduction to the special thematic session. Computers Helping People with Special Needs: Proceedings 3118, 80--87.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  9. Zajadacz, A. and Śniadek, J., 2013. Tourism Activities of Deaf Poles. In Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research, 17. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/pcssr-2013-0010.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  10. Solvang, P.K. and Haualand, H., 2014. Accessibility and diversity: Deaf space in action. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research 16, 1 (2014/01/02), 1--13. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15017419.2012.761158.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  11. Ruiz, B., Pajares, J.L., Utray, F., and Moreno, L., 2011. Design for All in multimedia guides for museums. Computers in Human Behavior 27, 4 (Jul), 1408--1415. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2010.07.044. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  12. Linzer, D., 2013. Learning by Doing: Experiments in Accessible Technology at the Whitney Museum of American Art. Curator-the Museum Journal 56, 3 (Jul), 363--367. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cura.12035.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  13. Goodwin, H., 2013. American Sign Language and Audio Description on the Mobile Guide at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Curator-the Museum Journal 56, 3 (Jul), 369--370. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/cura.12036.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  14. Derycke, B., 1994. Deaf Guides in French Museums. Museum International 46, 4, 48--50.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  15. Buhalis, D., Darcy, S., and Ambrose, I., 2012. Best practice in accessible tourism: inclusion, disability, ageing population and tourism. Channel View Publications, Tonawanda, NY.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  16. Reynolds, C.R. and Fletcher-Janzen, E., 2002. Concise encyclopedia of special education. John Wiley & Sons, New York.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  17. Lang, H.G., 2000. A phone of our own: the deaf insurrection against Ma Bell. Gallaudet University Press, Washington, D.C.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  18. Strauss, K.P., 2006. A new civil right: telecommunications equality for deaf and hard of hearing Americans. Gallaudet University Press, Washington, D.C.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  19. Sterling, C.H. and Kittross, J.M., 2002. Stay tuned: a history of American broadcasting. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Mahwah, N.J.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  20. Klironomos, I., Antona, M., Basdekis, I., and Stephanidis, C., 2006. White Paper: promoting Design for All and e-Accessibility in Europe. Universal Access in the Information Society 5, 1, 105--119. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10209-006-0021-4. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  21. Pizzuto, E. and Corazza, S., 1996. Noun morphology in Italian sign language (LIS). Lingua 98, 1--3 (Mar), 169--196. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/Doi 10.1016/0024-3841(95)00037-2.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  22. Stokoe, W.C., 2005. Sign language structure: An outline of the visual communication systems of the American deaf. Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education 10, 1 (Win), 3--37. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/DOI 10.1093/deafed/eni001.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  23. Traxler, C.B., 2000. The Stanford Achievement Test, 9th Edition: National Norming and Performance Standards for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Students. J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ 5, 4 (Autumn), 337--348. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/deafed/5.4.337.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  24. Mayer, C., 2007. What really matters in the early literacy development of deaf children. J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ 12, 4 (Fall), 411--431. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/deafed/enm020.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  25. Miller, P., Kargin, T., and Guldenoglu, B., 2015. Deaf native signers are better readers than nonnative signers: myth or truth? J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ 20, 2 (Apr), 147--162. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/deafed/enu044.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  26. Chung, J.-W., Min, H.-J., Kim, J., and Park, J.C., 2013. Enhancing readability of web documents by text augmentation for deaf people. In Proceedings of the Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Web Intelligence, Mining and Semantics (Madrid, Spain2013), ACM, 2479808, 1--10. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2479787.2479808. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  27. Debevc, M., Kosec, P., and Holzinger, A., 2010. Improving multimodal web accessibility for deaf people: sign language interpreter module. Multimedia Tools and Applications 54, 1, 181--199. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11042-010-0529-8. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  28. Stephanidis, C., 2009. The Universal Access Handbook. CRC Press, Inc. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  29. Pan, J., Wang, J.M., Cao, S.T., and Luo, X.N., 2011. Interactive sign language synthesis based on adaptive display resolution visibility for ubiquitous devices. Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds 22, 2-3 (Apr-May), 213--220. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cav.409. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  30. Heloir, A., Gibet, S., Multon, F., and Courty, N., 2006. Captured motion data processing for real time synthesis of sign language. Gesture in Human-Computer Interaction and Simulation 3881, 168--171. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  31. Kawahigashi, K., Shirai, Y., Miura, J., and Shimada, N., 2006. Automatic synthesis of training data for sign language recognition using HMM. Computers Helping People with Special Needs, Proceedings 4061, 623--626. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  32. Havasi, L. and Szabo, H.M., 2005. A motion capture system for sign language synthesis: Overview and related issues. Advances in Visual Computing, Proceedings 3804, 636--641. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  33. Havasi, L. and Szabo, H.M., 2004. HANDY: Sign language synthesis from sublexical elements based on an XML data representation. Text, Speech and Dialogue, Proceedings 3206, 73--80.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  34. Sagawa, H., Ohki, M., Sakiyama, T., Oohira, E., Ikeda, H., and Fujisawa, H., 1996. Pattern recognition and synthesis for a sign language translation system. Journal of Visual Languages and Computing 7, 1 (Mar), 109--127. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/DOI 10.1006/jvlc.1996.0007.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  35. Lillo-Martin, D.C., 1991. Universal grammar and American sign language: setting the null argument parameters. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht; Boston.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  36. Glauert, J., Kennaway, J., Marshall, I., and Safar, E., 2008. Linguistic modelling and language-processing technologies for Avatar-based sign language presentation. Universal Access in the Information Society 6, 4, 375--391. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  37. Efthimiou, E., Caridakis, G., and Karpouzis, K., 2008. A knowledge-based sign synthesis architecture. Universal Access in the Information Society 6, 4, 405--418. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  38. Kacorri, H., Lu, P., and Huenerfauth, M., 2013. Evaluating Facial Expressions in American Sign Language Animations for Accessible Online Information. In Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Design Methods, Tools, and Interaction Techniques for eInclusion, C. Stephanidis and M. Antona Eds. Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 510--519. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39188-0_55. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  39. Lu, P.F. and Huenerfauth, M., 2014. Collecting and evaluating the CUNY ASL corpus for research on American Sign Language animation. Computer Speech and Language 28, 3 (May), 812--831. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.csl.2013.10.004. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  40. Huenerfauth, M. and Lu, P.F., 2012. Effect of spatial reference and verb inflection on the usability of sign language animations. Universal Access in the Information Society 11, 2 (Jun), 169--184. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10209-011-0247-7. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  41. Huenerfauth, M., 2006. Representing coordination and non-coordination in American Sign Language animations. Behaviour & Information Technology 25, 4 (Jul--Aug), 285--295. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01449290600636769.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  42. Akoumianakis, D. and Stephanidis, C., 2005. Using nonfunctional requirements as design drivers for universal access. Universal Access in Health Telematics 3041, 141--155.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  43. Akoumianakis, D. and Stephanidis, C., 2005. Towards a universal access code of practice in health telematics. Universal Access in Health Telematics 3041, 17--35.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  44. Stephanidis, C., 2005. Universal access. Universal Access in Health Telematics 3041, 3--8.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  45. Akoumianakis, D. and Stephanidis, C., 2003. Scenario-based argumentation for universal access. Universal Access: Theoretical Perspectives, Practice, and Experience 2615, 118--128. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  46. Holzinger, A., 2003. Finger instead of mouse: Touch screens as a means of enhancing universal access. Universal Access: Theoretical Perspectives, Practice, and Experience 2615, 387--397. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  47. Cavender, A., Vanam, R., Barney, D.K., Ladner, R.E., and Riskin, E.A., 2008. MobileASL: intelligibility of sign language video over mobile phones. Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol 3, 1 (Jan), 93--105. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17483100701343475.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  48. Ciaramello, F.M. and Hemami, S.S., 2011. A computational intelligibility model for assessment and compression of American sign language video. IEEE Trans Image Process 20, 11 (Nov), 3014--3027. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TIP.2011.2132730. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  49. Foulds, R.A., 2004. Biomechanical and perceptual constraints on the bandwidth requirements of sign language. IEEE Trans Neural Syst Rehabil Eng 12, 1 (Mar), 65--72. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/TNSRE.2003.821371.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  50. Morris, J. and Mueller, J., 2014. Blind and Deaf Consumer Preferences for Android and iOS Smartphones. In Inclusive Designing, P.M. Langdon, J. Lazar, A. Heylighen and H. Dong Eds. Springer International Publishing, 69--79. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05095-9_7.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  51. Jones, D.D., 2004. Relative earnings of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals. J Deaf Stud Deaf Educ 9, 4 (Fall), 459--461. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/deafed/enh047.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  52. Kipp, M., Nguyen, Q., Heloir, A., and Matthes, S., 2011. Assessing the deaf user perspective on sign language avatars. In Proceedings of the The proceedings of the 13th international ACM SIGACCESS conference on Computers and accessibility (Dundee, Scotland, UK2011), ACM, 2049557, 107--114. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2049536.2049557. Google ScholarGoogle ScholarDigital LibraryDigital Library
  53. Cattani, A., Clibbens, J., and Perfect, T.J., 2007. Visual memory for shapes in deaf signers and nonsigners and in hearing signers and nonsigners: atypical lateralization and enhancement. Neuropsychology 21, 1 (Jan), 114--121. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0894-4105.21.1.114.Google ScholarGoogle Scholar
  54. Krakow, R.A. and Hanson, V.L., 1985. Deaf signers and serial recall in the visual modality: memory for signs, fingerspelling, and print. Mem Cognit 13, 3 (May), 265--272.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  55. McDaniel, E.D., 1980. Visual memory in the deaf. Am Ann Deaf 125, 1 (Feb), 17--20.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  56. Emmorey, K., Damasio, H., McCullough, S., Grabowski, T., Ponto, L.L., Hichwa, R.D., and Bellugi, U., 2002. Neural systems underlying spatial language in American Sign Language. Neuroimage 17, 2 (Oct), 812--824.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  57. Pollard, R.Q. and Barnett, S., 2009. Health-related vocabulary knowledge among deaf adults. Rehabil Psychol 54, 2 (May), 182--185. DOI= http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0015771.Google ScholarGoogle ScholarCross RefCross Ref
  1. Accessible Tourism for the Deaf via Mobile Apps

      Recommendations

      Comments

      Login options

      Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

      Sign in
      • Published in

        cover image ACM Other conferences
        PETRA '16: Proceedings of the 9th ACM International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments
        June 2016
        455 pages
        ISBN:9781450343374
        DOI:10.1145/2910674

        Copyright © 2016 ACM

        Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

        Publisher

        Association for Computing Machinery

        New York, NY, United States

        Publication History

        • Published: 29 June 2016

        Permissions

        Request permissions about this article.

        Request Permissions

        Check for updates

        Qualifiers

        • research-article
        • Research
        • Refereed limited

      PDF Format

      View or Download as a PDF file.

      PDF

      eReader

      View online with eReader.

      eReader