Tactile Learning: A Note-taking device for the Blind

This design research project aims to both investigate how blind people create and recall notes and identify the challenges they face when doing so. This study examines the proper use of ethics, methods, analysis of processes, and concept development to explore potential solutions to the creation and recall of notes by blind people. Covid-19 restrictions widened the scope surrounding this subject by forcing the experimentation of online research through different digital platforms. Studying the differences in multiple fields of the unknown boundaries experienced in the daily lives of blind people and the real-time advantages of sighted people has led to the realization that minority communities, such as the blind community, are falling behind in terms of accessibility. The blind have many difficulties to overcome and the lack of current technology designed to assist in taking and recalling notes is a major stepping stone in many blind people's education and careers. Multiple note-taking methods and platforms are available for sighted people, facilitating the creation and recall of notes. Note-taking methods take many forms from highlighting, underlining, or writing notes in the margins. As a non-sighted person, options are limited to voice recordings, bookmarking or dog-earing a full page, or using a braille typewriter or stylus- slate. Voice recordings are difficult to search through afterwards, marking a page only gives a general idea of the highlighted material, and a braille typewriter or stylus-slate creates an excessive amount of paper notes. All of which makes finding notes and the recollection of data incredibly challenging. This research outlines crucial findings from expert and participant interviews and surveys; it also analyzes podcasts, blogs, videos, social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook target groups. The design of a single device that brings together different note-taking methods onto one platform and enables users to have the flexibility to take notes efficiently is proposed in the hopes to facilitate note-taking without the need of additional devices.