Exploring assistive transfer systems for people with visual impairments in addressing privacy and security tasks

Zhang, Zhuohao

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/110799 Copy

Description

Title

Exploring assistive transfer systems for people with visual impairments in addressing privacy and security tasks

Author(s)

Zhang, Zhuohao

Issue Date

2021-04-23

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Wang, Yang

Department of Study

Computer Science

Discipline

Computer Science

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Accessibility
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Usable Privacy and Security

Abstract

People with visual impairments (PVIs) often face challenges when dealing with day-to-day visual tasks such as solving visual CAPTCHAs or screening pictures before posting them on social media. What if PVIs could transfer these visual tasks to a helper to solve? We introduce assistive transfer systems, which allow PVIs to solicit just-in-time help where a willing helper directly solves the challenge on the PVIs' behalf. So how might PVIs want such a system configured? How could AI be used as a first-layer solution to automatically solve the task? If the AI is not good enough, could the PVIs transfer the task to another person, e.g., a friend or family member? From whom they would solicit help? Whether and how they would compensate for this help? In this thesis, we discuss two concrete use cases related to designing assistive transfer systems in order to answer these questions: solving task-based visual CAPTCHAs and posting pictures to social media. We implemented two proof-of-concept assistive transfer systems — WebAlly and ShareAlly — to help with these two scenarios accordingly. We used an exploratory, role-play study with 10 pairs of participants — a PVI and a friend or a family member — to evaluate one of the implemented systems WebAlly. We asked participants to use WebAlly in four different configurations that varied in the source of help (friend vs. stranger) and compensation (paid vs. volunteer). We found that PVIs liked having WebAlly as an additional option for solving visual CAPTCHAs, when other options that preserve their independence fail. In addition, many PVIs and their friends felt that using the system would bring their relationship closer. We discuss design implications for these human-AI hybrid assistive transfer systems more broadly, e.g., the importance of complementing rather than replacing PVIs’ existing workflows.

Graduation Semester

2021-05

Type of Resource

Thesis

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110799

Copyright and License Information

Copyright © 2021 Zhuohao Zhang

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