Animations at Your Fingertips: Using a Refreshable Tactile Display to Convey Motion Graphics for People who are Blind or have Low Vision

People who are blind rely on touch and hearing to understand the world around them, however it is extremely difficult to understand movement through these modes. The advent of refreshable tactile displays (RTDs) offers the potential for blind people to access tactile animations for the very first time. A survey of touch readers and vision accessibility experts revealed a high level of enthusiasm for tactile animations, particularly those relating to education, mapping and concept development. Based on these suggestions, a range of tactile animations were developed and four were presented to 12 touch readers. The RTD held advantages over traditional tactile graphics for conveying movement, depth and height, however there were trade-offs in terms of resolution and textural properties. This work offers a first glimpse into how refreshable tactile displays can best be utilised to convey animated graphics for people who are blind.