Talktile: Accessible Educational Tool to Augment Independent Learning for Students with BVI

Blindness and visual impairment (BVI) are significant barriers to independent learning. While there have been advancements in assistive technologies, a critical need remains for tailored tools that empower individuals with blindness to access and navigate educational materials independently. This gap was particularly amplified during the COVID-19 lockdown when students primarily relied on self-learning with limited interactions with their instructors. This work addresses the issues and proposes solutions for effective, independent, affordable and equitable learning opportunities for students with BVI through technology. We present a multimodal interactive system that makes widely available printed textbooks accessible by superimposing digital layers of audio annotations, which are triggered based on the position of the user’s finger on a page. This tool aims to fill the gap created by the lack of affordable, multimodal and accessible educational resources for independent learning by students with BVI, particularly for remote and self-learning scenarios.