Helping Individuals with Blindness or Severe Low Vision Perform Middle School Mathematics

This paper addresses the performance of mathematics by Individuals with Blindness or Severe Low Vision (IBSLV) at the middle school level. At these levels, students can no longer rely on counting strategies and tangibles to perform mathematics but must instead rely on processes that are accomplished procedurally. These strategies, however, often prove difficult for IBSLV, as they depend on students having vision in order to read, insert, and manipulate mathematical text at precise locations on the page. In this research, we investigate how two computer systems can help IBSLV perform multidigit arithmetic in the same manner as their sighted peers—i.e., by reading, inserting, and manipulating mathematical text in a spatially oriented way. The first system is Math Melodies, an iOS application which uses Apple’s VoiceOver and an onscreen keyboard to help IBSLV perform multidigit arithmetic. The second system is MathSTAAR, a device developed by the authors of this research, which affixes an embossed, tactile grid to an iPhone screen and has IBSLV insert and manipulate mathematical text using speech. We found that while both systems allowed participants to solve more than 90% of problems correctly, MathSTAAR’s approach helped participants do so more quickly and with less frustration. Additionally, 12 of the 14 participants preferred MathSTAAR to Math Melodies, specifically noting that the former’s use of a tactile grid and speech commands helped them keep track of their onscreen location.