Universal Access in the Information Society manuscript No. (will be inserted by the editor) Transformation frameworks and their relevance in universal design Silas S. Brown and Peter Robinson University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory 15 JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge CB3 0FD, UK e-mail: fSilas.Brown,
[email protected] Received: date / Revised version: date Category: Long Paper – Some algorithms can be simplified if the data is first transformed into a convenient structure. Many algo- Key words notations, transformation, conversion, ed- rithms can be regarded as transformations in their ucation, tools, 4DML own right. Abstract Music, engineering, mathematics, and many – Transformation can be important when presenting other disciplines have established notations for writing data to the user and when accepting user input. their documents. Adjusting these notations can con- This last point, namely the importance of transfor- tribute to universal access by helping to address access mation in user interaction, is relevant to universal design difficulties such as disabilities, cultural backgrounds, or and will be elaborated here. restrictive hardware. Tools that support the program- ming of such transformations can also assist by allowing the creation of new notations on demand, which is an 1.1 Transformation in universal design under-explored option in the relief of educational diffi- culties. Universal design aims to develop “technologies which This paper reviews some programming tools that can are accessible and usable by all citizens. thus avoid- be used to effect such transformations. It also introduces ing the need for a posteriori adaptations or specialised a tool, called “4DML”, that allows the programmer to design” [37].