For the purposes of audience and outreach timeframe, these tools were ruled out as being irrelevant for the robotics programming or potentially daunting to young novices (Eclipse can be used for LeJOS). In terms of general programming, contemporary environments such as Microsoft Visual Studio, Apple XCode and Eclipse can be made generally accessible though gaps remain. The need for JBrick is derived after evaluating exiting Lego Mind storms NXT robotics programming environments in order to ascertain at least one that was free/low-cost, accessible to the visually impaired, and was conducive to facilitating outreach/instruction for novice programmers of pre-college age. Given that independent tool use and activity participation is needed (as opposed to reliance on a sighted person) this paper will focus on the features and design decisions that can be leveraged in other programming tools. Participation in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) fields by the visually impaired is low in part due to inaccessible tool support, in particular at the initial, critical junctures that can encourage and captivate young people. Prior work has discussed issues with using existing development software, which at best has incomplete features and at worst is completely inaccessible due to the heavy use of graphics to depict commands and constructs. In this paper, we will explore the issues with making robotics programming accessible to individual with visual impairments, especially those who have little to no experience in programming. These teens are often novice programmers, as the focus of the outreach is to enable the participants to explore Computer Science via robotics, a common vehicle for engaging pre-college students. In the case of the Imagine IT workshops and future outreach, the target users are teens who are visually impaired.
The goal of the JBrick project is to devise accessible Lego Mindstorms programming software that can be used by those with or without sight. The American Federation of the Blind defines the term “legally blind” as defined through federal law, with “central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with the best possible correction, as measured on a Snellen vision chart, or a visual field of 20 degrees or less”. The underrepresented students of concern are those who are visually impaired, where the threshold is legally blind. Whether for in-class activities or extracurricular outreach, the software needs to maximize accessibility in order to promote interest in computer science and related disciplines. This software is not accessible, most notably in terms of screen reader compatibility.
The default programming software available from Lego uses icons to represent commands. Robotics, such as Lego Mindstorms, are as appealing to students who are visually impaired as they are to sighted students.
As robotics has become popular as a means for engaging pre-college students in computing and engineering, the need for accessibility persists.