Abstract:

One of the major problems of accessibility in interfaces for deaf users is the lack of use of Sign Language, their first language. Oftentimes, that happens due to lack of knowledge of these specificities regarding the deaf culture and also due to lack of consistent orientations for adaptations or interface projects for this public. In this context, there is a shortage of coursewares. Most of the bibliography of technical subjects is in Portuguese (written or spoken) and the students can only rely on the exposition of the lesson translated to Libras (Brazilian Sign Language), without the opportunity to go over the content again and study courseware elaborated on their own language [1]. The visuality, a fundamental characteristic of the deaf culture and identity, as well as the relation between the interpreter with the images and subtitles in a video, are elements that are constantly researched by the producers of courseware. Presently, there are researches regarding recommendations and guidelines for bilingual interfaces, which include: availability of the content in Libras and in Portuguese, the use of subtitles for information in sound format, of images and support videos for complex concepts [2], among other features present in the foundation of this research. The production of bilingual courseware (Libras-Portuguese) is much needed in the context of the education of deafs and research groups and projects that have been developed for this purpose. However, there are very few researches evaluating these materials with the deaf users, the target audience [3]. The purpose of this research was to evaluate which was the deaf student's main attention focus regarding a bilingual courseware composed by Brazilian sign language as the main language, subtitles in Portuguese and images. A second purpose was to evaluate the deaf students' level of satisfaction regarding the courseware. In order to do so, a test was applied using an eye tracker to analyze the students' areas of interest. Lastly, a satisfaction survey was applied in order to validate the results obtained with the eye tracker. Regarding the results, it is important to highlight the use of sign language in these materials because users tend to fixate their gaze on the interpreter. Also, a few recommendations for the elaboration of this type of material are also highlighted.

Keywords:

Deaf students, Eye Tracking method, Recommendations for interface design.