ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES FOR INDIVIDUALS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENT: CONTRIBUTION OF DESIGN IN THE FIELD OF CLOTHING

Abstract

According to data of World Health Organization, it was estimated that 253 millionwere visually impaired worldwide in 2017 (WHO, 2017). For those with moderateto total blindness and visual impairment, daily activities such as mobility,communication, education, clothing and shopping cannot be carried outindependently. Assistive technologies (AT) offer solutions to contribute to thequality of life of those with visual impairments. Considering the daily obstacles facedby such individuals, as a prior step for design development of alternative ATs, thispaper includes an overview of ATs. Since this overview addresses a lack ofapplications in clothing related AT, the following survey aims to acquire feedbackfrom people with visual impairment, focusing on clothing related issues, with theaim of making improvements in design.