The key role of touch in non-visual mobile interaction

Mobile devices are designed mostly to fit users with no particular disability. Tactile affordances are neglected at the expense of more attractive stylish interfaces and assistive solutions are stereotypical, also facing disabilities with a narrow perspective. A blind user is presented with screen reading software to overcome the inability to receive feedback from the device. However, these solutions go only half-way. In the absence of sight other capabilities stand up. Above all, the sense of touch plays an essential role while interacting with physical keypads. To empower these users, a deeper understanding of their capabilities and how they relate with technology is mandatory. We propose a user-product compatibility approach, taking in account that blind users have different tactile attributes. We expect to correlate the user's tactile sensitivity and keypad demands, enabling informed keypad design and selection.