Empirical validation of the Windows® accessibility settings and multimodal feedback for a menu selection task for users with Diabetic Retinopathy

This study investigates the effectiveness of two design interventions, the Microsoft Windows accessibility settings and multimodal feedback, aimed at the enhancement of a menu selection task, for users with diabetic retinopathy (DR) with stratified levels of visual dysfunction. Several menu selection task performance measures, both time- and accuracy-based, were explored across different interface conditions and across groups of participants stratified by different degrees of vision loss. The results showed that the Windows accessibility settings had a significant positive impact on performance for participants with DR. Moreover, multimodal feedback had a negligible effect for all participants. Strategies for applying multimodal feedback to menu selection are discussed, as well as the potential benefits and drawbacks of the Windows accessibility settings.