This survey was designed to gather feedback from people with visual impairments—whether or not they use Braille—regarding their experiences with complex documents (tables, graphs, scientific equations) in their work or studies.

Access the questionnaire

👉 Follow this link: https://coobra.liris.cnrs.fr/survey/index.php/161446?lang=en  

Estimated time to complete: 25 minutes

• Anonymization: Your responses are fully anonymized. They will be used in scientific publications and will not allow you to be identified.
• Accessibility: The questionnaire is compatible with screen readers.
• Assistance: Human assistance is available if needed (see contact information at the bottom of the page).
• Adaptive path: Depending on your answers, certain sections may be automatically skipped. For example, if you do not use mathematical formulas, the corresponding section will not be presented to you.

Your experience is an invaluable resource. As researchers and developers, we need to better understand:

• The effective strategies you have developed to overcome challenges
• The systemic barriers you encounter on a daily basis
• The needs that current technologies (screen readers, Braille displays, AI, etc.) fail to meet
• The synergy you create between Braille, audio, and artificial intelligence

The data collected will help us:

• Develop more relevant accessible technologies
• Inform educational policies and teaching practices
• Scientifically document the use of Braille in scientific and technical contexts
• Influence accessibility standards

The questionnaire explores six main themes:

1. Methods and tools you use in your work or studies
2. What works well and enables you to be independent and effective
3. What poses challenges and creates obstacles in your daily practice
4. The relationship between different access modalities (Braille, audio, AI, human description)
5. Your relationship with Braille in scientific and technical contexts
6. The emerging role of generative AI in your work

Section 1 – Your Profile and Context
This section collects general information: your visual impairment, your status (student, professional, teacher, researcher, etc.), your field of study, your use of Braille (frequency, proficiency levels, contexts), and your computing environment (screen reader, operating system, Braille display if applicable).

Section 2 – Your relationship with mathematical formulas and equations
We ask you about how you read, understand, write, and produce complex mathematical expressions (e.g., integrals, fractions, matrices). What tools do you use? Which strategies do you find most reliable?

Section 3 – Your approach to tables and structured data
This section focuses on navigating, analyzing, and manipulating tabular data (tables of numbers, databases, spreadsheets). How do you explore rows and columns? What are the recurring obstacles?

Section 4 – Your approach to graphs and diagrams
Here we address accessing and understanding visualizations (bar charts, graphs, pie charts, technical diagrams), as well as your ability to create these types of representations yourself.

Section 5 – Overview of Existing Tools
This section provides an overview of the solutions you are familiar with or currently use (software, extensions, hardware). We ask you to describe your criteria for adopting these tools (reliability, speed, learning curve) and the obstacles that hinder their widespread adoption.

Section 6 – Outlook for AI
Finally, we explore the role you assign to generative artificial intelligence (ChatGPT, Copilot, etc.) in your work. What are your verification strategies to address the risk of hallucinations? What would your future needs be in terms of AI assistance?

At the end of the questionnaire, you can indicate whether you would like to:

• Stay informed about the progress of the solutions developed by COOBRA
• Participate in an in-depth (one-on-one) interview
• Join participatory workshops to co-design and test concrete solutions

These additional contributions will be made as part of participatory research: you will then become a full member of the COOBRA team.