A Proposed Enhanced e-Community with Web Based Framework accessibility features for Deaf People Case Study: Facebook

Gideon Baffoe Department of Informatics Blekinge Institute of Technology SWEDEN gidyat@yahoo.com ABSTRACT: E-Community is a useful tool that has contributed in facilitating the construction of relationship or forming of emotional bonds tied between its members, reflecting the hedonic aspect of an online community and translating the shared pleasure between its members. All over the world, Deaf people are expanding their horizons by using a rich signed language. Hence, there is a need for making e-Communities, especially those that have both social and informational orientation, available to deaf people. Consequently, the target group (Deaf people) that faces problems of social exclusion and unemployment have multiple profits from the action of being part of famous and modern e-Communities. This could even facilitate learning of Sign Language by both Deaf and non-Deaf people. This paper proposes an enhancement to the current and famous e-Communities, particularly Facebook web application to include Web-based framework with accessible features for the Deaf people. I will explore how to satisfy the special needs of Deaf people through high level of visualisation and interactive and explorative learning. The basic objective of the proposed eCommunity system is to support equal rights of deaf people for their access to the social and informational needs. Digital media and information technologies have not only changed our world, they have also changed the way we see the world. And that world is increasingly a mediated world, where media are our milieu. Not surprisingly then that Internet and so-called new media are altering the fields of socialisation in fundamental ways. However, the successful enhancement of e-Community is dependent on the extent to which the needs and concerns of the target groups (Deaf people) involved are addressed. 1.0 INTRODUCTION Now imagine yourself in a foreign country in a soundproof room made of glass. You have never heard the local language spoken. Each day, the local people come to you and try to speak to you through the glass. You cannot hear what they are saying. You see only that their lips are moving. Realizing that you do not understand them, they write those same words on a piece of paper and show you through the glass what they have written. They think that you must be able to understand it. How well do you think you would do? You would find communication nearly impossible in this situation. Why? Because what is written represents a language that you have never heard spoken. This is precisely the situation in which most deaf people find themselves. People who have no sense impairments generally give little thought to those who do, unless they are members of their own family. Yet, the matter deserves attention. Jack Ashley, a British Member of Parliament who is deaf, pointed out the need of understanding deaf people by stressing that, most people are ignorant of the problems of the deaf, and added that the deaf need understanding from hearing people, appreciation of the gravity of their disability, and respect for their individual qualities which are unimpaired, except in the imagination of others. Just because people are deaf does not mean that their mental faculties are in any way impaired. To deal with the varying degrees of impairment, skilled professionals have proposed and undertake numerous measures. Once the cause and scope of the sense impairment has been identified, the question of help can be addressed. For example, technologically, some hearings impaired have been provided with a form of appliances that enhance their impaired senses.

Moreover, computer systems with programs that analyses a Deaf persons speech, instantly indicating where corrections and adjustment are needed and including a series of lessons designed to help the Deaf to gradually improve their speech intonation and rhythm have all been implemented. Particularly treasured by most deaf are dogs that have been trained to assist them. Hearing Dogs for Deaf People, a charity whose purpose is to help deaf people in Britain achieve greater independence and thus improve their quality of life. They are trained to alert their owners to respond to numerous household sounds, such as a babys cry, a doorbell, a telephone, an alarm clock, a smoke detector, as well as to any special need of their owner. Even though the Web is providing unprecedented access to information and interaction for not only a special group of people, but also people from any age and different groups, this does guarantee a satisfactory work life for a group of internet users who are hearing impaired. A satisfactory work life includes a considerable increase in self-esteem and an immediate contribution to life quality. Scores of deaf people are unemployed and some the reasons discovered for these special socialization conditions include, one, an inadequate estimate of the performance abilities of the deaf, and, more crucially, the communicative problems between deaf and hearing colleagues. Like spoken languages different sign languages and dialects evolved around the world. In regard to sign language, one can assert that it is the first step to breaking down barriers for all those in the deaf world. Through this very effective medium of communication, the deaf feel at home with one another. It is a fine thing when those who can both hear and speak make the effort to learn sign language. In this way deaf and hearing people become more integrated, to their mutual benefit. Hearing people learn a new language and enrich their cultural experience, and deaf people gain greater access to the world of hearing people. According to the National Association of the Deaf the American Sign Language (ASL) is the third most frequently used language in the United States, after English and Spanish. Signs require one or both hands for signing. Facial expressions which accompany signing are also important since they can modify the basic meaning of a hand gesture. To communicate proper nouns and obscure words sign languages employ finger spelling. Since the majority of signing is with full words, signed conversation can proceed with the same pace as spoken conversation. Interestingly, many people who are deaf from birth or from early infancy do not view themselves as being handicapped. The difference between them and hearing people is viewed as merely a language difference and a cultural difference. Some Hearing people have mistakenly concluded that signed language is a complex form of pantomime. It has even been described as a picture language. Though signed language employs the face, body, hands, and surrounding space effectively, the majority of signs bear little or no resemblance to the thoughts they convey. Contrary to popular misconceptions, sign languages are not pantomimes and gestures, inventions of educators, or ciphers of the spoken language of the surrounding community. One criterion of a language is the use of a structured vocabulary accepted by a community. Signed languages exhibit such grammatical structure. For instance, the topic of an ASL sentence is generally stated first, followed by a comment about it. Also, ordering things as they occur in time is a basic feature of many signed languages. Many facial expressions also serve such grammatical functions as helping to distinguish a question from a command, a conditional phrase, or a simple statement. The visual nature of signed language has allowed it to develop these and many other unique features. The internet has proven to be a boon for people with disabilities. But just as it is important to design buildings with accessibility in mind, the same is true for the internet. Flexibility is the key to accessibility. Some of the Internet websites are especially developed for disabled persons. Some of these websites are e- learning applications for the disabled people. Debevc et al in proposed an e-learning environment for improving computer literacy of the deaf and hard

hearing persons. Also, School-TV broadcasts (or other movies) are accessible in Dutch Sign Language since the development of Sign Language Europe software environment. This paper proposes an enhancement to current and famous e-Communities with Web based framework accessible features for Deaf people. The next section of this paper is brief information on the current and famous e-Community with respect the case study, Facebook application. The proposed enhancement system dedicated for deaf peoples analysis, design and implementation follows it. At the end, the benefits of such enhancement will be discussed. 2.0 THE FACEBOOK E-COMMUNITY Even though no common agreement on the definition of the term e-Community could be identified for various reasons the following attempts to explain it. It is a group of individuals or organization which share common values or interests gather in a temporary or permanent way through an electronic media to communicate within a semantic space shared on regular basis to interact around common interest, a common problem, or a common task between members guided by tacit and explicit principles by using an information processing system to support and diffuse the social, professional, or commercial interaction, and members participation is independent of time and space. The technical platform enables and supports the communitys interaction and helps to build trust and a common feeling among the members. With the coming of Internet, e-Communities emerge on the Web relating people from the two poles and offering them the opportunity to interact and to keep in touch with each other. Some basic features in most e-Communities includes; a group of individuals, social ties, a shared interest, a dynamic process and relations which last. Many other various definitions are proposed by researchers. However, initiative of establish, participants, orientation of the community, and the object of the interactions are the four major criteria for distinguishing the different kinds of e-Communities. An example is the Facebook online application. Facebook launched the Facebook Platform on May 24, 2007, providing a framework for software developers to create applications that interact with core Facebook features. A markup language called Facebook Markup Language was introduced simultaneously; it is used to customize the "look and feel" of applications that developers create. Scores of definitions have been given to the Facebook online application. Some include the following. One, Facebook is a social networking website that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. Since September 2006, anyone over the age of 13 with a valid e-mail address (and not residing in one of the countries where it is banned) can become a Facebook user. Two, Facebook is a reference book or electronic directory made up of individuals photographs and names; a college publication distributed at the start of the academic year by university administrations with the intention of helping students get to know each other better; to communicate through the Internet. Three, Facebook is a social networking site that allows for developers to contribute applications that interact with Facebook features. GoGrid offers a Facebook Server Image that allows Facebook developers to contribute their applications through GoGrid servers directly to Facebook's development network. Four, Facebook is a social networking website launched in February 2004, owned by Facebook Inc.Ca. It has certain features like: the Wall, Pokes, Photos(where users can upload an unlimited number of pics), Status, News Feed, Instant Messaging(Chat), Gifts, Marketplaces. Finally, Facebook is a social networking website that serves as a gathering spot, to connect with your friends and with your friends friends. Facebook allows you to make new connections who share a common interest, expanding your personal network. Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school, or college.

The website's name stems from the colloquial name of books given to students at the start of the academic year by university administrations in the US with the intention of helping students to get to know each other better. Anyone over the age of 13 can become a Facebook user. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. The website currently has more than 400 million active users worldwide. A January 2009 Compete.com study ranked Facebook as the most used social network by worldwide monthly active users, followed by MySpace. Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-of-the-decade 'best-of' list. Facebook has been highly used in the years 2009-2010. It has crossed the visits of Google in some continents. And recently, Facebook.com was the top social network across eight of individual markets in the region, Philippines, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Vietnam.

Figure 1 Facebook's homepage features a login form on the top right for existing users and a registration form directly underneath for new visitors. Users can create profiles with photos, lists of personal interests, contact information and other personal information. Communicating with friends and other users can be done through private or public messages or a chat feature. Users can also create and join interest groups and "like pages", some of which are maintained by organizations as a means of advertising. To allay concerns about privacy, Facebook enables users to choose their own privacy settings and choose who can see what parts of their profile. The website is free to users and generates revenue from advertising, such as banner ads. By default, the viewing of detailed profile data is restricted to users from the same network and "reasonable community limitations". 2.1 Facebook Features Facebook has a number of features with which users may interact. They include the Wall, a space on every user's profile page that allows friends to post messages for the user to see; Pokes, which allows users to send a virtual "poke" to each other (a notification then tells a user that they have been poked); Photos, where users can upload albums and photos; and Status, which allows users to inform their friends of their whereabouts and actions. One of the most popular applications on Facebook is the Photos application, where users can upload albums and photos. Facebook allows users to upload an unlimited number of photos, compared with other image hosting services such as Photobucket and Flickr, which apply limits to the number of photos that a user is allowed to upload. During the first years, Facebook users were limited to 60 photos per album. Privacy settings can be set for individual albums, limiting the groups of users that can see an album. Another feature of the Photos application is the ability to "tag", or label users in a photo. For instance, if a photo contains a user's friend, then the user can tag the friend in the photo. This sends a notification to the friend that they have been tagged, and provides them a link to see the photo. Over time, Facebook has added features to its website. In time, a News Feed was announced, which appears on every user's homepage and highlights information including profile changes, upcoming events, and birthdays of the user's friends. Users are able to prevent friends from seeing updates about certain types of activities, including profile changes, Wall posts, and newly added friends. Facebook Gifts allows users to

send virtual gifts to their friends that appear on the recipient's profile. A personalized message can be attached to each gift. Marketplace on Facebook lets users post free classified ads. Facebook Notes is a blogging feature that allowed tags and embeddable images. Facebook also has an instant messaging application called "Chat" to several networks, which allows users to communicate with friends and is similar in functionality to desktop-based instant messengers.

3.0 PRESENTATION OF THE PROPOSED ENHANCED E-COMMUNITY SYSTEM In the present section, the proposed enhancement is categorized in four categories depending on the systems (or technology) usage or importance and examples of corresponding Facebook feature to be enhanced are given. The systems or technologies are as follows. 1. Asynchronous e-Community Systems 2. Synchronous e-Community Systems 3. Assistive Technologies and Adaptive Strategies 4. Content Producing System 3.1 Asynchronous e-Community Systems Systems in this category are the most popular ones but for different languages. These systems help deaf users especially in the learning process. The only way to make information accessible to deaf people is to provide a transcript of the information. A transcript itself is the textual form of the spoken text. To take it one step further, captioning was developed, which does not only provide a textual equivalent of the spoken text, but also informs the reader of any other sounds, the speaker, or the intonation of the speech as necessary. Many proposed work and research already done under asynchronous system in connection with deaf people incorporate the following. For instance, LOgic-based e-tool for DEaf children (LODE) aims at stimulating deaf children to globally reason on narratives written in Italian. Thus LODE presents children with estories and apt exercises that stimulate them to analyze the temporal relations between events, and to produce new relations consistent with the story. Another system proposed is an interactive program to teach American Sign Language for K-3 mathematics by 3D animation. A Learning Management System (LMS) which offers German Sign Language videos in correspondence to every text in the learning environment have been proposed. A multimedia virtual tour options which becoming popular on most websites is also a nice alternative. The tour is captioned and described including text subtitles for the audio, and descriptions of the video which allows her to access it using a combination of screen magnification. The interface used for the virtual tour is accessible no matter what kind of assistive technology one is using. Then also we have a Kids Sign Online (KSO) system, which is designed to teach British Sign Language (BSL) in tandem with English to deaf children. Features of Facebook application which utilizes these techniques targeting the hearing impaired community include; News Feed, various ads, communities for training and awareness creation, and others. 3.2 Synchronous e-Community Systems Unlike asynchronous e-community systems, synchronous e-community systems take or happen at the same time. Already with the Facebook instant messaging application, textual communication is becoming popular among people regardless of disabilities. Deaf people are much more able to communicate similarly to the hearing people. Nonetheless, the synchronous e-community system under consideration here refers basically to an integrated communication component consisting of chat and video conference enabling the Deaf people to communicate directly. Now, the proliferation of Webcams, Internet computer cameras, is enabling the deaf to use sign language over the Internet. Even so, the webcams narrow field of view and twodimensional perspective means certain nuances may be lost, just as a raised eyebrow or a smirk is lost over the telephone. Slow Internet connections and other technical problems can make

signing over Webcams more difficult. How do the deaf overcome such obstacles? Signers prolong and repeat signs and have also learned to adapt their movements or body position to compensate for problems with perspective. Signers have also found that they can add emphasis to what they say by moving their hands closer to the camera to increase their apparent size. Ultimately, a SMIL-based multimedia format enabling synchronized captioning of audio and description of video can likewise be implemented. 3.3 Assistive Technologies and Adaptive Strategies Assistive technologies are products used by people with disabilities to help accomplish tasks that they cannot accomplish otherwise or could not do easily otherwise. When used with computers, assistive technologies are sometimes referred to as adaptive software or hardware. Some assistive technologies are used together with graphical desktop browsers, text browsers, voice browsers, multimedia players, or plug-ins. Adaptive strategies are techniques that people with disabilities use to assist in using computers or other devices. 3.3.1 Screen readers in Sign Language Software used by individuals who are deaf interprets what is displayed on a screen and directs it to sign language synthesis for video output. Some screen readers use the document tree, that is, the parsed document code as their input. For such screen readers to perfectly achieve this fantastic result, an online Sign Language Dictionary is crucial. These systems can encourage deaf users to increase their knowledge about the other language or about their own Sign Language. To this direction many online dictionaries have been developed for different Sign Languages. The majority includes a large number of signs and targets at signers as well as at students that learn a Sign Language as second language. Each sign includes one translational equivalent and the other side synonyms and antonyms in the Sign Language. Words that correspond to signs from the Sign Language dictionary calls a pre-recorded video clip showing the sign If the word does not have a corresponding sign in the Sign Language dictionary, it is finger spelled. The problem here is that the obvious way to do this, i.e. providing video of Sign Language interpreters, is an expensive and resource hungry exercise. For this reason, many people are experimenting with signing avatars (virtual humans) as a way to deliver Sign Language equivalent to written content. 3.3.2 Sign recognition Just we have speech (or voice) recognition is used by people with some physical disabilities or temporary injuries to hands and forearms as an input method in some voice browsers, we can in the manner have Sign Language recognition applications. Meanwhile, slow Internet connections and other technical problems can make signing over Webcams more difficult. But Signers adding emphasis to what they want to say by moving their hands closer to the Webcam will make such sign recognition less difficult. 3.3.3 Text-To-Sign Browsers Text-to-Sign Browsers are internet browsers specially design to automatically convert the Web page content to Sign Language. Text browsers such as Lynx are an alternative to graphical user interface browsers. If you search the web for information related to web accessibility for deaf people you will find plenty of advice about captioning or providing transcripts for web based audio and video material. What you are unlikely to find much discussion related to accessibility and language; for many deaf people English is not their first language, Sign Language is. Although Sign Language provides an equivalent for everything that can be spoken or written, understanding written English, for some deaf people is a process of interpreting from English to their first language, i.e. Sign Language. One of the major problems is that most Sign Languages do not translate word for word into corresponding actual language, say English, or vice-versa, as they have distinct grammars of their own, and therefore it would be difficult to translate a site

directly. Wherever possible, the content is clarified by special forms of visualizing structures and processes. Anther alternative is by retrieving a Sign Language video for each text block by clicking on the icon in front of the text block. These videos may not be shown immediately because the learners should first try to read the written text. If they have difficulties with that, they can then see the sign language video. The videos could be offered in three video qualities: ISDN, DSL, and LAN. So users will get the video quality that suits their internet connection. For playing the videos the users only need a current QuickTime plug-in for their browser. Writing simple language and short sentences can help to make information more accessible to Sign Language users. It seems the most effective way to make content accessible to Sign Language users is to provide a Sign Language version of all content for now. Nevertheless, many people are experimenting with signing avatars (virtual humans) as a way to deliver Sign Language equivalent to written content. 3.3.4 Visual notification Visual notification is an alternative feature of some operating systems that allows deaf or hard of hearing users to receive a visual alert of a warning or error message that might otherwise be issued by sound. Any program, which provides information by using any sounds, should indicate this information in another, non-audible manner. For example, when a new e-mail message arrives, many applications change the cursor shape, pop-up a window telling the user that there is a new message waiting, etc. 3.3.5 Eye Typing Engineers in Ottawa, Canada, have developed a pair of eyeglasses that makes it possible to type by eye command, reports The Medical Post of Toronto. The glasses are connected to a computer and a printer. In one of the eyepieces is a display of 60 different characters, the alphabet, necessary punctuation marks, and a set of commands with a sensor that can determine which character the users eye is focused on. After a certain dwell time, usually a half second, a red light illuminates the selected character to confirm the choice. After another half second, a computer beep assures the user that his choice has been stored in the computers memory. The message can also be printed out on paper whenever the wearer eyes the character representing the printer. The device is expected to open up a whole new world for some severely handicapped persons, says the report. This principle can well be considered. 3.4 Content Producing System The last but not the least is Content Producing System. Systems in this category provide conversion tools which are used for constructing, storing and maintenance for educational material. Using the systems in this category the deaf user can produce their content by themselves. A project carried out in close cooperation with the Austrian Association for hearing impaired and deaf people gives the possibility to generate and publish contents by deaf themselves on the learning platform. The system proposed a platform environment that allows development of various educational applications accessible by deaf users. This same idea can well be incorporated in creation of community, Marketplace, and Notes all under Facebook. 4.0 BENEFITS There are numerous benefits that can be derived from this proposed enhanced e-community by considering the target group (Deaf people). Some of them are discussed as follows. In the first place, this proposed enhancement to the emerging e-Society will open up increasingly new possibilities for people, including the Deaf people, to participate in a great number of e-Communities. An e-Community, or online community, has and will continually be seen as both a complement and a substitute for the local physical community we are all living

in. In other words, modern man including the hearing impaired will have the option to participate in (or even live in) one or several virtual e-Communities besides the given local and physical one. By so doing, it will fulfil perfectly J. Preece description of an online community as consisting of people, including the Deaf, who interact socially (in the e-Community) as they strive to satisfy their own needs or perform special roles as leading or moderating. To this working definition it is just important to add that en e-Community is not only an entity (a noun), it is also, a process (a verb). An e-Community is always evolving and developing to further include people of other sense impairments. Moreover, this proposed enhancement will satisfy the two key concepts often used to characterise e-Communities namely Sociability and Usability. Sociability here focuses on social interaction in the e-Community while usability focuses on interfaces and human-computer interaction. Hence, attention to sociability and usability will be of paramount importance for ensuring successful e-Communities by including deaf people. This will take the existing eCommunities to another level blending sociological, psychological, and technological perspectives of all people regardless of their sense impairments. This will be a great success to the emerging e-Society. Furthermore, e-Community with enhancement will increase people, including the Deaf people, their personal bandwidth or ability to choose the best information to read through personal mastery. Personal mastery is the discipline of continually clarifying and deepening our personal vision, of focusing our energies, of developing patience, and of seeing reality objectively. Personal mastery entails an on-going struggle, a creative tension, between personal goals and objective reality. Personal mastery lies at the heart of generative learning. Generative learners are more than skilled problem-solvers. They become goal-seeking visionaries increasing their ability to choose the best information to read. In our lifestyle today, we are all easily distracted from our vision and prone to distort reality, however, lifelong learners labor to master their personal mastery even if they backslide occasionally. They delay gratification in pursuit of their goals. They willingly sweat and toil to produce the future they desire. And this is made possible also through learning and social interaction on e-Communities. The process of personal mastery requires a dispassionate appraisal of our objective circumstances and continual clarification of what matters to us. The proposed enhancement will thus be an ideal venue for lifelong learners, including the Deaf people as well, to increase their personal bandwidth. Again, the digital divide between rich and poor, weak and strong, and so on will seriously be narrowed. Relying on e-Communities, intentions have been to attract future educators and professional that otherwise would not attend any education programs in the hearing impaired world due to, for example, geographical location, financial constraints, health allergies, family situation, and many others. This helps to bridge the gap between rich and poor, weak and strong, and so on. Implementing the content producing system will for instance promote individual, embracing Deaf people, responsibility and choice and thus closing gradually the digital divide. In addition, the proposed enhancement will that ensure the current dominating ICT-cultures are most in harmony or coincidence with the current global Deaf people and societal needs. For example, the Facebook feature the Marketplace is a microcosm of modern e-business. EBusiness has fulfilled the potential of information technologies transforming the traditional business procedures, products and services. By means of rules and regulations set up by government to establish the regulatory environments that can stimulate the development of ebusinesses, most industries have taken this ICT culture very seriously. To promote the take-up of digital technologies and processes by small and medium-sized businesses, an e-business support network is set up. Meanwhile, the private sector has developed interoperable e-business solutions for transactions, security, signatures, procurement and payments.

Finally, the proposed enhancement will be a good consequence of the e-World for Deaf people in different parts of the world making them distinct winners. This will enhancement will definitely increase the Deaf peoples capacity to access other information and communication technologies more fully. For example, it may even grow to increase the Deaf peoples accessibility to Public Systems. Public systems in this context should be understood as systems directed to a broad user group such as tourists, and citizens. These systems are also characterized of a common interest with respect to user groups and the number of stakeholders such as regional, national, and international researchers, multimedia companies and technology providers and users, political decision makers and many others. Example of such Public System will be Deaf peoples accessibility to digitized museum. 5.0 LIMITATIONS Time constraints of the semester require less time than may be ideal for a massively detailed research project aiming at proposing an enhanced e-community with Web based framework accessibility features for Deaf people. REFERENCES www.wiktionary.org www.wiki.gogrid.com Xlsuite.com/dictionary hallman.nccommunities.org/glossary www.w3.org www.wikipedia.org www.facebook.com www.evengrounds.com M. A. El-Soud, A.E. Hassan , M. S. Kandil, S. M. Shohieb A Proposed Web Based Framework E-Learning and Dictionary System for Deaf Arab Students, International Journal of Electrical & Computer Sciences IJECS-IJENS Vol: 10 No: 01 56 A.S.DRIGAS, D.KOUREMENOS (2005) An e-Learning Management System for the Deaf people, WSEAS TRANSACTIONS on ADVANCES IN ENGINEERING EDUCATION, Issue 1, Volume 2, pp. 20-24, 2005