Abstract
In the U.S., there are about 17 million people with diabetes. Blindness and visual impairment is prevalent among people with diabetes. Blood Glucose Monitoring Systems (BGMS's) have revolutionized diabetes self care, but none of the 30 or so commercially available monitoring systems was designed to be fully accessible to blind and visually impaired persons.
Seventeen (17) BGMS's were evaluated for accessible use by people who are blind or visually impaired. Features and functionalities — e.g., operating procedures, user interface design, device specifications, and computer interface capabilities — were examined and tabulated as was usability and accessibility. Additionally, twelve (12) people who are blind or visually impaired and who were issued BGMS's by their physician or diabetes educator were interviewed and videotaped using their meters.
Of seventeen (17) BGMS's, only four (4) had voice output capability, an essential component of accessibility for blind and visually impaired persons. The six (6) BGMS's without voice output that had the largest display fonts were found to have few accessibility features for visually impaired persons. Users indicated that voice-output and portability were desired attributes of an accessible Blood Glucose Monitoring System. None of the BGMS's evaluated had all the required accessibility attributes, including the four systems that had voice output capability. The four systems with voice-output were much bulkier, heavier, and expensive than those that did not have this capability.
Recommendations were made for development of BGMS's that would increase effective usage by blind and visually impaired persons, including integrating Text to Speech (TTS), streamlining the blood glucose monitoring process, and applying a “Universal Design” concept for future development so that BGMS's are usable by the widest possible array of users.
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