CodeBox64: A Tactile Input Modality for Block Programming (Abstract Only)

Abstract

Many K-12 and university classrooms are now using block programming languages (e.g., Scratch, App Inventor, Code.org) to help students learn how to program. These block programming languages are popular because of their simplicity and "tinkerability" allowing novice users to create a project within minutes of first being exposed to the language. Unfortunately, these languages are highly dependent on the mouse and keyboard making them nearly inaccessible for those users with visual or motor impairments. This poster presents CodeBox64, a simplified input modality that is able to program block programming languages in a more tactile approach; it is a Tactile Input Modality (TIM). Because of the simplicity of CodeBox64, it allows visually impaired students to navigate the buttons and knobs with ease. CodeBox64 consists of four navigational buttons (i.e., up, down, left, right), a back button, and an enter button. It also contains an RFID sensor board that allows the user to use physical Lego blocks to execute commands of a block language. While CodeBox64 was originally developed to work with a custom, Blockly language, JamBlocks, it has the potential to work with other block languages. CodeBox64 demonstrates one possible methodology for enabling block languages to be accessible to those users with visual impairments.