{"title":"Unlocking inclusive education: A quality assessment of software design in applications for children with autism","authors":"Yussy Chinchay, Javier Gomez, Germán Montoro","doi":"10.1016/j.jss.2024.112164","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Digital technologies are an essential resource for maximizing education opportunities, yet the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed learning inequities, particularly among underrepresented groups such as children with autism. In this study, we have evaluated the quality of a distinctive dataset of multiplatform software applications, encompassing both assistive and mainstream software, first-hand acquired from special education professionals and families of children with autism. Through a heuristic evaluation based on a system indicators, and an in-depth analysis, we aimed to (1) assess the quality and effectiveness of assistive technologies in supporting the education of children with autism; (2) determine the adaptability of mainstream applications to the unique educational needs of children with autism; and (3) explore the features and constraints of applications targeting children with ASD, categorized according to the needs they cover. The resulting quality ranking, organized by cognitive domains, provides insights into the engagement and effectiveness of applications supporting the learning of children with autism. Furthermore, the findings delineating the functionalities and limitations of these applications contribute to the identification of necessary software engineering best practices. These practices align with user-centered design principles and drive the development of accessible software, thereby fostering high-quality inclusive education for children with autism.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":51099,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Systems and Software","volume":"217 ","pages":"Article 112164"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0164121224002097/pdfft?md5=5db804a278992bb8bd75b8f331578e32&pid=1-s2.0-S0164121224002097-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Systems and Software","FirstCategoryId":"94","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0164121224002097","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"计算机科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"COMPUTER SCIENCE, SOFTWARE ENGINEERING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Digital technologies are an essential resource for maximizing education opportunities, yet the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed learning inequities, particularly among underrepresented groups such as children with autism. In this study, we have evaluated the quality of a distinctive dataset of multiplatform software applications, encompassing both assistive and mainstream software, first-hand acquired from special education professionals and families of children with autism. Through a heuristic evaluation based on a system indicators, and an in-depth analysis, we aimed to (1) assess the quality and effectiveness of assistive technologies in supporting the education of children with autism; (2) determine the adaptability of mainstream applications to the unique educational needs of children with autism; and (3) explore the features and constraints of applications targeting children with ASD, categorized according to the needs they cover. The resulting quality ranking, organized by cognitive domains, provides insights into the engagement and effectiveness of applications supporting the learning of children with autism. Furthermore, the findings delineating the functionalities and limitations of these applications contribute to the identification of necessary software engineering best practices. These practices align with user-centered design principles and drive the development of accessible software, thereby fostering high-quality inclusive education for children with autism.
期刊介绍：
The Journal of Systems and Software publishes papers covering all aspects of software engineering and related hardware-software-systems issues. All articles should include a validation of the idea presented, e.g. through case studies, experiments, or systematic comparisons with other approaches already in practice. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:
•Methods and tools for, and empirical studies on, software requirements, design, architecture, verification and validation, maintenance and evolution
•Agile, model-driven, service-oriented, open source and global software development
•Approaches for mobile, multiprocessing, real-time, distributed, cloud-based, dependable and virtualized systems
•Human factors and management concerns of software development
•Data management and big data issues of software systems
•Metrics and evaluation, data mining of software development resources
•Business and economic aspects of software development processes
The journal welcomes state-of-the-art surveys and reports of practical experience for all of these topics.
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