Behaviors, Problems and Strategies of Visually Impaired Persons During Meal Preparation in the Indian Context : Challenges and Opportunities for Design

Meal preparation is a complex multisensorial task that requires many decisions to be made based on the appearance of the dish. This alienates individuals with low vision and makes cooking meals independently inaccessible. Products designed for individuals with low vision rarely aid with tasks that involve application of heat. As people with vision impairments have different requirements for technology, it is imperative that the behaviours and problems faced are thoroughly understood. A study to understand how users perform tasks involving heat application was conducted. Four cooking techniques commonly used to prepare Indian dishes were identified and interviews were carried out with a diverse group of visually impaired persons (n=12). The findings include insights about behaviours, problems and strategies employed by visually impaired persons while preparing meals using the following techniques: Boiling, Simmering, Roasting, and Frying. This work describes factors that affect behaviour during meal preparation by Indian visually impaired persons, and the various strategies used to mitigate challenges faced. The findings have been used to propose a set of considerations that have implications on the design of accessibility tools such as assistive devices, rehabilitation programs and strategies.