A informática como uma ferramenta de apoio a inclusão do deficiente visual

An inclusive environment has its foundations in the belief that all people are entitled to participate, to live as normal a life as possible, without discrimination, especially in education. This is to ensure equal opportunities. For individuals with special needs, the use of computers and digital materials is not an alternative, but one of the only forms of access to information. For the visually impaired, they start from the beginning to enter the university, through the selection processes, not always accessible. For those who can, other difficulties arise, undermining the initial enthusiasm and generating a large rate of dropouts. In most cases, these students will depend on the goodwill of colleagues and volunteers for the reading of texts in the basic literature of the disciplines studied. The high cost of technology assisted allied to a lack of resources and knowledge of curricular adaptations, prevents many teachers help these students in an appropriate manner. This thesis seeks to contribute to the inclusion of the visually impaired student pointing alternatives that can help in caring education. The research was conducted specifically for the doctorate during the period 2001 to 2006, the cities of Natal, Salvador and Curitiba, and is based mainly on the methodology of action research. The objective was the construction of Virtual Teaching Support Center , structured in a Web portal that can serve as a resource to help support teachers, staff and other users concerned with the process of inclusion of people with needs special education, with the goal of assimilation of educational opportunities, with the support of resources and methods. The inclusion is for everyone because we are all different

Recomendações para um sistema de sinalização tátil a partir de abordagens ergonômicas e da percepção do deficiente visual para o Campus Parnamirim do IFRN

This study reports recommendations for a tactile and graphic wayfinding system aiming to offer more orientability and mobility for visually impaired people (blindness and low vision) at Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN), Parnamirim Campus. It was necessary to focus on visual impaired people and approach concepts like orientation and accessibility at the built environment. In order to provide the comprehension of a complex social phenomenon and preserve the meaningful characteristics of the events, this research has developed a single case study in which elements of Post Occupation Evaluation have been used. Its purpose was to allow not only a technical analysis, but also the user perception about the space in use. The chosen tool to collect the user’s opinions and considerations was the Walk Together Method. The collected and analyzed information has demonstrated that, although Parnamirim Campus has implemented some interventions in relation to the spatial accessibility, they are still not enough to create an environment which arranges safety and autonomy for the visual impaired people and the other ones who attend there. This study suggests that it happened because the engineering interventions at the Campus have been based on Brazilian technical standards NBR 9050:2004, which is proper for the physical impaired people, but it does not offer enough information to respond to all the specific needs demanded by all the classifications of visual impairment.

Recomendações para um sistema de sinalização tátil a partir de abordagens ergonômicas e da percepção do deficiente visual para o Campus Parnamirim do IFRN

This study reports recommendations for a tactile and graphic wayfinding system aiming to offer more orientability and mobility for visually impaired people (blindness and low vision) at Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Rio Grande do Norte (IFRN), Parnamirim Campus. It was necessary to focus on visual impaired people and approach concepts like orientation and accessibility at the built environment. In order to provide the comprehension of a complex social phenomenon and preserve the meaningful characteristics of the events, this research has developed a single case study in which elements of Post Occupation Evaluation have been used. Its purpose was to allow not only a technical analysis, but also the user perception about the space in use. The chosen tool to collect the user’s opinions and considerations was the Walk Together Method. The collected and analyzed information has demonstrated that, although Parnamirim Campus has implemented some interventions in relation to the spatial accessibility, they are still not enough to create an environment which arranges safety and autonomy for the visual impaired people and the other ones who attend there. This study suggests that it happened because the engineering interventions at the Campus have been based on Brazilian technical standards NBR 9050:2004, which is proper for the physical impaired people, but it does not offer enough information to respond to all the specific needs demanded by all the classifications of visual impairment.