New Testing Method for the Dyslexic and the
Newly Blind with a Digital Audio Player andDocument Structure Diagrams
Mamoru Fujiyoshi1 , Akio Fujiyoshi2 , and Toshiaki Aomatsu3
1National Center for University Entrance Examinations
2-19-23 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo, 153-8501 Japanfujiyosi@rd.dnc.ac.jp
2
Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Ibaraki University
4-12-1 Nakanarusawa, Hitachi, Ibaraki, 316-8511 Japanfujiyosi@mx.ibaraki.ac.jp
3
National School for the Blind of Tsukuba University
1-2 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8564 Japanaomatsu@nsfb.tsukuba.ac.jp

Abstract. A new testing method with a digital audio player and document structure diagrams is developed for the dyslexic and the newly
blind, who have diﬃculties with reading in braille or print. Since documents in the National Center Test for University Admissions are very
long and have very complicated document structure, ordinary auditory
testing media such as human reader or audio cassette are not appropriate. The new testing method can be administrated only with a digitalaudio player with 2-dimensional code reader and sheets of paper on whichdocument structure diagrams and corresponding invisible 2-dimensional
codes are printed.
Keywords: university admissions, testing method, the newly blind, thedyslexic, auditory testing media.

1Introduction

It is almost impossible for the dyslexic and the newly blind, who have diﬃculties
with reading in braille or print, to take the National Center Test for University
Admissions. The National Center Test is the joint achievement test for admissions into all national and local public universities as well as many private universities in Japan. Every year, about 550,000 students take the National Center
Test. As for test-takers with disabilities, special arrangements regarding testing
media such as large-print-format test and braille-format test have been administered [6]. However, auditory testing media have not been available yet. Moreover,
it is considered to be diﬃcult to take the National Center Test with ordinary types
of auditory testing media because the documents are very long and the document
structure very complicated. This study introduces a new testing method for thedyslexic and the newly blind with a new auditory testing medium.
K. Miesenberger et al. (Eds.): ICCHP 2010, Part I, LNCS 6179, pp. 116–123, 2010.
c Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010New Testing Method for the Dyslexic and the Newly Blind117

In most advanced countries, auditory testing media such as human readers[4], audio cassettes [2,8,9] or computers with a screen reader [1] are available
for test-takers with disabilities. The simplest method is to recruit readers andhave them read out a test booklet to a test-taker directly, but it is not easy toﬁnd enough well-trained readers for each test-taker. And for fairness and security
reason, it might be necessary to supervise such readers by another person. Audiocassettes make it easy for test-takers to listen to the test sequentially, but it isinconvenient to go directly to a particular section of the test unless rewinding
and fast-forwarding can be done easily. Computers are also inappropriate fortests written in Japanese even with an advanced screen reader because of theambiguity of reading Kanji in Japanese sentences. A screen reader often fails toconvert Japanese sentences into correct Japanese speech.
For auditory testing media for the National Center Test, the utilization ofDAISY (Digital Audio Accessible Information System) and Tablet PC has beenstudied [5]. DAISY [3] is a world standard audio system for people with visualdisabilities, taking the place of audio cassettes. DAISY oﬀers speech sound in
CD quality, and test-takers can listen to the document from any point, such as
from an underlined or blank part, without delay. They can also use the talkspeed-control function, by which the speech sound can be adjusted from 1/2
to 3 times normal speed. However, DAISY is not convenient enough for tests
which have complicated document structure. Tablet PC has been identiﬁed as
appropriate testing media [5]. However, there are diﬃculties in administration
because prevention of machine trouble cannot be ensured.
A new testing method with a digital audio player and document structure
diagrams is developed. In Fig. 1, an image of administration of the new testing
method is shown. Tests can be administrated only with a digital audio player
with 2-dimensional code reader and sheets of paper on which document structure
diagrams and corresponding invisible 2-dimensional code have been printed. For
the dyslexic, the document structure diagrams are printed with ordinary characters, while, for the newly blind, they are printed with braille characters.

2New Testing Method

A new testing method that can be administrated only with a digital audio playerand sheets of document structure diagrams is developed. The introduction ofinvisible 2-dimensional codes and a digital audio player with 2-dimensional code
reader enable us to develop the method.
2.1

Document Structure Diagrams

Document structure diagrams are sheets of paper on which the document structure of each problem is illustrated. The document structure and corresponding
invisible 2-dimensional codes are printed on white paper by an LED printer(OKI Data Corporation). For the newly blind, the braille document structureis also embossed overlappingly by a braille printer (ESA721; JTR Corporation).

118

M. Fujiyoshi, A. Fujiyoshi, and T. Aomatsu

Fig. 1. An image of administration of the new testing method

Fig. 2. An example of the document structure diagram printed on a paper

Fig. 2 is an example of a document structure diagram. Each document structure
diagram of a problem can be arranged within a sheet of paper.
On the same paper of a document structure diagram, invisible 2-dimensional
codes can be printed overlappingly. For an evaluation experiment, we employ‘GridOnput’, an invisible 2-dimensional code system developed by Gridmark
Solutions Co.,Ltd. Fig. 3 is an image of dot pattern of GridOnput. Dots arearranged at intervals of about 0.25mm. The size of a code is about 2mm square.

New Testing Method for the Dyslexic and the Newly Blind119Fig. 3. An image of dot pattern of GridOnputFig. 4. Speaking Pen (Gridmark Solutions Co.,Ltd.)

2.2

Digital Audio Player with 2-Dimensional Code Reader

As a reading device for the new testing method, we employ ‘Speaking Pen’developed by Gridmark Solutions Co.,Ltd. Fig. 4 is a picture of Speaking Pen.
Speaking Pen has a 2-dimensional code reader at its top. When a 2-dimensional
code is scanned with Speaking Pen, the corresponding digital sound will bereproduced. We can listen to the sound through a headphone or built-in speaker.
The sound volume can be adjusted with its buttons mounted at the front side.
The sound data is stored in an SD memory card. 1G byte is enough to store allsound data of 1-year amount of the National Center Test.

120

3M. Fujiyoshi, A. Fujiyoshi, and T. Aomatsu

Evaluation Experiment

In order to evaluate the new testing method, an experiment was conducted bycomparing new audio tests with three diﬀerent speaking speeds and a normalprint-format or braille-format test. For experimental subjects, non-disabled highschool students and blind high-school students were recruited.
3.1Method

The experimental design was a repeated 4x4 Graeco-Latin square method because we could not use the same problem in diﬀerent testing media for thesame person. The image of the experimental design for the Graeco-Latin square
method is shown on Table 1. The non-disabled subjects are 20 students fromordinary high schools. The blind subjects are 16 students from a high schoolfor the blind (some are graduates of the same school), who are familiar withboth braille and audio learning materials. There were 4 subject groups, i.e.,the subjects were evenly divided into 4 subgroups. There were 4 testing media:
normal-print-format test (for the non-disabled subjects) or braille-format test(for the blind subjects), audio test of normal (1.0×) speaking speed, audio testof 1.5× speaking speed, and audio test of 2.0× speaking speed.
Four problems were prepared from tests in ‘Contemporary Social Studies’ previously used in the National Center Test. The allotment of number of charactersand number of braille cells are shown on Table 2.

Table 1. Image of the experimental design for the Graeco-Latin square method
Subect Groups
Group 1Group 2Group 3Group 4
Print/Braille Audio 1.0× Audio 1.5× Audio 2.0×1stProblem 1 Problem 3 Problem 4 Problem 2
Audio 1.0× Print/Braille Audio 2.0× Audio 1.5×2ndProblem 2 Problem 4 Problem 3 Problem 1
Audio 1.5× Audio 2.0× Print/Braille Audio 1.0×3rdProblem 3 Problem 1 Problem 2 Problem 4
Audio 2.0× Audio 1.5× Audio 1.0× Print/Braille4thProblem 4 Problem 2 Problem 1 Problem 3

Table 2. Allotment of number of characters and number of braille cells
Problem 1Problem 2Problem 3Problem 4Total

Characters Braille2,255
4,866
2,000
4,543
1,796
3,996
2,410
5,247
8,461
26,190New Testing Method for the Dyslexic and the Newly Blind

121

Print×2.0
Audio×1.0
Audio×1.5

Audio0

123

45

45

Non-disabled subjects

Audio

×1.0

Braille×2.0
Audio×1.5
Audio012

3Blind subjects

Fig. 5. Distributions of score (marks)

The test procedure is administered without time limits. The behavior of blind
subjects was observed by test monitors, and the answer-process time of blind
subjects was recorded by the monitors using stop watches.
3.2ResultThe distributions of score of the four testing media were almost same for both
non-disabled subjects and blind subjects. In Fig. 5, the box-and-whiskers plots of
distribution of score of the four testing media are shown. The vertical lines in the
middle of the boxes indicate the median, and the ‘+’ symbols in the boxes are themean. The vertical lines on the right side of the plots are the results of Scheﬀe’sgrouping among the four testing media. For both non-disabled subjects and blindsubjects, there were no signiﬁcant diﬀerences among the four testing media.
As a result of Mann-Whitney test on the distributions of score, there were nosigniﬁcant diﬀerences between non-disabled subjects and blind subjects for eachtesting media.
There were some signiﬁcant diﬀerences concerning answering speed in Scheﬀe’sgrouping test. In Fig. 6, the box-and-whiskers plots of distributions of answering
speed of the four testing media are shown. The vertical lines on the right side of
the plots are the results of Scheﬀe’s grouping among the four testing media. For
non-disabled subjects, the answering speed of normal-print-format test is significantly faster than audio tests of all speaking speed, and the answering speed

122M. Fujiyoshi, A. Fujiyoshi, and T. Aomatsu
Print

×2.0
Audio×1.5
Audio×1.0

Audio

0250

500

Non-disabled subjects

×2.0
Audio×1.5

Audio

BrailleAudio

×1.00250

500

Blind subjects

Fig. 6. Distributions of answering speed (characters/minuites)of audio tests of 2.0× is signiﬁcantly faster than audio test of normal speaking
speed. For blind subjects, there were no signiﬁcant diﬀerences among the four
testing media.
As a result of Mann-Whitney test on the distributions of answering speed,
the answering speeds of non-disabled subjects are signiﬁcantly faster than blind
subjects except audio test of normal speaking speed.
We found that the answering speed becomes 29% faster for non-disabled subjects and 10% faster for blind subjects if audio test of 1.5× speaking speed isused comparing to normal speaking speed. If audio test of 2.0× speaking speed
is used, the answering speed becomes 41% faster for non-disabled subjects and13% faster for blind subjects.

4Conclusion

The new testing method enables the dyslexic and the newly blind to take theNational Center Test for University Admissions since the administration of thenew testing method is easy, and test-takers can handle problems with complicated document structure. We can administrate tests only with a digital audio
player with 2-dimensional code reader and sheets of paper on which document
structure diagrams and corresponding invisible 2-dimensional code have beenprinted. The use of testing materials is considerably easy. After brief training,New Testing Method for the Dyslexic and the Newly Blind123

test-takers can start reading problems at any point of their preference. Studies
about auditory explanation of ﬁgures [7] might be applied to this testing method.
If we print 2-dimensional codes on ﬁgures, we can set problems with ﬁgures.
As a result of evaluation experiment, the new audio tests are almost equivalent
to normal-print-format and braille-format tests in score. Since we can estimate
fair extension ratios of testing time for students with disabilities [6], the newaudio tests can be fairly administered.

Acknowledgement
This work was partially supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientiﬁc Research (B)(20300282) of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS).

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