Abstract
With the development of computer technology, the ability to type gradually has become an important skill in this generation, and it also provides the blind a new access to interact with others. Although the blind can type in Chinese with sound-decoded input method like Zhu Yin, they experience great difficulty in selecting the correct characters and words of the same pronunciation. Consequently, their overall learning, interpersonal interaction, and career development suffer from frequent typos, leaving them even more difficult to integrate into the society. Therefore, this study aimed to solve the problem with a new learning model. First, the participants learned the category of Chinese character structure with the tactile pictogram designed in this study and voice feedback from the screen reader. Then, the characters’ meaning and their association with Boshiamy code were interpreted in the instructions in order to help them memorize the decoding. Furthermore, the concept of strokes was explained by the examples of Chinese components with less than five strokes. Besides, the assistive mechanisms such as the available distant-communication access and instant assistance from the accompanier were designed for solving problems encountered by the participants during the experiments. To examine their performance, the dependent variables included the number of typos, typing accuracy, and the speed at which the subjects type the characters. In the second phase, we further tracked the performance of two chosen children with the regulation of Techficiency Quotient Certification (TQC) entry level and a component writing test.Based on the statistical analysis and questionnaire results, the participants’ accuracy and their confidence in typing Chinese characters improved. Moreover, the study revealed that the adult participants experienced limited progression due to problems adapting to the system whereas, conversely, the accuracy rate of the children was significantly enhanced. The result showed that both subjects’ typing accuracy and speed of Boshiamy were greatly improved and even surpassed those of their original methods after four months from the intensive instruction. To conclude, under the learning model, the participants not only established fundamental Chinese recognition but also enhanced efficiency, efficacy and satisfaction on typing task.