Assistive technologies remain important in supporting student learning in both in-person laboratories and the online laboratory environment. In this article, we describe an adaptation of a smartphone technology called the Color Blind Pal app to aid students in complementing online laboratory assignments in a general chemistry course. The app was…

This work describes a simple talking calorimeter for the visually impaired based on the Arduino Uno without any shield. An electronic interface was designed using a Wheatstone bridge, a thermistor, or an operational amplifier (opamp). The temperature values are communicated by a loudspeaker connected to pulse-width modulation (PWM) digital output…

Introduction: The emerging technology of three-dimensional (3D) printing has the potential to provide unique 3D modeling to support specific content in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education, particularly chemistry. Method: Seventeen (n=17) students with visual impairments were provided direct instruction on chemistry…

An Android-based application has been developed to provide color-blind and visually impaired students a multisensory perception of color change observed in a titration. The application records and converts the color information into beep sounds and vibration pulses, which are generated by the smartphone. It uses a range threshold of hue and…

Various tactile methods, such as Braille, have been employed to enhance the recognition ability of chemical structures by individuals with visual disabilities. However, it is unknown whether reading aloud the names of chemical compounds would be effective in this regard. There are no systems currently available using an audio component to assist…

The hands-on laboratory experiments are frequently what spark students' interest in science. Students who are blind or have low vision (BLV) typically do not get the same experience while participating in hands-on activities due to accessibility. Over the course of approximately nine months, common chemistry laboratory experiments were adapted and…

To determine whether a suite of audible adaptive technologies would increase the hands-on participation of high school students with blindness or low vision in chemistry and physics courses, data were examined from a multi-year field study conducted with students in mainstream classrooms at secondary schools across the United States. The students…

Two summer schools focused on practical chemistry, one involving secondary school students and one involving visually impaired adults (i.e., not involving undergraduates) have produced students that appeared to be on the way to achieving the basic criteria set out by Buckley and Kempa (1971) in terms of practical skills. These criteria being that…

Students with blindness or low vision are often discouraged from full participation in laboratory science classes due to the inadequacy of current methodological approaches and the lack of sophisticated adaptive technologies. Consequently, these students rarely go on to pursue advanced studies and employment in the sciences. In response to his own…