We conducted several formative studies to better understand how blind people currently access and accommodate inaccessible interfaces. We first went to the home of a blind person, and observed how she cooked a meal and used home appliances. We also conducted semi-structured interviews with six blind people (aged 34-73) about their appliances use and strategies for using inaccessible appliances. Using a Wizard-of-Oz approach, we asked participants to hold a phone with one hand and move their finger around a microwave control panel. We observed via video chat and read aloud what button was underneath their finger.

We extracted the following key insights, which we used in the design of VizLens:

• Participants felt that interfaces were becoming even less accessible, especially as touchpads replace physical buttons. However, participants did not generally have problems locating the control area of the appliances, but have problems with finding the specific buttons contained within it.
• Participants often resorted to asking for help, such as a friend or stranger: frequently seeking help created a perceived social burden. Furthermore, participants worried that someone may not be available when they are most needed. Thus, it is important to find alternate solutions that can increase the independence of the visually impaired people in their daily lives.
• Labeling interfaces with Braille seems a straightforward solution but means only environments that have been augmented are accessible. Furthermore, fewer than 10 percent blind people in the United States read Braille.
• Participants found it difficult to aim the phone's camera at the control panel correctly. In an actual system, such difficulty might result in loss of tracking, thus interrupting the tasks and potentially causing confusion and frustration.
• Providing feedback with the right details, at the right time and frequency is crucial. For example, participants found it confusing when there was no feedback when their finger was outside of the control panel, or not pointing at a particular button. However, inserting feedback in these situations brings up several design challenges, e.g., the granularity and frequency of feedback.