{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/110799"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/110799","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Exploring assistive transfer systems for people with visual impairments in addressing privacy and security tasks","abstract":"People with visual impairments (PVIs) often face challenges when dealing with day-to-day visual tasks such as solving visual CAPTCHAs or screening pictures before posting them on social media. What if PVIs could transfer these visual tasks to a helper to solve? We introduce assistive transfer systems, which allow PVIs to solicit just-in-time help where a willing helper directly solves the challenge on the PVIs' behalf. So how might PVIs want such a system configured? How could AI be used as a first-layer solution to automatically solve the task? If the AI is not good enough, could the PVIs transfer the task to another person, e.g., a friend or family member? From whom they would solicit help? Whether and how they would compensate for this help? In this thesis, we discuss two concrete use cases related to designing assistive transfer systems in order to answer these questions: solving task-based visual CAPTCHAs and posting pictures to social media. We implemented two proof-of-concept assistive transfer systems — WebAlly and ShareAlly — to help with these two scenarios accordingly. We used an exploratory, role-play study with 10 pairs of participants — a PVI and a friend or a family member — to evaluate one of the implemented systems WebAlly. We asked participants to use WebAlly in four different configurations that varied in the source of help (friend vs. stranger) and compensation (paid vs. volunteer). We found that PVIs liked having WebAlly as an additional option for solving visual CAPTCHAs, when other options that preserve their independence fail. In addition, many PVIs and their friends felt that using the system would bring their relationship closer. We discuss design implications for these human-AI hybrid assistive transfer systems more broadly, e.g., the importance of complementing rather than replacing PVIs’ existing workflows.","abstract_html":"People with visual impairments (PVIs) often face challenges when dealing with day-to-day visual tasks such as solving visual CAPTCHAs or screening pictures before posting them on social media. What if PVIs could transfer these visual tasks to a helper to solve? We introduce assistive transfer systems, which allow PVIs to solicit just-in-time help where a willing helper directly solves the challenge on the PVIs' behalf. So how might PVIs want such a system configured? How could AI be used as a first-layer solution to automatically solve the task? If the AI is not good enough, could the PVIs transfer the task to another person, e.g., a friend or family member? From whom they would solicit help? Whether and how they would compensate for this help? In this thesis, we discuss two concrete use cases related to designing assistive transfer systems in order to answer these questions: solving task-based visual CAPTCHAs and posting pictures to social media. We implemented two proof-of-concept assistive transfer systems — WebAlly and ShareAlly — to help with these two scenarios accordingly. We used an exploratory, role-play study with 10 pairs of participants — a PVI and a friend or a family member — to evaluate one of the implemented systems WebAlly. We asked participants to use WebAlly in four different configurations that varied in the source of help (friend vs. stranger) and compensation (paid vs. volunteer). We found that PVIs liked having WebAlly as an additional option for solving visual CAPTCHAs, when other options that preserve their independence fail. In addition, many PVIs and their friends felt that using the system would bring their relationship closer. We discuss design implications for these human-AI hybrid assistive transfer systems more broadly, e.g., the importance of complementing rather than replacing PVIs’ existing workflows.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Zhang, Zhuohao"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"M.S.","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Computer Science","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Wang, Yang"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2021,"date_issued":"2021-09-17T04:04:10Z","date_published":"2021-09-17T04:04:10Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:52Z","subjects":["Accessibility","Human-Computer Interaction","Usable Privacy and Security"],"languages":["en"],"rights":["Copyright © 2021 Zhuohao Zhang"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110799","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Wang, Yang"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Zhang, Zhuohao"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2021-09-17T04:04:10Z","2023-09-17T04:07:01Z","2021-04-23","2021-05"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text","Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Computer Science"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Accessibility","Human-Computer Interaction","Usable Privacy and Security"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright © 2021 Zhuohao Zhang"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110799"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["People with visual impairments (PVIs) often face challenges when dealing with day-to-day visual tasks such as solving visual CAPTCHAs or screening pictures before posting them on social media. What if PVIs could transfer these visual tasks to a helper to solve? We introduce assistive transfer systems, which allow PVIs to solicit just-in-time help where a willing helper directly solves the challenge on the PVIs' behalf. So how might PVIs want such a system configured? How could AI be used as a first-layer solution to automatically solve the task? If the AI is not good enough, could the PVIs transfer the task to another person, e.g., a friend or family member? From whom they would solicit help? Whether and how they would compensate for this help? In this thesis, we discuss two concrete use cases related to designing assistive transfer systems in order to answer these questions: solving task-based visual CAPTCHAs and posting pictures to social media. We implemented two proof-of-concept assistive transfer systems — WebAlly and ShareAlly — to help with these two scenarios accordingly. We used an exploratory, role-play study with 10 pairs of participants — a PVI and a friend or a family member — to evaluate one of the implemented systems WebAlly. We asked participants to use WebAlly in four different configurations that varied in the source of help (friend vs. stranger) and compensation (paid vs. volunteer). We found that PVIs liked having WebAlly as an additional option for solving visual CAPTCHAs, when other options that preserve their independence fail. In addition, many PVIs and their friends felt that using the system would bring their relationship closer. We discuss design implications for these human-AI hybrid assistive transfer systems more broadly, e.g., the importance of complementing rather than replacing PVIs’ existing workflows.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2023-05-01","The student, Zhuohao Zhang, accepted the attached license on 2021-04-20 at 16:16.","The student, Zhuohao Zhang, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2021-04-20 at 16:21.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2021-04-23 at 14:56.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #16264 on 2021-09-16 at 20:08:20","Made available in DSpace on 2021-09-17T04:04:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 ZHANG-THESIS-2021.pdf: 14272214 bytes, checksum: 8c232ee9eae0717ea61decb026f3f49d (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4210 bytes, checksum: d154b6f575f893869d7a07289a6a6d7d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2021-04-23","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 118644 Lift date: 2023-09-17T04:04:53Z Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 118644 Lift date: 2023-09-17T04:07:01Z Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Limited"]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Exploring assistive transfer systems for people with visual impairments in addressing privacy and security tasks"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Wang, Yang"],"dc:creator":["Zhang, Zhuohao"],"dc:date":["2021-09-17T04:04:10Z","2023-09-17T04:07:01Z","2021-04-23","2021-05"],"dc:description":["People with visual impairments (PVIs) often face challenges when dealing with day-to-day visual tasks such as solving visual CAPTCHAs or screening pictures before posting them on social media. What if PVIs could transfer these visual tasks to a helper to solve? We introduce assistive transfer systems, which allow PVIs to solicit just-in-time help where a willing helper directly solves the challenge on the PVIs' behalf. So how might PVIs want such a system configured? How could AI be used as a first-layer solution to automatically solve the task? If the AI is not good enough, could the PVIs transfer the task to another person, e.g., a friend or family member? From whom they would solicit help? Whether and how they would compensate for this help? In this thesis, we discuss two concrete use cases related to designing assistive transfer systems in order to answer these questions: solving task-based visual CAPTCHAs and posting pictures to social media. We implemented two proof-of-concept assistive transfer systems — WebAlly and ShareAlly — to help with these two scenarios accordingly. We used an exploratory, role-play study with 10 pairs of participants — a PVI and a friend or a family member — to evaluate one of the implemented systems WebAlly. We asked participants to use WebAlly in four different configurations that varied in the source of help (friend vs. stranger) and compensation (paid vs. volunteer). We found that PVIs liked having WebAlly as an additional option for solving visual CAPTCHAs, when other options that preserve their independence fail. In addition, many PVIs and their friends felt that using the system would bring their relationship closer. We discuss design implications for these human-AI hybrid assistive transfer systems more broadly, e.g., the importance of complementing rather than replacing PVIs’ existing workflows.","Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2023-05-01","The student, Zhuohao Zhang, accepted the attached license on 2021-04-20 at 16:16.","The student, Zhuohao Zhang, submitted this Thesis for approval on 2021-04-20 at 16:21.","This Thesis was approved for publication on 2021-04-23 at 14:56.","DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #16264 on 2021-09-16 at 20:08:20","Made available in DSpace on 2021-09-17T04:04:10Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 ZHANG-THESIS-2021.pdf: 14272214 bytes, checksum: 8c232ee9eae0717ea61decb026f3f49d (MD5) LICENSE.txt: 4210 bytes, checksum: d154b6f575f893869d7a07289a6a6d7d (MD5) Previous issue date: 2021-04-23","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 118644 Lift date: 2023-09-17T04:04:53Z Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Embargo set by: Seth Robbins for item 118644 Lift date: 2023-09-17T04:07:01Z Reason: Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Author requested closed access (OA after 2yrs) in Vireo ETD system","Limited"],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110799"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:rights":["Copyright © 2021 Zhuohao Zhang"],"dc:subject":["Accessibility","Human-Computer Interaction","Usable Privacy and Security"],"dc:title":["Exploring assistive transfer systems for people with visual impairments in addressing privacy and security tasks"],"dc:type":["text","Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Computer Science"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:24:52Z"}