Usability issues for smartphone users with special needs — Autism

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a cognitive disorder caused due to abnormal functioning of brain impacting development activities. Over the time different techniques and methods have been in practice to teach and communicate with people suffering from ASD. With the rapid advancement in the field of smart phone technology researchers have come up with creative ideas to aid others. Usability of smart phone applications for disabled people gains great attention of modern researchers. This paper focuses on the usability issues of smart phone applications designed for people suffering from ASD. Comparative analysis of android and iPhone applications for autism has been presented in the paper. Usability of these applications is analyzed on the basis of a survey conducted on the ASD patients. Results gathered after survey highlight the usability issues with the apps available in the market. We present an abstract app design to overcome usability issues.