EDUCATION PRACTICE AND INNOVATION ISSN(Print): 2372-3092 ISSN(Online): 2372-3106 VOLUME 1, NUMBER 2, JUNE 2014 EDUCATION PRACTICE AND INNOVATION Autism and the Need for Special User Interface Design for Web Surfacing Sri Devi Ravana*, Niesha Gurusamy, Kasturi Dewi Varathan Department of Information Systems, University of Malaya *Corresponding author: sdevi@um.edu.my Abstract: In view of distinctive information needs and skills among users, we ought to evaluate if existing information retrieval systems are competent to cater for these users. The present study highlights the feasibility of search engine for children with special needs, specifically children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The objective of this study is to investigate the utilization of a search engine for the purpose of learning and entertainment of children with ASD. The shortcomings of the existing commercial search engines in terms of accommodating the needs of these children will be discussed. Finally, based on the survey analysis from the mediators, important criteria of a search engine user interface design for children with ASD were proposed. Keywords: User Interface Design; Web Surfacing; Information Retrieval; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Human Computer Interaction 1. Introduction Web searching is a day-to-day process that is carried out by many individuals with various different tools. Children are not left behind from this process, as technology and the Internet has become part and parcel of their life; information seeking and Web searching has become an important daily activity either to retrieve useful information, for entertainment or simply as a learning tool. The search engines that are on the Web today have adults as their preferred users. The developers of new technologies on the Web appear to have forgotten that the needs of children are entirely different compared to adults (at least in terms of human computer interaction). Even if there exists such search engines designed for children, these search engines are mostly developed based on children without any learning impairment. For these children, obtaining information using search engines would not contribute much of a challenge comparatively to a child with learning challenges. However, if we ought to provide this same tool to a child with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), there would be many questions arising, such as: (i) is it feasible for children with ASD to successfully complete a Web search using these existing search engines? (ii) how competent are these search engines or tools for an autistic child? (iii) can the child independently use the search engine with minimal guidance from a mediator, and (iv) what are the contributions of these search engines in the lives of an autistic child, as an entertainment or learning tool? Past research work had proven that autism affects information processing in the child’s brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and are organized [1]. Their understanding capabilities and 93