In a world driven by data visualization, ensuring the inclusive accessibility of charts for Blind and Visually Impaired (BVI) individuals remains a significant challenge. Charts are usually presented as raster graphics without textual and visual metadata needed for an equivalent exploration experience for BVI people. Additionally, converting these charts into accessible formats requires considerable effort from sighted individuals. Digitizing charts with metadata extraction is just one aspect of the issue; transforming it into accessible modalities, such as tactile graphics, presents another difficulty. To address these disparities, we propose Chart4Blind, an intelligent user interface that converts bitmap image representations of line charts into universally accessible formats. Chart4Blind achieves this transformation by generating Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG), Comma-Separated Values (CSV), and alternative text exports, all comply with established accessibility standards. Through interviews and a formal user study, we demonstrate that even inexperienced sighted users can make charts accessible in an average of 4 minutes using Chart4Blind, achieving a System Usability Scale rating of 90%. In comparison to existing approaches, Chart4Blind provides a comprehensive solution, generating end-to-end accessible SVGs suitable for assistive technologies such as embossed prints (papers and laser cut), 2D tactile displays, and screen readers. For additional information, including open-source codes and demos, please visit our project page https://moured.github.io/chart4blind/.

翻译：在数据可视化驱动的世界中，确保盲人和视障人士能够平等获取图表信息仍是一项重大挑战。图表通常以栅格图像形式呈现，缺乏盲人及视障人士实现同等探索体验所需的文本与视觉元数据。此外，将这些图表转换为无障碍格式需要明眼人付出大量努力。对含元数据的图表进行数字化仅是问题的一方面——将其转换为触觉图形等无障碍模态则构成另一重困难。为应对这些差异，我们提出Chart4Blind——一个将折线图位图表示转换为通用无障碍格式的智能用户界面。Chart4Blind通过生成符合既定无障碍标准的可缩放矢量图形、逗号分隔值和替代文本导出文件来实现转换。通过访谈和正式用户研究，我们证明即使是没有经验的明眼用户，使用Chart4Blind平均只需4分钟即可完成图表无障碍化，系统可用性量表评分达90%。与现有方案相比，Chart4Blind提供了全面解决方案，可生成适合浮雕印刷品（纸张与激光切割）、2D触觉显示屏及屏幕阅读器等辅助技术的端到端无障碍SVG。更多信息（含开源代码与演示）请访问项目页面https://moured.github.io/chart4blind/。