Between the Camera and the Crowd: Designing AI and Human Support Systems for Blind and Low Vision Visual Content Creators

Sammanfattning

This thesis investigates how blind and low vision (BLV) creators produce visual content on mainstream social platforms. Although BLV individuals are increasingly engaging in photography and video creation, this process often relies on tools and workflows that were not designed with their needs in mind. In practice, BLV creators draw on both AI-based visual assistance and human support to plan, capture, and evaluate visual content. This study examines how these forms of support are currently used and how they can be better combined in ways that support creators’ autonomy and control. Using a Research through Design approach, the project draws on interviews with BLV content creators in China, analysis of existing assistive tools, and the design and testing of a prototype system. The thesis contributes an empirical account of BLV visual content creation as a sociotechnical practice and proposes preliminary design principles for hybrid support systems that combine AI assistance with human collaboration.