Evaluating Usability and Accessibility of Visual Programming Tools for Novice Programmers—The Case of App Inventor, Scratch, and StarLogo

Abstract

The current state of the labor market requires modern engineers to acquire programming skills at different levels of advancement and to apply them in multidisciplinary environments. Not all modern engineers will become fully fledged programmers, but sometimes the possibility to use low-code programming environments like LabView or MIT App Inventor will be sufficient. In order to give good foundations for adulthood, schools use elements of visual programming, e.g., Scratch or StarLogo, to enhance the critical and algorithmic thinking of future engineers. This article attempts to answer the question of whether anyone cares about following general accessibility and usability guidelines in the case of solutions like Scratch, App Inventor, and StarLogo. Another goal is to show a set of tools that is successful in such an assessment. The authors used Nielsen’s heuristics, followed by analyzing WAVE output and Web Content Accessibility Guidelines compliance. Especially, the last one provides insights usually omitted when evaluating low-code environments. It was found that Scratch and App Inventor are leading solutions in terms of look and feel, functionality, documentation, interface navigation, and memorization. The StarLogo interface, on the other hand, is less friendly in terms of aesthetics and functionality.

Keywords

• visual programming
• accessibility assessment
• App Inventor
• Scratch
• StarLogo