Many of the volunteer tested lamented that in most instances
within this set of field tests they were not easily allowed to try the total
experience of finding, selecting, downloading, transferring, and reading
digital audio content on these devices and systems. The logistics of circulating so few devices
to many volunteer testers in a relatively short period of time necessitated
that most of the devices be sent with content preloaded, batteries installed
and ready to charge, etc. Asking the
volunteers to start from scratch and install transfer software on their
computers would have been difficult to accomplish, and it would have greatly
increased the risk that users would experience general computing problems and
unwanted conditions on their principal computers. In
the real world of accessible digital audio books, however, the accessibility
issues related to finding, selecting, downloading, and transferring content are
as important as the accessibility issues during playback.
The distinction
made between services and devices in the body of this report should not be
interpreted as hard and absolute. In
most instances an ongoing user of any portable playback device also must
interact with one or more content services.
Ongoing users must download the content and perhaps transfer it to the
portable playback device of their choice.
One goal of this field test was to get a better sense of the
processes, costs, and value to the end-user of having content that has been
marked up in the DAISY format. Marking up digital audio books in the DAISY
format is one way to achieve accessible nonlinear navigation through digital
books. Accessible nonlinear navigation
clearly is a highly valued functionality among this group of volunteer
testers. Unfortunately,
throughout the year the project team was not able to make much progress in
understanding the costs and benefits of DAISY content.
Here are one tester’s thoughts and recommendations about the
future of DAISY: “I believe that any
final implementation of the daisy standard must be hardware and software
platform independant.
It is unlikely that NLS will use CDroms as
Daisy book distribution media because they are easy to damage. I think some sort of download system will
provide the best option for most users.
For those without internet access i believe a
solid state flash or other memory cartridge system will be the answer.”
Some respondents
said nonlinear navigation would be good for instructional or work-related reading,
but not essential for pleasure reading.
“I usually read a book straight through from beginning to end. However
when doing research, it would be easier to navigate chapter by chapter or
heading by heading.”
Other volunteers,
however, want nonlinear navigation for all types of books and reading
situations.
Many users reported
that the value of nonlinear navigation depended on the nature of the book being
read. For a standard novel, the value of
nonlinear navigation is low. For a nonfiction
work, the value of nonlinear navigation can be high, especially if the book is
being read for school or work-related purposes.
Nonlinear
navigation also is very useful when interacting with reference books of all
types, including cookbooks.
“In moving from one
story to another or one essay to another that are stored in the same file,
nonlinear navigation is very important. Hopefully by now Book Courier's table
of contents function is included. I also wish pages were numbered and there was
a feature to go to a specific page.”
“It is important
for me to jump to various chapters and pages of books, and it is especially
important to mark books so that I can resume reading without going around Robin
Hood's barn to find the last place where I was reading.”
For decades print-impaired users have
appreciated and used (whenever possible) the ability to vary the speed of the
playback of digital audio books.
Most users want to speed up the playback to faster than normal
speed. One potential benefit of the
transition from analog to digital audio books is the ability to speedup
playback without experiencing the chipmunk effect. Unfortunately, many of the devices field
tested in this study—especially the devices designed for the general consumer
market—did not provide variable speed playback.
Most volunteers
preferred either internal speakers or external speakers to either headphones or
ear buds. Issues of comfort, sound quality,
and overall portability are involved.
Many users reported that they would prefer not having to use
ear buds. During extended listening
sessions they can become annoying. Also,
most makes and models of ear buds are designed so that one size purportedly
fits all. This often means that they
don’t fit anyone really well.
For the portable playback devices tested during this study,
the design of the buttons may be the most important aspect of accessibility of
the overall design of these playback devices.
The portability of the devices tested was very important to
the volunteers. Portability involves
more than size and weight. A built-in
handle can enhance the portability of a device, as well as a build-in speaker, because
then the user does not need to worry about headphones or earbuds
and the associated cords. The shape and
surface of the device also can affect one’s overall sense of its
portability.
“Any device made for use by visually impared
persons should not be slippery or made without handels unless it is a desktop model. I had to use
this one as though it were made for the desktop.”
Actually, sound quality is notable as a non-issue during
these tests. Although many testers
noticed little flaws and shortcomings in the sound quality of the devices and
services they tested, most of them generally were satisfied to mildly impressed with the sound quality of these digital audio
books.
Most of the volunteer testers expressed an interest in
receiving audible clues when a button is pressed or a function is invoked in
some way. The audible clue could be a
beep, another noise, or a prerecorded or synthetic voice. However, many volunteers expressed the desire
to be able to establish personal preferences concerning when an audible clue is
triggered.
Providing keystroke alternatives to at least the
essential—if not all—commands related to finding, checking out or purchasing
(if necessary), downloading, transferring, and playing back digital audio
books.
Some of the
volunteers want only narrated digital audio books, while others are willing to
try the systems that perform artificial text-to-speech.
Some of the volunteers
who tried one of the devices or systems capable of producing text-to-speech
reported that they missed the natural inflection of a narrated audiobook. Much TTS
software appears to be at least minimally acceptable and accessible, and is
highly dependent on personal preferences.
Generally, male TTS voices tended to be preferred to female TTS
voices.
Many of the devices and systems offered online user guides,
usually in HTML format. Whenever we knew
that such a guide existed, we brought that to the attention of the
volunteers. Nevertheless, there seemed
to be demand for and value in developing shorter tip sheets, based on real use, that explained how to become oriented toward the device
or system. Offering audiorecordings
of these tips sheets proved to be useful, too.
“Without the "tip sheet" provided by a MIDTB
volunteer, the manual found on the manufacturere's
web site would be nearly useless to a blind user. This users manual referrs to the LED and to visual labels which are not
discernable tactally.”
Both devices designed for the general consumer market and
devices purportedly designed for use specifically for the visually impaired
were included in this study. No attempt
was made to distinguish between the two when volunteers were deciding which
devices they wished to try.
As expected the
devices and systems specifically designed to be accessible to the
print-impaired were more accessible in general than systems designed for the
general consumer market, but one has to wonder if the cost-benefit ratio of
these specially designed systems makes them the compelling choice. They tend to be much more expensive than similar
general consumer devices. Both categories
of devices would benefit from further design work in certain essential areas,
such as buttons and audible clues.
Many of the volunteers in this study indicated that one
motivation for participating was so that they could engage in extended testing
of a variety of devices before making a purchase decision, which they already
were contemplating before volunteering for this study. The purchasing potential of this large and
growing segment of the general population should not be underestimated.
” I would like to
investigate more portable digital devices and then plan to make a purchase in
the future.”
“I liked the MuVo so much that I subscribed to Audible and received the
device in the mail”
“I appreciate the
opportunity to review these digital reading devices and intend to buy one this
year.”
The field tests undertaken as part of this study already
have produced several tangible outcomes and encouraging new directions in the
digital audio book marketplace.
·
The Unabridged downloadable digital audio book
service (http://www.unabridged.info/)
chose OverDrive for its platform and content. Unabridged currently is available to
print-impaired individuals in five states:
·
More mainstream services and devices for the
general consumer market, such as the new Playaway
self-contained device, are offering variable speed playback as a functionality. This
functionality was first appreciated and used heavily by print-impaired
users.
·
Some talking book centers and libraries for the
blind and visually impaired have begun subscribing to one or more of the
services tested. For example, the
talking book centers in
·
Other vendors, software development teams, and
device manufacturers have contacted to project team, expressing their interest
in making their digital audio book systems more accessible to, and generally
usable by, everyone.
·
The project team plans to continue field testing
additional devices and services. In
particular, field tests of the forthcoming Playaway
self-contained portable digital audio book playback device will begin in
mid-November and run through March 2006.
Also, more extending testing of the BookShare
service will begin later in 2005 and continue for several months. Final reports on these field tests will be
released later in 2006.
Nearly all of the MIDTB volunteers were anxious to learn
more about and try the national digital audio book service from the National
Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, scheduled to launch
in 2008. One volunteer succinctly stated
the winning combination of a good playback device and a high-quality, large
collection of spoken word content, “If a
small & portable version of the Library of Congress' tape player
machine were available, it would be my first choice as of now. Of course, the
portable CD player that was described in the volunteer program,
would be just as desireable as long as the books were
available on CD from a source such as the NLS.”
The total industry—both general consumer and adaptive
technology firms--that manufactures and distributes portable devices capable of
playing digital audio books is large, diverse, evolving, and growing. This 12-month field test of a handful of
portable audio playback devices provided a snapshot assessment. Like many projects, this project lacked
sufficient funding to field test all of the devices we would have liked, such
as the Apple iPod and the Plextalk
MIDTB Satisfaction Survey
Thank you for trying one of the digital talking
book systems being tested as part of the Mid-Illinois Digital Talking Book
(MIDTB) Project (http://www.midtb.org). Please take a few minutes to tell us what you
liked and disliked about your experiences with the particular DTB system you
recently tried. The questions below are
grouped into categories: hardware,
software, power source, and content.
Please answer only those questions that pertain to the particular system
you tested.
When you have completed this questionnaire, please
return it to:
Tom Peters
Email: tpeters@tapinformation.com
1.
Please put an X in front of or behind the particular system you tried
(each line lists one of the available devices or systems):
Audio Navigator
Bookshare
Digisette Duo
MuVo
Soul Player
Telex Scholar
Tumble Readables (large
print ebooks)
Tumble
Talking Books
Victor Vibe
Victor Classic Plus
Other (Please specify):
2.
Overall, how would you describe your experience with this particular
system?
Very Satisfactory
Somewhat Satisfactory
Neither Satisfactory nor Unsatisfactory
Somewhat Unsatisfactory
Very Unsatisfactory
About
the Hardware
3.
What is the primary quality, function, or feature of the hardware device
that you would like to have changed or improved?
4.
What was the most disappointing or annoying quality, function, or
feature of the hardware device you tried?
5.
What aspect of the hardware device did you like the most?
About
the Software
6.
What aspect of the software did you like the most?
7.
What was the most disappointing or annoying quality, function, or
feature of the software you tried?
8.
What is the primary quality, function, or feature of the software that
you would like to have changed?
About
the Power Source
9.
If you used a device that contained replaceable batteries or a battery
pack, and if you had to replace the batteries, please describe your experience.
10.
If you used a device that had rechargeable batteries and you recharged
the device, please describe your experience.
About
the Content
11.
If you used a system that provided narrated content, how would you
describe the overall quality of the narrated voice?
12.
If you used a system that utilized text-to-speech, which voice did you
use?
13.
If you used a system that utilized text-to-speech, what did you like
about the TTS engine?
14.
How important for you is non-linear navigation through a book? For example, do you review the table of
contents then jump to the chapter of particular interest? Describe situations and types of books where
non-linear navigation is particularly helpful for you.
15.
Any other comments or suggestions?
16.
Your Name (optional):
(Please Note: None of the information
you provide in your responses to these questions will be attributed to you
directly in any reports or other communication emanating from this study.)
Thank you for completing this questionnaire. Please return it to:
Tom Peters
Email:
tpeters@tapinformation.com