FINAL REPORT
of the
Mid-Illinois Digital Talking Book Project
http://www.midtb.org/
September 26, 2005
Prepared for the Mid-Illinois
Talking Book Center
by
Tom Peters of TAP Information Services
Executive Summary
The purpose of the MIDTB (Mid-Illinois Digital Talking Book) Project, which
was conducted from August 2004 through July 2005, was to offer access to unpaid
volunteers to experience and test current hardware, software, systems and a
collection of digital books in various formats in order to improve and
accelerate access to digital information materials by print-impaired
individuals.
The project team wanted to gain real-world experience with the
technological, human factors, economic, organizational, and political
challenges of providing digital audio books to print-impaired end-users. Both
digitally recorded narrated books and text-to-speech technologies were tested,
using a variety of distribution media (e.g., CDs, content preloaded on devices,
and direct delivery of files over the Internet), as well as a variety of playback
devices. The study also attempted to explore the costs and challenges
associated with converting more e-content to DAISY format, which greatly
improves non-linear navigation through digital content.
Over one hundred individuals responded to the call for print-impaired
volunteer testers. By the conclusion of
the 12 months of field testing, sixty different individuals had tried at least
one device or system. Many of them tried
several.
A website was created for the MIDTB Project (http://www.midtb.org) containing information
about the project, the evaluation form, and information and instructions for
using the various hardware, software, and systems being field-tested in the
project. .
These field tests focused on both digital content services and portable
playback devices. Four services were
field tested:
·
BookShare
·
OverDrive (both ebooks and digital audio books)
·
netLibrary (only
their digital audio book service)
·
TumbleTalkingBooks
The portable playback devices tested during the year are listed
below. The numbers in parentheses
indicate the number of devices available for testing. A total of 26 devices were available for
testing. In addition, some volunteer
testers tried other devices that were not officially circulated as part of this
series of field tests.
·
Audio
Navigator (3)
·
Book
Courier (3)
·
·
Digisette Duo-64
(1)
·
MuVo (3)
·
PlexTalk
·
Soul
Player DMP-206b (2)
·
Telex
Scholar (4)
·
Victor
Classic Plus (1)
·
Victor
Reader Vibe (5)
Data were collected via a 16-question satisfaction survey (see Appendix
A). Also, there was much email
communication throughout the year-long field testing, from which many valuable
experiences, comments, and suggestions were gleaned.
Several key issues and opportunities surfaced repeatedly throughout this
year of field tests. They include:
·
Total
experience of finding, selecting, downloading, transferring, and reading
content: In most instances, the volunteer testers were
supplied with preloaded devices. 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.
·
DAISY:
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.
·
Nonlinear
Navigation: Highly valued by all of the volunteer testers
when using nonfiction works, including reference works. The value of nonlinear navigation for fiction
(other than poetry and short stories), however, varied widely among the
volunteers. Some saw little or no value
in nonlinear navigation while reading a novel for pleasure, but others saw some
potential value.
·
Variable
Speed Playback: Highly valued by this group of volunteer
testers. An essential functionality for
a useful digital audio book playback system.
·
Audio
Output: 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.
·
Button
Design: Perhaps the most important aspect of accessibility
of the overall design of these playback devices.
·
Portability: Very
important to the volunteers.
·
Sound
Quality: notable as a non-issue during these
field tests.
·
Audible
Clues: Most of the volunteer testers
expressed an interest in receiving audible clues, with options to set personal
preferences, when a button is pressed or a function is invoked in some
way.
·
Keystroke
Alternative: Another essential aspect of making an entire
digital audio book system, including website, download software, transfer
software, and playback hardware and software, accessible.
·
Text-to-Speech:
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.
·
Tip
Sheets: 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.
·
General
Consumer Systems versus Specially Designed Systems: 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.
·
From
Testing to Purchasing: 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.
·
Tangible
Outcomes: 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.
o 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:
o 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.
o 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
o 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.
o 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.
Major support for the MIDTB Project was provided through a Leader in
Library Technology Grant from Sirsi,
administered by the American Library Association. Partners on this year-long project were the
Mid-Illinois Talking Book Center (MITBC), the Alliance Library System, the
Illinois State Library Talking Book and Braille Service, OverDrive,
and TAP Information Services. The core
project team included Lori Bell from the
About This Report
The main body of this report is
divided into four parts:
1. In
the first part a short introduction provides basic information concerning why
and how this series of field tests was conducted.
2. The second part provides information about the four digital audio book services involved in these field tests.
3. The
third part contains sections on each portable playback device tested. Each individual section begins with a basic
description of how the device worked.
Then a “praise and positive feedback” section follows for each device,
succeeded by a “problems and suggestions” section. Most of the content in these two sections
consists either of direct quotations or paraphrases from the reported
experiences made by the volunteer testers.
Because the project team received so many satisfaction survey forms and
other types of feedback from the volunteer testers, the quotations and synopses
of responses are only a representative sample of a large data set. Please note, too, that sometimes the feedback
from one volunteer contradicts that from another. The needs, expectations, and experiences of
individual volunteer testers often varied.
Sometimes a volunteer tester may have misunderstood how a particular
feature worked. In only a few instances
the direct quotations have been enhanced by adding in brackets the complete
spelling of an acronym used in the quoted feedback.
The final section for each device and system tested attempts to provide an
overall assessment of the collective experience of the testers.
4. The
fourth and final part of the report summarizes the key issues and challenges
that emerged from this year-long series of field tests.
An appendix to this report contains
a copy of the satisfaction survey available to the MIDTB volunteers throughout
the period of field testing. It was
modified several times throughout the year as new services and devices became
available for testing.
PART ONE : INTRODUCTION
The purpose of the
MIDTB (Mid-Illinois Digital Talking Book) Project, which was conducted from August
2004 through July 2005, was to offer access to unpaid volunteers to experience
and test current hardware, software, systems and a collection of digital books
in various formats in order to improve and accelerate access to digital
information materials by print-impaired individuals.
The project team
wanted to gain real-world experience with the technological, human factors,
economic, organizational, and political challenges of providing digital audio
books to print-impaired end-users. Both digitally recorded narrated books and
text-to-speech technologies were tested, using a variety of distribution media
(e.g., CDs, content preloaded on devices, and direct delivery of files over the
Internet), as well as a variety of playback devices. The study also attempted
to explore the costs and challenges associated with converting more e-content
to DAISY format, which greatly improves non-linear navigation through digital
content.
During the summer
of 2004 various calls and invitations were sent out—primarily to pertinent
email discussion groups—for print-impaired volunteers to test the various
devices and systems available for field-testing. Over one hundred individuals responded. By the conclusion of the 12 months of field
testing, sixty different individuals had tried at least one device or
system. Many of them tried several.
Partners on this year-long project were the Mid-Illinois Talking Book
Center (MITBC), the Alliance Library System, the Illinois State Library Talking
Book and Braille Service, OverDrive, and TAP
Information Services. The core project
team included Lori Bell from the
A website was
created for the MIDTB Project (http://www.midtb.org)
containing information about the project, the evaluation form, and information
and instructions for using the various hardware, software, and systems being
field-tested in the project. .
A Yahoo Group (MIDTBvolunteers) also was created for this project. This allowed project staff members to inform
the volunteers about new options, develops in the project, training
opportunities, etc.
These field tests
focused on both digital content services and portable playback devices. Four services were field tested:
·
BookShare
·
OverDrive (both ebooks and digital audio books)
·
netLibrary (only
their digital audio book service)
·
TumbleTalkingBooks
The portable playback
devices tested during the year are listed below. The numbers in parentheses indicate the
number of devices available for testing.
A total of 26 devices were available for testing. A few of the vendors loaned or donated
devices for these field tests, but most of the devices were purchased with
support provided by the Sirsi grant, the Illinois
State Library Talking Book and Braille Service, and other sources. In addition, some volunteer testers tried
other devices that were not officially circulated as part of this series of
field tests.
·
Audio
Navigator (3)
·
Book
Courier (3)
·
·
Digisette Duo-64
(1)
·
MuVo (3)
·
PlexTalk
·
Soul
Player DMP-206b (2)
·
Telex
Scholar (4)
·
Victor
Classic Plus (1)
·
Victor
Reader Vibe (5)
Data were collected
via a 16-question satisfaction survey (see Appendix A). Also, there was much email communication
throughout the year-long field testing, from which many valuable experiences,
comments, and suggestions were gleaned.
The MIDTB Project was a field test of a wide variety of
devices and systems for playing digital audio books. Testing occurred in the homes and offices of
the volunteer testers. No attempts were
made to control or alter those testing environments, including the ambient
computing environments in which these devices and systems were tested.
Major support for
the MIDTB Project was provided through a Leader in Library Technology Grant
from Sirsi. Sirsi has long been a trusted technology
partner with libraries and librarians, providing a complete library management
system. The Sirsi Leader in Library Technology Grant
is administered by the American Library Association.
PART TWO: DIGITAL CONTENT SERVICES
Overview
Four digital content services were field tested as part of
this study. The nature of these services
varies considerably. Bookshare
focuses on scanned books that can be converted, among other things, to
synthetic audio books using text-to-speech software. NetLibrary and OverDrive are both established companies that offer both textual ebooks and digital
audio books (as well as other types of digital content and services) primarily
to libraries. Both of their digital
audio book services are based on the Windows Media Audio (WMA) file format,
which can be downloaded for playback on the user’s computer, transfer to any of
a number of WMA-enabled portable playback devices, or, in the case of OverDrive, burned onto a set of CDs. TumbleTalkingBooks,
on the other hand, is using the Flash technology from Macromedia to offer
streaming digital audio books.
Note: A more detailed
description of the netLibrary, OverDrive,
Tumble, and Audible.com digital audio book services appeared in the July/August
2005 issue of Computers in Libraries,
pages 6-8, 61-64.
Bookshare
Description of the Service
Bookshare.org is a service that provides downloadable
scanned ebooks that can be used with patron-supplied
text-to-speech software to create on-demand synthesized digital audio
books. Most of the ebooks
in the Bookshare master collection are scanned by
individual members. Bookshare
leverages an exemption to
For the purposes of the MIDTB field tests, a demo CD
containing a sample text in DAISY and ASCII text formats, as well as an MP3
file containing a pre-generated synthetic speech recording of the text.
Note: A separate,
expanded field test of BookShare is planned for late
2005 and early 2006. Information about
that field test is available at the following URL:
http://www.tapinformation.com/Bookshare.htm
Praise and Positive Feedback
Text-to-Speech:
“I have accessed Bookshare books with both
Eloquence via Open Book 7, and the BrailleNote using
the Keynote speech…. The Keynote speech is more expressive.” “I listen to these books on my
Nonlinear Navigation:
“When, there is a table of contents. I read the table of contents and
use the information with the JAWSFind Feature to jump
to a particular place in the text.”
Accuracy of the Texts: Users were impressed by the apparent accuracy
of these texts that began with a scanning process.
BRF Files: At
least one volunteer tester was very pleased to know that content from Bookshare is available in BRF Braille format.
Problems and Suggestions
Sign-up Process: “I have been involved with Bookshare
since its beta days. The only thing I
find annoying is the hoops one has to jump through in order to join. When I joined, for example, I had to get
sighted help to fill out the forms. That
may have been simplified by now….”
DAISY: “At
this time, I believe it is not possible to combine narrated files with text in
a full Daisy implementation with either bookshare
windows orr linux systems. This
flaw would be a slight dissappointment when reading
fiction with Bookshare, but I would not consider it a
major drawback.”
Sound Quality:
At least one tester thought the sound quality was poor.
Variable Speed Playback: Several users expressed a desire for this
functionality.
Spellcheck: One volunteer tester reported that she was
unable to figure out a way to spellcheck any of the
words.
Overall Assessment
Most of the volunteer testers who tried the Bookshare demo CD found the overall experience to be
somewhat or very satisfactory. They seemed
to prefer using their own screen reader software to access the ebooks, rather than listen to a pre-generated MP3 synthetic
digital audio book.
“Because of this experience with Bookshare,
I plan to join that service. I was not
aware that the use of their linux option (I am moving
to linux operating system) allows use of bookshare without a windows computer and the related exorbetant expense and complexity of a windos
screenreader. Bookshare's linux option allows
conversion of bookshare files to text files for easy
reading.”
“I think that out of the two things I tried for MIDTB, BookShare and the Adobe Reader, Bookshare
is far and away the best of the two. The ease of use. The ability to choose between BRF and DAISY
formats, the ability to keep the books, reread, enjoy again, all these make it
a wonderful experience.”
“Bookshare is a wonderful resource
for reading material; now I need a site to download extra hours in order to
read all of the books!”
Please Note:
Beginning in late 2005 the
netLibrary (Only Their
Digital Audio Book Service)
Description of the Service
Early in 2005 netLibrary, a
division of OCLC, and Recorded Books LLC launched a downloadable digital audio
book service for libraries and library users.
During the months of June and July 184 print-impaired users were
provided trial access to the full collection of over 850 titles to test for the
accessibility and general usability of the service. At least 14 of the 184 testers were also
volunteers in the MIDTB Project described in this report.
Digital audio books from netLibrary/Recorded
Book are available in DRM-protected Windows Media Audio (WMA) file format. Two file sizes (compression levels) were made
available: “radio quality” and “CD
quality”. The radio files are smaller
files designed for people who download content via dial-up access to the
Internet. The CD quality files were
larger and of higher quality. They were
designed for users with broadband access to the Internet. Also, if the tester wanted to transfer the
content to a portable audio playback device, he or she needed to download the
CD quality version of the titles. The
digital audio book files were delivered whole.
They were not divided into parts.
Because a separate report on the accessibility of netLibrary digital audio books has been released, only the
overall assessment is included in this report.
The URL for the full report is:
http://www.tapinformation.com/netLibraryfinalreport.htm
Overall Assessment
The volunteers who participated in this two-month trial had
a wide variety of experiences and reactions to those experiences. Some volunteers thought this was the best
digital audio book system they had ever tried.
(Many of the testers currently use and subscribe to a variety of digital
audio book services, such as Audible.com and Bookshare.) Many of the volunteer testers noted that the
quality of the texts, the narration, and the sound was very high.
Others thought the overall system was barely functional and
marginally accessible. The content
website, the digital rights management system, and Microsoft’s Windows Media
Player software presented substantial accessibility challenges for a large
portion of the group of volunteer testers.
OverDrive (Text-to-Speech Renditions of Adobe eBooks)
Description of the Service
Two distinct aspects of OverDrive’s
digital content services were included in these field tests. First, reported in this section is the
accessibility and general usability of text-to-speech renditions of their
textual ebooks in Adobe PDF format were field
tested. This field testing builds on a
similar round of tests conducted during the first half of 2004. The URL for the final report on that earlier
test is:
http://www.tapinformation.com/OverDriveAdobefinal.htm
Praise and Positive Feedback
Nonlinear Navigation:
especially via the table of contents.
“Window-eyes and jfw [JAWS for Windows] have
nice find commands in IE so I can find what I want.”
Placemark: “I liked… the fact that the software picked
up where I left off in the document when I reopened the book.”
Early Returns:
The volunteers liked the ability to return an ebook
they had checked out early, rather than wait for the circulation period to
expire.
Quick, Convenient, Online Access to Current Content: “I
liked the convenience of using a computer at home to find current popular
reading material in both fiction and nonfiction categories using the overdrive
system over the internet.”
Configurable:
“Adobe is very configureable. I set it up to
display the entire book in Internet Explorer.”
Documentation:
“The JAWS tips for Adobe Reader were very helpful for me.”
Quality of the Text-to-Speech (Using JAWS and WindowEyes): “I
used the Eloquence voice called (I think) Reed.
It was the default voice set for screen reading by JAWS, speeded up
quite a bit for my convenience in reading quickly….: I have always found the
voice I selected clear and reasonably human-sounding while also being quite
responsive when navigating, interrupting speech, and so on.” “I used Eloquence, the normal voice for
Window-Eyes. I must say I preferred it
to Microsoft Sam! He's awful!”
Problems and Suggestions
Display/Delivery Options: “The most annoying quality was that I had to
choose between being delivered the whole document at once in which case
software operation was so sluggish that I could not stand it and having the
document delivered in pages in which case I seemed to be spending an awful lot
of time hitting Control+PgDn and then navigating to
the top of the page to read a little more of the book.”
Downloading an eBook: “Downloading
was difficult with one of the books. I have some usable vision and needed it to finish the procedure by
using the mouse.”
Setting Up Adobe Reader via
Passport: “I found the process of finnagling to get Adobe working was the most
disappointing.”
Quality of the Text-to-Speech (Using Adobe Reader): “the voice in the Adobe Reader is totally inadequat/terrible”
Interface: “I
tried to get familiar with the navigation functionality of Adobe Reader and
found the interface rather confusing. It
was hard to figure out what the F6, Control+Tab, and other
keys did. I just don't find it clear how
the interface works, and sometimes I had trouble getting back to the actual
book content. Some of this may be a
function of how JAWS and the Adobe Reader interact, however. Using a screen reader with other software
always influences the overall experience.”
Audio Description of Graphics: “I would have liked to be able to review the
title page information and felt a little cheated that I couldn't. The same holds true for pictures, reproduced
newspaper copy, and other facsimiles of information
sprinkled throughout the book. It's nice
that, when books are narrated by a human, some form of picture description is
usually given. I missed that in this
e-book.”
Returning a Book Early via Keystrokes: “With the prompting of a friend who is also
in the program, I took a look at the options for returning the book early. I discovered that this option can not be
enabled by using the normal keystrokes.
This is because the regular arrow keys do not work in the Adobe menu for
the bookshelf. You must use the mouse
commands to return a book early.”
No Transfer of Content to Handheld Device: For print-impaired users there are few
workable options for transferring this type of ebook
content to a portable handheld device then creating text-to-speech audible
renditions.
Overall Assessment
Most of the volunteers who created and reviewed audio
renditions of these Adobe PDF ebooks had a somewhat
or very satisfactory experience. The
accessibility and general usability of text-to-speech audio renditions of
textual ebooks in Adobe PDF format continue to face
major challenges. Most of the volunteer
testers much preferred using their screen reader software, such as JAWS for
Windows or WindowEyes, to access this content, rather
than the embedded text-to-speech engine associated with the Adobe Reader
software program.
“I found using Adobe Reader surprisingly painless. It sort
of had a reputation among us blind folk of being a real pain in the ass but I
didn't find that to be the case. I think the key is to have a good enough
machine and connection to handle it, and I'm sure XP helps. I much prefer
listening to human read audio books than those read by a synthesizer. But if
this was the only way I could get access to a particular book, it ain't bad.”
“I am glad I
learned how to use the Adobe Reader. It is a valuable resource for a visually
impaired person like myself. However, I did not enjoy
the system as much as I do books on tape or audible.com when reading for
pleasure.”
OverDrive (Downloadable Digital Audio Books)
MIDTB volunteers also were involved in the testing and
development of OverDrive’s downloadable digital audio
book service. Several volunteers tested
various beta versions of the OverDrive Media Console
software that is used to playback OverDrive digital
audio books on one’s computer. The
development of this software coincided with the first few months of the MIDTB
study.
The volunteers involved in the field testing of the beta
versions of the OverDrive Media Console software
program made several key accessibility and usability recommendations. Variable speed playback and keystroke
alternatives were the two most important recommendations.
OverDrive incorporated the
suggestions made by the MIDTB volunteers into their new digital audio book
service. To the best of our knowledge,
this is the first digital audio book service for the mainstream library and/or
consumer market that offers variable speed playback as a
functionality.
OverDrive also created text-only
documentation and narrated audio versions of some of the key documentation.
The Unabridged downloadable digital audio book service (http://www.unabridged.info/) selected OverDrive for its platform and content. Unabridged currently is available to
print-impaired individuals in five states:
TumbleTalkingBooks
How the Service Works
TumbleTalkingBooks using Macromedia Flash technology to deliver streaming digital
audio books directly to the user’s computer. TumbleTalkingBooks
is an online, 24/7 audio book library that includes unabridged high quality
audio versions of classics of American and world literature, non-fiction,
fiction, and children and teen books.
There are several
related Tumble products that may be of interest to print-impaired users. TumbleReadables are
large print online books, and the Tumble Book Library is a collection of
animated children’s ebooks where the narrated audio
can be toggled on and off. A recently
launched service from TumbleBooks, Tumble Read-Alongs, combines large print online books with steaming digital
narrated audio book content.
Praise and Positive Feedback
Streaming Audio:
People liked the fact that the digital audio book began playing back
almost immediately.
Unlimited Concurrent Users: Because the content is streamed, not checked
out and downloaded, the entire collection is available to everyone all the
time.
Problems and Suggestions
Variable Speed Playback: “It would also be good to have a way of
increase reading speed even if I lose speech quality. This feature exists on present casette players from NLS.”
Macromedia Flash:
“Macromedia flash is NOT RECOMMENDED by World Wide Web Web Accessorability
www.w3.org/wai or by AFB consulting www.afb.org. This interface lacks keyboard ability to (1)
stop or start a book (2) pause (3) re-wind (4) fast
forward in small or larger increments.”
Transfer to Portable Playback Devices: Most users want the ability to transfer the
content to a portable playback device, so they can listen to a digital audio
book anywhere.
Overall Assessment
Several testers tried this service and generally found some
accessibility obstacles. Keystroke
alternatives are needed for all of the Micromedia
Flash buttons and controls used by this streaming audio book service. One tester using the JAWS screenreader
software reported that she could not access any of the functions. She was unable to stop playback or set
bookmarks. Another tester missed the
ability to engage in nonlinear navigation or to vary the playback speed.
Testing this service has had one tangible outcome. The talking book centers in
PART THREE: PORTABLE PLAYBACK DEVICES
Overview
The ten portable playback devices field
tested as part of this study represent just a small fraction of the
large, diverse, rapidly-evolving field of portable devices capable of playing
digital audio content. Although there
are many ways to categorize, compare, and contrast this device field, in this
report they are listed in alphabetical order.
Some of these devices, such as the BookCourier,
Book Port, Scholar, Classic Plus, and Vibe, have been designed for and marketed
to primarily the population of citizens who are visually impaired. Other of the devices field tested, such as
the Digisette, MuVo,
This set of field tests of these devices builds on an
earlier feature analysis of a similar set of devices conducted in Project
http://www.tapinformation.com/HALfinalreport200403.htm
Audio Navigator
Description of the Device
The Audio Navigator from Audio-Read (http://www.audio-read.com.au/), a
privately held Australian company, is a digital playback device designed
specifically for individuals who are blind, visually impaired, physically
challenged, or elderly. The model of the
Audio Navigator tested by MIDTB volunteers contained 512 megabytes of memory
and was preloaded with content, including several novels and an issue of a
daily newspaper. The Audio Navigator
contains an internal speaker, located at the top, rounded end of the device. A jack for headphones, ear buds, or external
speakers is located on the left side of the device.
The Audio Navigator contains a rechargeable lithium ion battery. When fully charged, the device should play
for approximately 24 hours. To recharge
the battery, connect the device to your computer using the
The Audio Navigator contains nine buttons on the face of the
device. A
The Audio Navigator automatically bookmarks only one location in each
publication loaded on the device. The
bookmark is placed either when you turn off the device or when you use the level
one navigation keys to move to another publication. When you turn the device back on or navigate
back to the original publication, playback will continue forward from the
bookmarked point. The Audio Navigator
will automatically turn off after twenty minutes, if no keys have been
pressed.
Image of the Audio Navigator:
Praise and Positive Feedback
Simplicity: The best thing about the Navigator is its simplicity. It was easy to learn. “It wasn't arcane, it made accessing the information a pleasure instead of a chore.”
Buttons: The large buttons were much appreciated. Good placement of the buttons on the device. “I loved the audio navigator! ... I love the big buttons it and very user friendly!”
Nonlinear Navigation: The sample newspaper loaded on the trial devices (along with several novels) was appreciated as a way to test the nonlinear navigation functionality of the device.
Sound Quality: The clear, high-quality narrated voice was excellent.
Audible Clues: The fact that the device announced when it was turned on, how much battery charge remained, the book being read, what section was being jumped to, when the power was being turned off, etc. However, some volunteers found this feature annoying, especially after they had used the device for awhile.
Built-in Speaker: The built-in speaker is a plus. It had more than enough volume and performed well. It does not require the listener to lie or sit still.
Go Back: If you accidentally pressed the wrong button
and jumped to another book without wanting to do so, you could always recover
your fumble by pressing the "back" button as long as you did it
before the new book began to be read.
Problems and Suggestions
Responsiveness: Faster response to commands
Improve the Sleep Timer: The automatic sleep timer shut off annoyed several of the volunteers. The unit shuts down after a period of time with no explanation. The end-user needs some way to override this automatic shutdown.
Variable Speed Playback: Add variable speed playback.
Improve the Bookmarking Feature: The ability to set bookmarks. Sometimes the automatic book marks didn't seem to be set.
Audible Clues: Some volunteers found the announcement of the book being read annoying, especially after the unit had been paused and resumed.
Rewind: Rewinding the content was a bit tricky.
No Commercials: Some volunteers did not appreciate the commercial message at the moment of powering off the unit.
Portability: Because the device had no handle, carrying strap, or case, some volunteers were afraid of dropping it.
Recharging: Provide an AC adapter as an alternative way to recharge the machine.
Transfer Content: Although the manufacturer claims that this
device has been designed especially for older adults, one volunteer thought it
would be difficult for older adults to transfer content onto this device. A device better suited for older adults is
the Plextalk
Overall Assessment
Nearly all of the volunteers who tried the Audio Navigator
reported either a satisfactory or very satisfactory overall experience with
it.
BookCourier
Description of the Device
The BookCourier (http://www.bookcourier.com/) from
Springer Design, Inc. is a playback device designed specifically for
individuals with a vision or learning disability that makes reading difficult
or impossible. According to the User Guide
(http://www.bookcourier.com/BookCourierUserGuide.htm), “BookCourier
includes an MP3 player; a voice recorder; fast forward and fast reverse
controls; bookmarks, jumps, and other smart navigation controls; a built-in
alarm, sleep timer, clock, and calendar; plus easy-to-use controls for
adjusting volume, reading speed, and more.”
The BookCourier can play DAISY-encoded content, MP3 and .txt
files, and content from Audible.com.
To get help
information about a specific key, first press the question mark key, then press
the key about which you want information.
The voice briefly explains the three functions invoked by the
press-and-release, the press-and-hold-until-the-beep, and the shift-and-press
methods of invoking functions. To listen
to the user guide for the device, press and hold the question mark key until
you hear a beep. The BookCourier
will resume reading the user’s guide where you left off. To exit the user guide and return to the
content you were listening to, press the 0 key.
To hear an announcement of the current battery level expressed as a percentage,
press and hold the diamond key in the lower left for one beep.
The BookCourier has three ports. Two are located on the top of the unit. The left one is used to connect ear buds or
headphones. Because the BookCourier contains no internal speaker, you will need to
have a set of ear buds or headphones connected in order to hear anything.
The other connector
on the top of the device is used for the
The port on the
right side of the device receives the compact flash memory card. Within the context of this study, there
should be no need for you to remove the flash memory card.
The BookCourier contains 15 keys located in five rows of three on the top of the device. The first four rows are arranged and numbered like the keypad of a telephone. The bottom row keys are ma