Sounds Accessible: Envisioning Accessible Audio Media Futures with People with Aphasia

Filip Bircanin; Alexandre Nevsky; Himaya Perera; Vaasvi Agarwal; Eunyeol Song; Madeline Cruice; Timothy Neate

Sounds Accessible: Envisioning Accessible Audio Media Futures with People with Aphasia

Filip Bircanin, Alexandre Nevsky, Himaya Perera, Vaasvi Agarwal, Eunyeol Song, Madeline Cruice, Timothy Neate^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

City St George's, University of London

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference paper › peer-review

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Abstract

Audio-media, such as radio and podcasts, are a vital means to engage with global events, access education, or offer entertainment. However, for people with complex communication needs, such as aphasia, there can be accessibility challenges. While accessibility research has largely focused on audiovisual media, little work has considered audio-media, particularly for users with complex communication needs. To address this gap, we undertook six co-design workshops with 10 people with aphasia to re-imagine access to audio-media. We uncover how our co-designers perceive audio-media as more than a tool, but a part of daily intimacies; shaping social relationships and contributing to therapeutic recovery. Through a Research-through-Design process culminating in one low-fidelity and three high-fidelity technology probes that embody novel accessibility interventions, our findings further challenge conventional approaches to audio-media accessibility and signal new directions for future design.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems
Publisher	ACM
Publication status	Accepted/In press - 9 Mar 2025

Keywords

Accessibility
audiovisual
media
Aphasia

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soundsAccessibleAccepted author manuscript, 17.7 MBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

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abstract = "Audio-media, such as radio and podcasts, are a vital means to engage with global events, access education, or offer entertainment. However, for people with complex communication needs, such as aphasia, there can be accessibility challenges. While accessibility research has largely focused on audiovisual media, little work has considered audio-media, particularly for users with complex communication needs. To address this gap, we undertook six co-design workshops with 10 people with aphasia to re-imagine access to audio-media. We uncover how our co-designers perceive audio-media as more than a tool, but a part of daily intimacies; shaping social relationships and contributing to therapeutic recovery. Through a Research-through-Design process culminating in one low-fidelity and three high-fidelity technology probes that embody novel accessibility interventions, our findings further challenge conventional approaches to audio-media accessibility and signal new directions for future design.",

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AU - Bircanin, Filip

AU - Nevsky, Alexandre

AU - Perera, Himaya

AU - Agarwal, Vaasvi

AU - Song, Eunyeol

AU - Cruice, Madeline

AU - Neate, Timothy

PY - 2025/3/9

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AB - Audio-media, such as radio and podcasts, are a vital means to engage with global events, access education, or offer entertainment. However, for people with complex communication needs, such as aphasia, there can be accessibility challenges. While accessibility research has largely focused on audiovisual media, little work has considered audio-media, particularly for users with complex communication needs. To address this gap, we undertook six co-design workshops with 10 people with aphasia to re-imagine access to audio-media. We uncover how our co-designers perceive audio-media as more than a tool, but a part of daily intimacies; shaping social relationships and contributing to therapeutic recovery. Through a Research-through-Design process culminating in one low-fidelity and three high-fidelity technology probes that embody novel accessibility interventions, our findings further challenge conventional approaches to audio-media accessibility and signal new directions for future design.

KW - Accessibility

KW - audiovisual

KW - media

KW - Aphasia

M3 - Conference paper

BT - Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

PB - ACM

ER -

Sounds Accessible: Envisioning Accessible Audio Media Futures with People with Aphasia

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