Reprobooktor: A concept of audiobook player for visually impaired older adults

摘要

This paper focuses on supporting reading, an important activity of visually impaired older adults. More than half of people with severe vision impairment is older than 70 years. We present design concept of a physical device for audio content playback tailored to specific needs and preferences of this user group. The design is based on outcomes of our research conducted with visually impaired older adults living in a residential care institution. A qualitative user study (N = 6) focused specifically on audio content consumption has been conducted. We employed iterative development and formative evaluation to develop a prototype of the audiobook player. Two qualitative evaluation experiments have been conducted with visually impaired (N = 7, age mean = 45.6) and visually impaired older adults (N = 7, age mean = 73). We conclude the evaluation and suggest improvements for the future version and general design guidelines relevant for this specific user group.