Can VoiceScapes Assist in Menu Navigation?

Abstract

Providing better information access to blind users is an important goal in the context of accessible interface design. Similarly, designers of user interfaces benefit from alternative interface techniques for usage scenarios in which visual (graphical) interfaces are either not possible or suboptimal. In our study we compared a traditional serial aural presentation of menu items to a new simultaneous aural presentation of up to seven menu items. These continuously present VoiceScapes allow the user to actively scan the auditory display to find the most appropriate command. While VoiceScapes are more difficult and attentionally more demanding than other formats of presentation, extended use might allow experienced users to more efficiently navigate complex menu hierarchies. A first pilot experiment with 13 sighted participants presented here tested the basic viability of this approach.