Overview
Vision Australia is a leading national provider of blindness and low vision services in Australia. Founded in 2004, Vision Australia is a not-for-profit organisation and works in partnership with Australians who are blind or have low vision to help them achieve the possibilities they choose in life.
Our challenge was to conduct a review of the current audio description (AD) service model provided by Vision Australia’s volunteers in live performances, gather information about current levels of engagement and use of service by various stakeholders as well as explore the pathways of professionalising AD services and other opportunities for meaningful engagement and participation of people who are blind or have low vision in live events.
step 1: discovering
Business Analysis
Audio description (AD) offers people who are blind or have low vision an understanding of what is happening visually within a theatre, television, film, DVD, museum, exhibition or other arts related productions.
It is an additional narration that succinctly paints an image of transitions, movements, gestures, props, settings, costumes and scenery woven between the dialogues.
Vision Australia works with Theatres around Australia to provide audio description for live performances. We also advocate for increased audio description across cinema and television. (source: Vision Australia)
Currently, the live AD service provided by Vision Australia focuses on theatre performances and it’s delivered by 80 trained volunteers Australia wide, averaging two events a month.
The volunteers will see the show 3 times to prepare and develop the script and on the day of the performance narrates the information through a transmitter. Seated at the audience, the patrons hears the AD with a headset that were handed to them upon their arrival and needs to be returned at the end of the show.
Competitive Analysis
To understand the landscape and examples of how technology is being used to assist with AD and vision impairment and what we can learn from the current offering, we first analysed Description Victoria, Vision Australia's direct competitor in Victoria:
Description Victoria
Is a not-for-profit incorporated association governed by a committee with a majority of members who have a lived experience of Blindness or low vision. It provides professional description services for art and media and it's not limited to theatre, covering exhibitions, documentary videos, films, fireworks displays and live art experiences. It gathers comprehensive feedback to aims to advocate for its audience in arts spaces, ensuring their needs are met.We also analysed AD apps that are along the same lines as how Audio Description is done today:
GalaPro app
Available in a few cities around the world (but with more shows available in New York), the app allows users' to get real time translations, captions and AD at venues and productions that have partnered with it. The AD for live theater is triggered by the dialogue spoken on stage to keep it synchronized. The AD is pre-recorded, which makes it available for every performance but it won't anticipate any mishaps and/or unscripted changes.Tour Guide Speaker & Listener app
These two companion apps provide a simple solution for one person speaking into their smartphone and sharing it across a WiFi network, with a separate client app receiving it. Through the prevalence of smartphones and apps like these, older radio based systems could be replaced.Assistant Apps:
Be My Eyes app
The app allows human volunteers to orally describe what the client’s smartphone camera is focusing on, essentially enabling remote aide. Be My Eyes shows that technology is offering new avenues of people being able to help with descriptive services even if they’re not geographically located in the same area.Seeing AI app
The app uses artificial intelligence to help describe people, read text, scan barcodes of products to describe aloud. It will even analyse a room to give you context of where you are. Taking advantage of Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning, it's essentially a digital volunteer available any time, but can be slow to respond to requests.And finally we read on assistive technologies:
IrisVision Headset
The augmented reality headset provides magnified image enhancements directly to the wearers eyes. The technology could halt or delay vision impairment where AD would not be required. But these solutions won’t help everyone with visual impairments and are expensive.Competitive Analysis - Key trends:
Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning and prevalence of smartphones is changing the landscape of available apps
Apps like Tour Guide Speaker and Gala Pro are not designed with AD for the visually impaired as the primary function but provide this service
Technology is enabling remote assistance
Specialised hardware is starting to be used but remains expensive and inaccessible for most people
User research
Objectives
Empathy: Explore the experience of current and potential users of AD services at live performances
Current service evaluation: Uncover sentiment towards the current service and any challenges/highlights
Digital exploration: Explore relevance and resonance of digital solutions. Focus on current device usage and potential new ways to leverage available tools, or incorporate new tools.
Methodology
In order the make sense of how the service works and get feedback from both providers and users, we knew we would have to be creative because we were shamefully unaware that the service even existed, let alone how it's provided and received.
We immediately set out to compose a survey that needed to have the right questions and to be accessible for the visually impaired, specially those who uses screen readers.
Another path we took was sending long form questions via email, which allowed a more global outreach, including major productions companies in NY, Amsterdam and London, as well as in depth conversation with describers in the United States, who also were kind enough to forward our survey to their clients, friends and family who were visually impaired.
Techniques:
1:1 Interviews in-person or over the phone
Survey
Long form questions via email - global outreach
Participants
Users of AD services
Providers of AD services
Step 2: defining
Affinity map
Key insights and pain points:
AD at live events is a really powerful and desirable service:
When a user experiences a flawless AD service they feel included in the art, experiencing the performance the same way any audience member would.
There is a complex landscape of provider stakeholders that are dictating what, when and how AD services are provided:
Theatres, theatre companies, providers of AD and describers (volunteers) are all trying to work together on how to provide these services. It's a complex space to navigate as there are competing priorities and profitability considerations.
There is limited understanding of what AD services are:
Education and communication are key. Education of theatre staff (more welcoming and accommodating of people requesting the service, informed that if people are using phones to access AD services they are not being told to put them away) and education of potential users (there are many people in denial about needing the service and don’t understand the benefits that it could provide).
The current tech that is being used is unreliable and uncomfortable:
Users will perceive a bad show as just a bad show without assuming that all shows are going to be bad, but if your first experience of AD is dissatisfactory, there is a reasonable chance that a user will assume that all AD performances are like that, and therefore feel it is not for them. That would affect the reputation of the service and the number of audio described performances available.
There are numerous steps and extra requirements to get the service:
That leaves some users feeling frustrated, excluded and an imposition on other people.
Persona: meet Katherine
Problem Statement
People using Audio Description (AD) services often feel a range of negative emotions during live events because they are reliant on the current AD tech which has recurrent faults and quality issues.
Hypothesis
We believe that by providing an AD solution that allows people to utilise their own devices, we will achieve an experience where people are seamlessly immersed in the live event, with minimal disruptions resulting in positive emotions.
We will know this to be true when we see an increase in people using the service and providing positive feedback about it.
Technology Considerations
Before we begin solutioning, we needed to review the tech:
Wi-Fi is the most reliable broadcast medium
Keep the broadcast local and in mono aural
Users may be tech savvy or have little experience with smart phones – both must be catered for
Users will have different levels of visual impairment – all must be catered for
iPod Touches could be provided to those without iPhones
step 3: developing
How Might WE <HMW> Statements
In order to launch brainstorms and provoke meaningful and relevant ideas, we had to ask ourselves:
How might we provide more reliable technology solutions for AD at live events?
How might we create a solution that allows people to use their own devices so they feel more independent?
How might we provide a solution that caters for people with varying levels of vision?
Where’s our solution heading?
We’re starting our solution as a smartphone app. Why?
People can bring their own smartphones to events to eliminate pick-up and drop off of devices;
People are usually more able to fix small mishaps when using a device that are familiar to them;
iPhone is the target platform (initially);
Digital delivery of audio description can supersede the Radio Frequency (RF) means of delivery;
Feedback could be easily and privately (if desired) collected, contributing to the improvement of future AD catered performances.
Katherine’s ideal journey:
The current journey has many steps, which means that a lot can go wrong. The accumulation of these negative feelings can taint the experience, and Katherine might decide not to comeback for another AD performance in the future.
With the iAD app, Katherine would be able to use her own phone to get the AD, which cuts enough steps to allow her to be more independent and have a better overall experience.
Sitemap
At this stage of the project we will be focusing on the connection process and the feedback.
User flow
User goal:
Katherine has arrived at the theatre, shortly before the show starts, forgoing the tactile tour. She’s logged in to the app and now wants to tune into the AD ahead of the show starting.
At the starting point of the Happy path (in grey), Katherine arrived at the venue, and wants to set up her smartphone to receive the AD service for the show.
Sketching / Design Studio
We conducted a design studio to explore different design ideas, focusing on potential solutions for the HMW questions. Due to the relative simplicity of the user flow, the individual sketches were somewhat similar to each other, and the output from it was reassurance that we were in sync regarding the technology limitations as well as our persona’s pain points and needs.
Step 4: Prototyping
After deciding on which versions of each screen we would use, we started prototyping on Figma.
Version #1
We designed the layouts to fit within the smallest screens on iPhone models – this means the app can accommodate oldest model phones for backwards compatibility as far as possible as well as iPod Touch models.
Already utilizing principles of Visual Accessibility Design, we came up with these designs:
Testing
For this first round of testing, we tried to simulate how a person with low vision would see the screens.
Even being aware that there are varying levels of visual impairment, testing the prototype with a visual barrier over it helped us identify a few changes that had to be made regarding visual aspects like font sizing and spacing and contrast.
Version #2
For this second version of the prototype, instructions to plug in the headphones were added, for it was pointed out that having the AD start out loud was inconvenient.
The interactive prototype of this version was created using Adobe XD, which allowed us to add voice over and commands by voice - both features most utilized by the visually impaired.
This round of test was conducted at Vision Australia, and the testers had different levels of visual impairment, and had the option of voice command or tapping on the screen.
Version #3
In the third and final version of the app’s prototype, the background and font/buttons colors were inverted, so it wouldn't draw too much attention when in use, in the dark. Also the profile icon was confusing, so it was replaced by a home icon.
Click here for the interactive prototype.
Future steps, final considerations & takeaways
AD App
The iAD app was design to be used in isolation of accessibility tools but there would need to be work done to try and understand compatibility with other tools that might be being used. We designed solution that is not reliant on needing assistance tools, but Ideally it would support VoiceOver and screen reader and/or braille keyboard hardware connected to iPhone
Digital wallet integration: This could automatically connect to the correct WiFi and show. Plus, the AD staff would know the patron’s seat in case of assistance being needed.
If attendee don’t have their own smart device or doesn't know how to operate it, iPod Touches (for being more cost effective than an iPhone) with the app installed could be provided by the venue/AD staff given they would use the same app. They would demonstrate how to operate it and the devices would already be connected to the correct WiFi and show.
There should be haptic feedback or noise when there is a voice input.
For first time or non tech users a brief tutorial system or onboarding could be added to get them up to speed with the app.
Explore the option of remote AD, where the describer needn't be at the theatre, but would receive video and audio remotely and transmit the AD via internet. This could increase the number of volunteer describers.
And finally, rather than create an app from scratch, Vision Australia could either license existing technology from Be on Air (the creators of Tour Guide app) or GalaPro – for both client and server (descriptor) ends. In the case of GalaPro, even though the AD isn't live, the app would allow every performance to be accessible for the visually impaired, giving them the chance to participate in ticket lotteries, giveaways and last minute purchases. Also, they could buy ticked for a time that is most suited for them.
Takeaways
More than a digital/tech solution, it is imperative that there is improvement in education and communication on the subject. More people need to understand what AD is and who would benefit from it. There are opportunities for marketing promotions at accessibility and/or theatre conventions and events, for example.
Directors, producers and other production staff need to provide an AD script from the start, so it's one step less for the describers.
Theatre staff (from managers to ushers) need to be more informed about the overall service, being more welcoming, helpful and don’t harass patrons for using their phones for this purpose.
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