research-article

Educational Content Creation and Sharing by Low-Income Visually Impaired People in India

Authors:

Aditya Vashistha,

Edward CutrellAuthors Info & Claims

ACM DEV-5 '14: Proceedings of the Fifth ACM Symposium on Computing for Development

Pages 63 - 72

https://doi.org/10.1145/2674377.2674385

Published: 05 December 2014 Publication History

Abstract

Low-income visually impaired people face a wide variety of educational challenges which are magnified in the developing world. Digital assistive technologies (such as screen readers) are typically out of reach, so individuals depend on Braille and audio recordings to access educational content. Unfortunately, there are acute shortages of Braille and high quality audio books for many subjects, leaving students scrambling for ways to continue their education. We present a formative study that examines the educational landscape for low-income visually impaired communities in rural and peri-urban India, the challenges they face in accessing educational content, and the solutions they have invented. We conducted interviews with 16 stakeholders, including students, teachers, and content producers, to understand the education ecosystem in their communities and how they use technologies such as basic mobile phones to consume, create, and share educational content. In particular, we found that these communities have established an informal network of peer-produced audio content that is shared via Bluetooth, memory cards and CDs. Our analysis suggests ways in which technology can improve access to professionally authored materials and augment these informal networks of peer-production.

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Index Terms

Educational Content Creation and Sharing by Low-Income Visually Impaired People in India
1. Human-centered computing

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cover image ACM Conferences

ACM DEV-5 '14: Proceedings of the Fifth ACM Symposium on Computing for Development

December 2014

142 pages

ISBN:9781450329361

DOI:10.1145/2674377

General Chairs:
Anitha Kannan
Microsoft Research
,
Krishnaram Kenthapadi
Microsoft Research
,
Shankar Kalyanaraman
Facebook
,
Program Chairs:
Marshini Chetty
University of Maryland, College Park
,
Vanessa Frias-Martinez
University of Maryland, College Park

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Published: 05 December 2014

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ACM DEV-5: Annual Symposium on Computing for Development

December 5 - 6, 2014

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ACM DEV-5 '14 Paper Acceptance Rate 11 of 37 submissions, 30%;

Overall Acceptance Rate 52 of 164 submissions, 32%

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https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642547
Kameswaran VY VMarathe M(2023)Advocacy as Access Work: How People with Visual Impairments Gain Access to Digital Banking in IndiaProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35795967:CSCW1(1-23)Online publication date: 16-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3579596
Eliza IUrmi MAnan MMunim TGalib FIslam A(2023)eDakterBari: A Human-Centered Solution Enabling Online Medical Consultation and Information Dissemination for Resource-Constrained Communities in BangladeshHeliyon10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23100(e23100)Online publication date: Nov-2023
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e23100
Bhatnagar TUpadhyay VRao PMarquardt NMiodownik MHolloway C(2023)Brilliance and Resilience: A New Perspective to the Challenges, Practices and Needs of University Students with Visual Impairments in IndiaHuman-Computer Interaction – INTERACT 202310.1007/978-3-031-42280-5_4(67-88)Online publication date: 25-Aug-2023
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-42280-5_4
Rahman MRashed RPurabi SUlfat NChellappan SIslam A(2021)Dakter BariProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/34491185:CSCW1(1-30)Online publication date: 22-Apr-2021
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