The use of digital talking books by people with print disabilities: A literature review

© Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse empirical studies regarding the use of digital talking books (Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) books) as well as the possibilities and limitations that users with print disabilities encounter when usin...

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Main Authors: Lundh, A., Johnson, Genevieve
Format: Journal Article
Published: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. 2015
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/47012
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author Lundh, A.
Johnson, Genevieve
author_facet Lundh, A.
Johnson, Genevieve
author_sort Lundh, A.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse empirical studies regarding the use of digital talking books (Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) books) as well as the possibilities and limitations that users with print disabilities encounter when using these books. Upon fulfilment of this purpose, it is also possible to identify research needs in the area of talking books. Design/methodology/approach – An analysis of 12 empirical studies concerning the use of DAISY books is conducted. The concept of affordances is employed in the analysis, which focuses on: users of talking books, talking books as objects, and the social settings in which talking books are used. Findings – First, the reviewed literature indicates that the navigational features of the DAISY talking book appear to provide unprecedented affordances in terms of the users’ approaches to reading. However, the affordances of talking books depend, to some extent, on whether the users have visual impairments or dyslexia/reading and writing difficulties. Second, the reviewed literature illustrates that the affordances provided by talking books depend on the settings in which they are used, both in terms of specific social situations and wider socio-political contexts. Originality/value – Although the need for assistive reading technologies, such as digital talking books, is large, research in this area is scarce, particularly from a user perspective. This paper describes the results of those studies which have actually been conducted on this topic and highlights areas that require further study.
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publishDate 2015
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-470122018-03-29T09:06:49Z The use of digital talking books by people with print disabilities: A literature review Lundh, A. Johnson, Genevieve © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse empirical studies regarding the use of digital talking books (Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) books) as well as the possibilities and limitations that users with print disabilities encounter when using these books. Upon fulfilment of this purpose, it is also possible to identify research needs in the area of talking books. Design/methodology/approach – An analysis of 12 empirical studies concerning the use of DAISY books is conducted. The concept of affordances is employed in the analysis, which focuses on: users of talking books, talking books as objects, and the social settings in which talking books are used. Findings – First, the reviewed literature indicates that the navigational features of the DAISY talking book appear to provide unprecedented affordances in terms of the users’ approaches to reading. However, the affordances of talking books depend, to some extent, on whether the users have visual impairments or dyslexia/reading and writing difficulties. Second, the reviewed literature illustrates that the affordances provided by talking books depend on the settings in which they are used, both in terms of specific social situations and wider socio-political contexts. Originality/value – Although the need for assistive reading technologies, such as digital talking books, is large, research in this area is scarce, particularly from a user perspective. This paper describes the results of those studies which have actually been conducted on this topic and highlights areas that require further study. 2015 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/47012 10.1108/LHT-07-2014-0074 Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. restricted
spellingShingle Lundh, A.
Johnson, Genevieve
The use of digital talking books by people with print disabilities: A literature review
title The use of digital talking books by people with print disabilities: A literature review
title_full The use of digital talking books by people with print disabilities: A literature review
title_fullStr The use of digital talking books by people with print disabilities: A literature review
title_full_unstemmed The use of digital talking books by people with print disabilities: A literature review
title_short The use of digital talking books by people with print disabilities: A literature review
title_sort use of digital talking books by people with print disabilities: a literature review
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/47012