xPress: Rethinking Design for Aging and Accessibility through a Voice-based Online Blogging Community

Robin N. Brewer, Anne Marie Piper

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

12 Scopus citations

Abstract

Although many older adults are active online, certain age-related disabilities, such as late-life vision impairment, make sustaining online participation difficult. Motivated by the need for accessible online spaces for people experiencing vision impairment in older adulthood, we developed xPress, a voice-based online blogging community. Through a 10-week deployment with seven older adults with acquired vision loss, we analyze how this type of online community enables connecting with peers, sharing experiences, and offering social support in new ways. The design of xPress also highlights the importance of human voice in accessible social platforms and reveals expectations around community participation. We discuss designing for age and disability through the lens of intersectionality and offer design considerations for similar voice-based online communities.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number26
JournalProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction
Volume1
Issue numberCSCW
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 6 2017

Funding

This work was supported by NSF grant IIS-1551574.

Keywords

  • accessibility
  • interactive voice response
  • older adults
  • online community
  • vision impairments

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Computer Networks and Communications

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