Introduction

Background information
The Centre for Equitable Library Access (CELA) is conducting a research project funded by Accessibility Standards Canada called the Accessible Commercial Audiobooks Project.

The goal of the research project is to provide recommendations to commercial audiobook producers and publishers and other stakeholders to improve the accessibility of audiobooks for individuals with print disabilities.

In the first stage of the project, we conducted a Landscape Review about commercial audiobook accessibility standards, practices and audiobook features. We reviewed literature and consulted with stakeholders, including individuals with lived experience of print disability.

We are now seeking to recruit individuals to participate in the user testing phase of the project, informed by what we learned in the Landscape Review.

Who can participate?
We are seeking a total of 50 participants, 25 who live with a print disability, and 25 who do not. All study participants must live in Canada. Those selected to participate in the study will be asked to read audiobooks and/or excerpts of audiobooks and answer questions about their experiences. Participants will also be asked general questions about audiobooks and to provide demographic information. Providing detailed demographic information will be optional in the study except we will require participants to disclose if they have a print disability.

Study participants will be given access to a dedicated website containing the audiobooks materials, testing instructions and a questionnaire. The testing process and questionnaire should take a few hours and can be completed in several sittings.

Participants will have approximately two weeks to complete the testing and questionnaire. Participants will be able to save their answers in the questionnaire and access the questionnaire with their answers in progress until they have submitted their results.
We anticipate that the testing will take place in November of 2024 over the course of a couple of weeks. Participants may also be invited to join in optional online focus groups of approximately 1 hour in length.

Benefits in participating in the accessible audiobook study.
This research project has the potential to contribute to the production of more accessible commercial audiobooks which could benefit study participants and audiobook users more broadly. We anticipate that this project will also benefit audiobook publishers, producers and other stakeholders by providing them with information and recommendations about accessible commercial audiobooks.

All participants selected for the study and who complete the testing and study questionnaire will be paid an honorarium of $100.

Question Title

* 1. I confirm that I have read the information provided about the Accessible Commercial Audiobooks Project and understand this information. You must confirm you have read and understood this information to advance to the next question.

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