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Purpose
- Develop a smart speaker training intervention and evaluate its efficacy among people with motor and/or visual impairments.
Needs
- Smart speakers have become pervasive technologies for automating instrumental activities of daily living through both ingrained functions and user-enabled voice apps. They also have potential to promote access to leisure activities, help reduce social isolation, and increase community engagement among people with disabilities.
- Smart speaker use is limited by the lack of time, knowledge, and support to find essential use cases, and privacy concerns.
- There is a lack of interventional studies on smart speakers.
Activities
- Develop START, a multi-modal training intervention, using an iterative, stakeholder-driven approach.
- Evaluate the usability of START interactive learning guides using five usability criteria including effectiveness, efficiency, engagement, error tolerance, and ease of learning.
- Evaluate the efficacy of START in supporting skill acquisition, technology adoption, and functional performance and participation in people with motor and/or visual impairments.
- Pilot test the usefulness and effectiveness of START trainer’s modules.
Deliverables
- Evidence on the effectiveness of universal design for learning (UPL)-guided training materials for smart speakers for people with disabilities.
- A guide as to whether, and in what circumstances, 1-1 training improves outcomes for smart speaker use.
