To Each Their Own: Exploring Highly Personalised Audiovisual Media Accessibility Interventions with People with Aphasia

Abstract

Digital audiovisual media (e.g., TV, streamed video) is an essential aspect of our modern lives, yet it lacks accessibility - people living with disabilities can experience significant barriers. While accessibility interventions can improve the access to audiovisual media, people living with complex communication needs have been under-represented in research and are potentially left behind. Future visions of accessible digital audiovisual media posit highly personalised content that meets complex accessibility needs. We explore the impact of such a future by conducting bespoke co-design sessions with people with aphasia - a language impairment common post-stroke - creating four highly personal accessibility interventions that leverage audiovisual media personalisation. We then trialled these prototypes with 11 users with aphasia; examining the effects on shared social experiences, creative intent, interaction complexity, and feasibility for content producers. We conclude by critically reflecting on future implementations, raising open questions and suggesting future research directions.