Educational impact of structured podcasts on blind users

Abstract

Podcasts are increasingly present in education. However, sequential and continuous listening to didactic material might not be the most appropriate form for learning. For instance, if not well-organized, it can be frustrating to retrieve specific information from educational podcasts. We believe that structured podcasts (i.e., audio files that exploit the document structure) could facilitate navigation and search of content. In this paper we investigate the impact of structured podcasts on blind users, through a user test and satisfaction questionnaire administered to eighteen visually-impaired persons. Results confirm that structured podcasts are simple to use, rapid to explore and are greatly appreciated by blind users. © 2011 Springer-Verlag.