Contextualized spoken web browser for low literate users

Abstract

Heavy penetration of mobile devices in rural areas enables access to information services to low-literate users. While connectivity solves a major issue, concepts such as browsing and searching are not intuitive to such users. This paper presents the design of a multimodal (speech+icons) voice browser for low-literate users in rural India. We conducted a field study to determine their current communication styles and preferences. Based on this, we designed three browsers, each influenced by a specific way of communicating - persona based roles, storytelling and direct interaction. The prototypes were evaluated in a taskbased study with 62 low-literate users and were compared with a baseline Interactive Voice Response (IVR) browser. Our results suggest that there is clear acceptance and understanding of the necessary concepts if the browser is designed using the design constructs of persona based roles and storytelling. Copyright 2013 ACM.