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BSpeak: An Accessible Voice-based Crowdsourcing Marketplace for Low-Income Blind People

Authors:

Aditya Vashistha,

Richard AndersonAuthors Info & Claims

CHI '18: Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

Paper No.: 57, Pages 1 - 13

https://doi.org/10.1145/3173574.3173631

Published: 19 April 2018 Publication History

Abstract

BSpeak is an accessible crowdsourcing marketplace that enables blind people in developing regions to earn money by transcribing audio files through speech. We examine accessibility and usability barriers that 15 first-time users, who are low-income and blind, experienced while completing transcription tasks on BSpeak and Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Our mixed-methods analysis revealed severe accessibility barriers in MTurk due to the absence of landmarks, unlabeled UI elements, and improper use of HTML headings. Compared to MTurk, participants found BSpeak significantly more accessible and usable, and completed tasks with higher accuracy in lesser time due to its voice-based implementation. In a two-week field deployment of BSpeak in India, 24 low-income blind users earned rupee 7,310 by completing over 16,000 transcription tasks to yield transcriptions with 87% accuracy. Through our analysis of BSpeak's strengths and weaknesses, we provide recommendations for designing crowdsourcing marketplaces for low-income blind people in resource-constrained settings.

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Cited By

Doggett OGram SJit SHarb BHarb HShafik MSoden RRatto M(2024)Digital Gig Work Under Unstable Energy Infrastructures: Invisible Workarounds and Alternative ImaginariesProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36869498:CSCW2(1-26)Online publication date: 8-Nov-2024
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Index Terms

BSpeak: An Accessible Voice-based Crowdsourcing Marketplace for Low-Income Blind People
1. Human-centered computing

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cover image ACM Conferences

CHI '18: Proceedings of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems

April 2018

8489 pages

ISBN:9781450356206

DOI:10.1145/3173574

General Chairs:
Regan Mandryk
University of Saskatchewan, Canada
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Mark Hancock
University of Waterloo, Canada
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Brunel University London, UK
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University College London, UK

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Published: 19 April 2018

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Cited By

Doggett OGram SJit SHarb BHarb HShafik MSoden RRatto M(2024)Digital Gig Work Under Unstable Energy Infrastructures: Invisible Workarounds and Alternative ImaginariesProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/36869498:CSCW2(1-26)Online publication date: 8-Nov-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3686949
Reitmaier TRaju DKlejch OWallington EMarkl NPearson JJones MBell PRobinson S(2024)Cultivating Spoken Language Technologies for Unwritten LanguagesProceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3613904.3642026(1-17)Online publication date: 11-May-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3613904.3642026
Galphat YVaswani BGangwani CDhekale S(2024)EmoSpeak: An Emotionally Intelligent Text-to-Speech System for Visually Impaired2024 International Conference on Advancements in Power, Communication and Intelligent Systems (APCI)10.1109/APCI61480.2024.10616666(1-6)Online publication date: 21-Jun-2024
https://doi.org/10.1109/APCI61480.2024.10616666
Reitmaier TWallington EKlejch OMarkl NLam-Yee-Mui LPearson JJones MBell PRobinson S(2023)Situating Automatic Speech Recognition Development within Communities of Under-heard Language SpeakersProceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3544548.3581385(1-17)Online publication date: 19-Apr-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3544548.3581385
Luo YLee BKim YChoe E(2022)NoteWordy: Investigating Touch and Speech Input on Smartphones for Personal Data CaptureProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35677346:ISS(568-591)Online publication date: 14-Nov-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3567734
Rechkemmer AYin M(2022)Understanding the Microtask Crowdsourcing Experience for Workers with Disabilities: A Comparative ViewProceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction10.1145/35551376:CSCW2(1-30)Online publication date: 11-Nov-2022
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Reitmaier TWallington EKalarikalayil Raju DKlejch OPearson JJones MBell PRobinson S(2022)Opportunities and Challenges of Automatic Speech Recognition Systems for Low-Resource Language SpeakersProceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3491102.3517639(1-17)Online publication date: 29-Apr-2022
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Varanasi RSiddarth DSeshadri VBali KVashistha A(2022)Feeling Proud, Feeling Embarrassed: Experiences of Low-income Women with Crowd WorkProceedings of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3491102.3501834(1-18)Online publication date: 29-Apr-2022
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Rothschild ABooker JDavoll CHill JIvey VDiSalvo CRydal Shapiro BDiSalvo B(2022)Towards fair and pro-social employment of digital pieceworkers for sourcing machine learning training dataExtended Abstracts of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3491101.3516384(1-9)Online publication date: 27-Apr-2022
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Arakawa RYakura HGoto M(2022)BeParrot: Efficient Interface for Transcribing Unclear Speech via RespeakingProceedings of the 27th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces10.1145/3490099.3511164(832-840)Online publication date: 22-Mar-2022
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