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A comparative analysis of the information-seeking behavior of visually impaired and sighted searchers

Authors:

Nuzhah Gooda Sahib,

Anastasios Tombros,

Tony StockmanAuthors Info & Claims

Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Volume 63, Issue 2

Pages 377 - 391

https://doi.org/10.1002/asi.21696

Published: 01 February 2012 Publication History

Abstract

Understanding search behavior is important and leads to more effective interfaces that support searchers throughout the search process. In this article, through an observational user study, we investigate the search behavior of 15 visually impaired and 15 sighted searchers while they complete complex search tasks online. We study complex search tasks because they are challenging, cognitively intensive and affect performance of searchers. We compare the behavior of the two groups of searchers at four stages of the information-seeking process namely, Query Formulation, Search Results Exploration, Query Reformulation, and Search Results Management. For each stage, we identify research questions to investigate the impact of speech-based screen readers on the information-seeking behavior of visually impaired users. Significant differences were observed during query formulation and in the use of query-level support features such as query suggestions and spelling suggestions. In addition, screen-reader users submitted a lower number of queries and displayed comparatively limited exploratory behavior during search results exploration. We investigate how a lack of visual cues affected visually impaired searchers' approach towards query reformulation and observed different strategies to manage and use information encountered during the search process. We discuss the implications that our findings have for the design of search interfaces and propose a set of design guidelines to consider when designing interfaces that are usable and accessible with screen readers. This work also enhances our understanding of search behavior when using an auditory interface and could be useful when designing audio-based information retrieval systems. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Cited By

Kvikne BBerget G(2024)“I cannot find the words, it's broken”: The impact of aphasia on information searchingProceedings of the 17th International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments10.1145/3652037.3652044(118-124)Online publication date: 26-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3652037.3652044
Ghosh SGhosh SShah CKlein MBen-David AJäschke RKelly M(2024)Toward Connecting Speech Acts and Search Actions in Conversational Search TasksProceedings of the 2023 ACM/IEEE Joint Conference on Digital Libraries10.1109/JCDL57899.2023.00027(119-131)Online publication date: 26-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/JCDL57899.2023.00027
Phutane MJung CChen NAzenkot S(2023)Speaking with My Screen Reader: Using Audio Fictions to Explore Conversational Access to InterfacesProceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility10.1145/3597638.3608404(1-18)Online publication date: 22-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3597638.3608404
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A comparative analysis of the information-seeking behavior of visually impaired and sighted searchers
1. Information systems
  1. Information retrieval

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cover image Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology

Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology Volume 63, Issue 2

February 2012

217 pages

ISSN:1532-2882

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John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

United States

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Published: 01 February 2012

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Cited By

Kvikne BBerget G(2024)“I cannot find the words, it's broken”: The impact of aphasia on information searchingProceedings of the 17th International Conference on PErvasive Technologies Related to Assistive Environments10.1145/3652037.3652044(118-124)Online publication date: 26-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3652037.3652044
Ghosh SGhosh SShah CKlein MBen-David AJäschke RKelly M(2024)Toward Connecting Speech Acts and Search Actions in Conversational Search TasksProceedings of the 2023 ACM/IEEE Joint Conference on Digital Libraries10.1109/JCDL57899.2023.00027(119-131)Online publication date: 26-Jun-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1109/JCDL57899.2023.00027
Phutane MJung CChen NAzenkot S(2023)Speaking with My Screen Reader: Using Audio Fictions to Explore Conversational Access to InterfacesProceedings of the 25th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility10.1145/3597638.3608404(1-18)Online publication date: 22-Oct-2023
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3597638.3608404
Aqle AAl-Thani DJaoua A(2022)Can search result summaries enhance the web search efficiency and experiences of the visually impaired users?Universal Access in the Information Society10.1007/s10209-020-00777-w21:1(171-192)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2022
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1007/s10209-020-00777-w
Napoli DBaig KMaqsood SChiasson SChiasson S(2021)"I'm literally just hoping this will work"Proceedings of the Seventeenth USENIX Conference on Usable Privacy and Security10.5555/3563572.3563586(263-280)Online publication date: 9-Aug-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.5555/3563572.3563586
Bahrainian SZerveas GCrestani FEickhoff C(2021)CATS: Customizable Abstractive Topic-based SummarizationACM Transactions on Information Systems10.1145/346429940:1(1-24)Online publication date: 25-Oct-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3464299
Aliannejadi MAzzopardi LZamani HKanoulas EThomas PCraswell NDemartini GZuccon GCulpepper JHuang ZTong H(2021)Analysing Mixed Initiatives and Search Strategies during Conversational SearchProceedings of the 30th ACM International Conference on Information & Knowledge Management10.1145/3459637.3482231(16-26)Online publication date: 26-Oct-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3459637.3482231
Storer KSampath HMerrick MKitamura YQuigley AIsbister KIgarashi TBjørn PDrucker S(2021)”It’s Just Everything Outside of the IDE that’s the Problem”:Proceedings of the 2021 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems10.1145/3411764.3445090(1-12)Online publication date: 6-May-2021
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3411764.3445090
Kvikne BBerget G(2021)In search of trustworthy information: a qualitative study of the search behavior of people with dyslexia in NorwayUniversal Access in the Information Society10.1007/s10209-019-00703-920:1(1-12)Online publication date: 1-Mar-2021
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Makri SMcKay DBuchanan GChang SLewandowski DMacFarlane ACole LVrijenhoek SFerraro A(2021)Search a Great Leveler? Ensuring More Equitable Information AcquisitionProceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology10.1002/pra2.51158:1(613-618)Online publication date: 13-Oct-2021
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