Voice by the Non-sighted: Practices and Challenges of Audiobook Voice Actors with Blind and Low Vision in China

Research Background and Issues

• Identified Problems or Challenges:

  1. Employment Difficulties and Limitations: The employment rate for visually impaired individuals in China is low, at only 24.7%, with 96% of employed individuals working in massage therapy. However, this type of physical labor is not suitable for all visually impaired individuals.
  2. Shift to Digital Employment Channels: More visually impaired individuals are entering the audiobook industry. However, they face significant accessibility and usability challenges in visually-oriented work environments and tasks. For instance, simultaneously using screen readers while performing voice acting can be highly challenging.
  3. Market and Social Issues: The audiobook industry demands voice actors rather than mere content narrators. Due to algorithmic biases and requirements for visual interaction, visually impaired individuals face considerable competitive pressure on online platforms.

• Why This Issue is Important:

  1. It concerns the career opportunities and social support for an underestimated vulnerable group—visually impaired individuals.
  2. The importance and rapid growth of the audiobook industry: This field provides new employment opportunities for visually impaired individuals, helping them overcome traditional limitations and achieve social integration.
  3. This research offers guidance for the design of digital assistive technologies and platform optimization, contributing to enhanced employment equity for vulnerable groups.

• Research Motivation and Related Work:

  1. The authors aim to investigate the unique working methods and challenges faced by visually impaired individuals in the audiobook industry in China.
  2. Related studies primarily focus on the integration experiences of workers with disabilities on online platforms, addressing accessibility barriers and social relationship building. However, few delve into the specific operations, strategies, and technical practices of visually impaired voice actors.

Solution

• Proposed Solution:

  1. Employing a comprehensive qualitative research approach, including online semi-structured interviews (with 13 visually impaired participants) and offline observations with follow-up interviews, to reveal the professional practices and technological applications of visually impaired voice actors from multiple perspectives.
  2. Proposing a series of design recommendations to optimize the workflows and assistive technology support for visually impaired individuals in audiobook work.

• Innovative Aspects of the Solution:

  1. Integrating assistive technology (AT) case studies to uncover the unique needs and working methods of visually impaired voice actors in the audiobook industry.
  2. Developing a detailed workflow from script preprocessing to voice performance and recording software operation, offering new directions for industry standards and technology design improvements.

• Implementation Steps and Key Technologies:

  1. Script Preprocessing:
     • Utilize the VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) feature in Microsoft Word to batch extract text corresponding to specific roles.
     • Add line breaks to increase pauses between lines for screen readers (SR), facilitating memory and performance.
     • Use the "Find and Replace" function to modify annotations for polyphonic and homophonic characters.
  2. Voice Performance:
     • Set the screen reader to fast speech speed (10 Chinese characters per second) to enhance work efficiency.
     • Precisely apply vocal techniques based on character traits and emotional changes, such as speech speed, tone, pause points, and tail processing.
  3. Recording Software Operation:
     • Integrate screen reader plugins to navigate menus, locate time positions, and edit erroneous audio segments using keyboard shortcuts.

Research Outcomes

• Specific Outcomes:

  1. Revealed how visually impaired voice actors can effectively participate in the audiobook industry by relying on auditory skills and vocal techniques, despite the absence of visual dependency.
  2. Summarized key gaps between existing assistive technologies and the workflows of visually impaired voice actors, proposing solutions to address these gaps.

• Comparative Advantages Over Existing Solutions:

  1. Provided an in-depth depiction of the entire script preprocessing and voice performance process for visually impaired voice actors, supplementing details not covered in existing research.
  2. Offered comprehensive strategies ranging from technical support to social support, aiding in the optimization of platform design and assistive technologies.

• Experimental or Evaluation Results:

  1. Results from semi-structured interviews and observations showed that visually impaired voice actors can overcome work barriers through self-learning and community support, though they still face significant challenges in career stability and technology design limitations.
  2. The proposed recommendations demonstrated potential effectiveness in platform optimization, assistive technology improvements, and community-driven support.

• Limitations and Future Directions:

  1. Limitations: The number of observed subjects was limited, with only two experienced voice actors observed on-site; most participants were classified as "Visual Impairment Status I," potentially lacking insights into the practices of individuals with low vision.
  2. Future Directions: Suggest expanding research to include visually impaired voice actors from diverse cultural and technological backgrounds, and designing more targeted assistive technologies to improve their work efficiency and career stability.

Through this study, the authors advocate for the equal participation of visually impaired individuals in the digital employment sector while providing concrete directions for HCI and digital assistive technology design.