"Make your voice high and squeak": Engaging Students with Visual Impairments in Collaborative, Participatory Sonic Interaction Design

Students who are blind or visually impaired (BVI) primarily use sound to consume information. Despite being among the largest groups using audio interfaces, they are rarely involved in designing interactive, sound-based technologies. Sound design is challenging, and often requires a niche skill set and specialized tools that make it unapproachable and inaccessible for beginners. In contrast, collaboration offers opportunities for novices to practice sound design by embedding sense-making in social interactions. We engaged BVI middle school students and their teachers in a series of collaborative activities to conceptually design an audio game through a five-day workshop. The activities situated skills such as close listening and vocal sketching within a novel cycle of reflection, creation, and remixing. We contribute principles for emergent, collaborative sound design among BVI users; goal-oriented strategies to situate sound design; and techniques to toggle between the different skills required for effective sonic interaction design.