A 3D audio only interactive Web browser: using spatialization to convey hypermedia document structure

Abstract

Interactive audio browsers provide both sighted and visually impaired users with access to the WWW. In addition to the desktop PC, audio browsing technology can be deployed that enable users to browse the WWW using a telephone or while driving a car. This paper describes a new conceptual model of the HTML document structure and its mapping to a 3D audio space. Novel features are discussed that provide information such as: an audio structural survey of the HTML document; accurate positional audio feedback of the source and destination anchors when traversing both inter-and intra-document links; a linguistic progress indicator; the announcement of destination document meta-information as new links are encountered. These new features can improve both the user's comprehension of the HTML document structure and their orientation within it. These factors, in turn, can improve the effectiveness of the browsing experience.