Designing and Evaluating an Audiobook Service Model on Android Platform for the Visually-Impaired

This paper describes the process and methodology followed in developing the Android-based LG Sangnam Audiobook service and an evaluation of its usefulness to the public. The methods included a survey of user needs, analysis of usage statistics, and user interviews. The study found that visually impaired users: 1) were greatly interested and willing to use smartphones if there were no barrier in cost and access; 2) preferred downloads to streaming services; 3) did not mind performance differences between real and TTS (text-to-speech) voices; 4) showed marked differences in book preferences according to age, 5) made about 14,000 downloads in 2014; and 6) indicated bookmarking and moving between pages and tables of content as the most important functions in using audiobooks.