Research protocols for this project have been vetted and/or approved by:
Any questions, comments, or concerns should be addressed to the Principal Investigator on this project, Brett Oppegaard, who can be reached via this email.
My name is Brett Oppegaard, and my University of Hawai‘i-based research team and I are conducting a research project on Audio Description, including mobile apps, for low-vision, blind people, and DeafBlind people interested in learning more about national parks. We are interested in testing prototypes of descriptions, and delivery systems of those descriptions, such as mobile apps. In those studies, we are focused on comparing functionality, processes, content styles, composition, and interfaces, to try to improve those app experiences for users. We primarily study products and processes, not the people using these systems and tools. To concentrate on related issues, your help is requested. During our interactions, you will be asked various questions about Audio Description, including how you use the descriptions or the tools to deliver the descriptions. This is not a test of you or your knowledge about Audio Description or mobile apps but an investigation into the processes of design, distribution, and support of Audio Description as a medium. Your participation is important, so that researchers can make accurate conclusions about how low-vision, blind people, and DeafBlind people engage with audio-described mobile apps and how Audio Description is designed and shared. Your contribution to this research will help increase the validity of the findings. It will help to improve Audio Description in general. There are no right or wrong answers. We only ask for your honest responses. Thank you for your participation!
There will be no direct benefit to you for taking part in this project. You will be simply answering questions about design and support processes. There is also little to no risk to you in participating in this project.
You will not receive any inducements (money, service) for your participation in the study, nor will you bear any costs for your participation.
Unless you consent to such disclosure, as a way to share your perspectives to the public, I will not share any personal information, such as your full name or address. Please do not include any personal information in your survey responses. Any identifying information collected (names, organizations, addresses, phone numbers, etc.) will not be shared in publication of the material, or outside of the research staff, unless you express that consent in writing. Other agencies that have legal permission have the right to review research records. The University of Hawai'i Human Studies Program has the right to review research records for this study.
Participation in the study is completely voluntary. You may refuse to participate, choose not to answer any question, or withdraw from the study at any time. There will be no penalty or loss of benefits for those decisions. If you do agree to participate, you can stop at any time. All participants have the right to review and delete any of their responses on research records if requested.
You may contact the UH Human Studies Program at 808.956.5007 or this email to discuss problems, concerns, and questions; obtain information; or offer input with an informed individual who is unaffiliated with the specific research protocol. Please visit the IRB website for more information on your rights as a research participant. Or, you can contact the Principal Investigator in this study: Brett Oppegaard, Ph.D., University of Hawaii at Manoa, via this email or phone 808-956-3340.