A Study of Problems and Needs Assessment for Developing Audiobooks for Visually Impaired Persons
Keywords:
Audiobooks, Visually impaired persons, Needs assessmentAbstract
Audiobooks are media that help promote educational opportunities and learning for visually impaired persons. However, visually impaired persons in Thailand still face problems in accessing these media in terms of quality, content, and supporting technology. This research aimed to study these problems and assess the priority needs for developing audiobooks to promote life skills for visually impaired persons. The sample comprised 1,080 visually impaired persons and 20 experts, selected through purposive sampling, with expert data collected through focus group discussions. The research instrument was a 42-item questionnaire with an Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) index of 0.84 and a reliability coefficient of 0.82. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, modified Priority Needs Index (PNI modified), and content analysis. The research findings revealed that most participants had used audiobooks (67.5%). The major problems identified included unclear audio quality (27.2%), lack of descriptive narration for important details (25.8%), and content not aligning with users’ needs (18.1%). The participants had the highest level of expectations toward audiobooks, particularly regarding the naturalness of narration voices, accessibility via mobile phones, and the promotion of mental health. The results of the priority needs assessment showed that audio characteristics had the highest priority need (PNI modified = 0.49), followed by content types (PNI modified = 0.43) and needs for audio media usage (PNI modified = 0.36). The experts suggested developing audiobooks with clear audio quality, support for a variety of digital devices, and compliance with DAISY standards in order to promote effective and sustainable access to information for visually impaired persons.
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