Identification of factors associated with blind users' help†seeking situations in interacting with digital libraries

A sight†centered digital library (DL) design with complex structures and multimedia formats poses significant challenges for blind users. This study is the first attempt to investigate the top three help†seeking situations as well as associated factors in blind users' DL interactions. A mixed†method approach was adopted for this study. Multiple methods were applied to collect data from 30 blind subjects: questionnaires, presearch interviews, think aloud protocols, transaction logs, and postsearch interviews. The paper identifies the top three help†seeking situations, and associated factors in relation to user, system, task, and interaction. Moreover, different types of main†level factors were tested to investigate if they are correlated to each type of top situation, and qualitative data of sublevel factors offer insight into how these factors are associated with various situations. Without a clear understanding of these situations and factors, the objective of universal access to information in DLs cannot be achieved. DL design implications are further discussed with the goal of providing system design recommendations for reducing blind users' help†seeking situations.