Problem Statements

The competitive forces, intensity, and attractiveness of the outdoor recreation application industry can be summarized using the Porter Model framework as follows:

● In Liu et al. study of YouTube use, reported that users who were blind used trial and error approach to determine if a video was accessible to them which was time-consuming.
● Kadakia et al. found that content creators on YouTube lacked care or knowledge to include accessibility keyword terms resulting in barriers for users who were visually impaired.
● Senjam and Primo study of YouTube navigation with screen readers, found that participants who were blind reported several problem issues with navigation.
● In a recent 2022 study, several participants with visual impairment had trouble getting used to new interfaces with updates on YouTube.

Participants Who Are Blind

Sighted Participants

It is the holiday season again, and you are excited to gather with your friends for Friendsgiving in two weeks. You have been asked to help prepare this year’s Turkey dish, but since you do not cook often, you are unfamiliar with where to start. You decide to visit the YouTube website and search for a Thanksgiving turkey recipe tutorial.

Task: "How would you search for a turkey recipe tutorial for the Friendsgiving party?"

You have found the Thanksgiving turkey recipe tutorial. You want to write down the grocery shopping list, but you cannot remember all the ingredients. Where would you go to look for the ingredients list?

Task: "How would you find the section in the video for the list of ingredients?"

Your friend was talking about a new feature on the YouTube website called “Shorts” that she believes you would enjoy. You are interested in using this new feature. Where would you go to find this feature?

Task: "How would you find this feature? Show us where you would go, and watch a couple of “Shorts” videos to get a sense of it. And then return to the homepage."

You like Chris Pratt mimicking a British accent in The Graham Norton Show, and you want to watch it again. Since you do not want to rewatch the entire show, you are looking for a “Shorts” video about this clip.

Task: "Find the “Shorts” video with Chris Pratt mimicking a British accent. You may begin this task and let me know when you find the video. You do not need to play the video yet."

Now that you have found the “Shorts” video of Chris Pratt mimicking a British accent, you can start watching this video. After finishing the video, you want to find out what others thought about it in the comments section.

Task: "Watch the video and read a few comments."

Higher Task Failure Rate for Participants Who Are Blind

• All participants were able to complete task 1 successfully
• For participants who are blind, four out of five failed task 2 compared to one out of five sighted participants
• Out of the participants who were blind and failed task 2, two were because the video they had did not contain the required recipe ingredients, and they did not continue to look for another video to complete the task
• For tasks 3 to 5, one out of five participants who are blind failed, while all sighted participants completed the task successfully.

Longer Average Task Completion Time for Participants Who Are Blind

Blind participants took longer to complete tasks related to the Shorts feature (tasks 3 to 5), with one out of five participants failing each task

All participants who are blind mentioned the requested tasks are considered easy. However, as they are unfamiliar with the feature or webpage, they would need to spend more time navigating the website sequentially on their first try to understand where to find specific content or features to complete the task. In comparison, sighted participants could quickly scan the web page to complete the tasks even though they may not be familiar with the layout or feature.

Ratings for Completion of Tasks

All participants were asked to rate each task in terms of their difficulty level for completion, from 1 being very easy to 5 being very difficult

• Task 1 was evaluated as very easy or easy by both groups of participants.
• Task 2 was rated neutral to difficult by most participants (n=6), including those who are blind, potentially due to the variable task element that requires the use of a video containing recipe ingredients to successfully complete the task.
• All participants who are blind rated Task 3 as easy to difficult, compared to all sighted participants who rated it very easy to easy, as it requires them to search for a new feature with which they are unfamiliar.
• Task 5 received two level-5 ratings (very difficult) and one level-4 rating (difficulty) from blind participants due to the non-functioning standard shortcut keys for pausing the Shorts video and enabling them to focus on finding the comments section to complete the task.

Complicated Video Discovery Experience

The introduction of two video content formats on YouTube, including Shorts, has complicated the user experience for both sighted and visually impaired participants. Shorts, which is a new immersive feature that delivers mobile-first, bite-sized video content, presents a steep learning curve, particularly for those who are visually impaired, as it differs significantly from regular YouTube videos. The feature aims to engage users by auto-playing videos on a loop unless manually paused, which has caused confusion for some users. During task 4, participants, both sighted and visually impaired, were unsure whether to use the global search bar on the YouTube homepage to search for the Shorts video, with some mistakenly clicking on the Shorts feature first.

Difficulty Identifying Shorts Videos from Regular Videos

• Three blind participants had difficulty distinguishing between Shorts and regular videos during the search process.
• Two blind participants missed the target Shorts video while searching.
• One visually impaired participant expressed uncertainty even after finding the Shorts video, while the other two found it time-consuming to identify.
• Sighted participants can quickly recognize Shorts videos through visual cues.
• Four out of five sighted participants identified Shorts by the Shorts label on the bottom right of the thumbnail.
• One sighted participant initially missed the Shorts label, finding it not very noticeable.

Not Easy to Control Video

All blind participants faced challenges accessing video player controls for both Shorts and regular videos. The automatic play feature of Shorts videos made it difficult for them to hear the screen reader. Participants expressed frustration and difficulties in using shortcut keys, such as pausing the video, with P5 mentioning the need to pop out the video to stop it. Additionally, P5 had trouble fast-forwarding and rewinding regular videos. In contrast, all sighted participants could navigate the controls with ease using the mouse.

Unintuitive Navigation

Participants who are blind encountered difficulties when navigating the YouTube website. They had trouble identifying errors and troubleshooting when they got lost on the page. The shortcut keys worked differently on the Shorts and regular videos page, which confused participants. They expected a similar shortcut key experience when browsing content on the same website. Some participants accidentally played new Shorts videos while trying to explore the screen freely on the Shorts video page. Furthermore, participants had difficulty locating the Shorts feature using screen reader shortcuts.

Inaccessible Video

The study found that inaccessible videos can be frustrating for participants who are blind and less appealing for sighted participants. Four blind participants failed to find the ingredients list in Task 2 because the content creator did not provide it in the description or transcripts. One sighted participant suggested that the creator should have included the list in the description, while another participant shared an app called YouDescribe that generates audio descriptions and helps individuals who are blind understand video content better.