Deaf and Hearing Small Group Inclusive Communication System

Small groups of Deaf or hard-of-hearing (DHH) and hearing individuals find in-person communication challenging due to differences in preferred communication modalities (L. Elliot et al., Ntsongelwa and Rivera-Sánchez;). Groups of DHH and hearing individuals usually use systems with typing and speech recognition to communicate (Butler et al.; Glasser et al.; Mallory et al.; Stinson et al.; Marchetti et al.). However, these systems were often designed for asynchronous communication. To understand how design may address this gap, we conducted two studies. In study 1, we conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups with 16 DHH and hearing participants. Study 1 informed the design of an inclusive group communication system, CollabAll. In study 2, we conducted a comparative study with 16 DHH and hearing participants to evaluate the benefits of CollabAll. Our empirical findings suggest that the ability to interject, quickly voice an opinion or challenge those who are holding the floor was a reoccurring communication need generally not available in existing group communication systems. The design of CollabAll facilitated interjecting using accessible buttons labeled with clear messages, e.g., Agree, Repeat, etc. The evaluation results indicated that group discussions are better structured and more efficient when texting is complemented with interjections support.