MobileActive.org

Featherweight multimedia devices combine audio with non-electronic visual displays (e.g., paper). Because of their low cost, customizability, durability, storage capacity, and energy efficiency, they are well-suited for education and information dissemination among illiterate and semi-literate people.

We present a taxonomy of featherweight multimedia devices and also derive design recommendations from our experiences deploying featherweight multimedia in the agriculture and health domains in India. We found that with some initial guidance, illiterate users can quickly learn to use and enjoy the device, especially if they are taught by peers.

Information access by low literate users is a difficult task. Critical information, such as in the field of healthcare, can often mean the difference between life and death. We have developed spoken language interface prototypes aimed at low-literate users, and tested them with community health workers in Pakistan. We present results showing that 1) in contrast to previous reports in the literature, well-designed speech interfaces significantly outperform touch-tone equivalents for both low-literate and literate users, and that 2) literacy significantly impacts task success for both modalities.