Understanding Peer-to-Peer Instructional Support in an Online Community for Blind Audio Producers
Abir Saha, Darren Gergle, Anne Marie Piper
Abstract
Exchange of peer-to-peer support in online Q&A communities plays an instrumental role in helping people learn and use complex software tools. While prior work has documented how disabled people support each other in finding accessible practices and workarounds in different contexts, research on understanding their participation in dedicated online Q&A communities has been limited. Through the analysis of 180 conversation threads consisting of 1140 posts in an online text-based Q&A community of blind and low-vision audio producers, we reveal various strategies members in this community use to formulate their queries and provide effective solutions regarding screen reader based navigation of complex graphical user interfaces. We reflect upon our findings to discuss the complexities blind and low-vision software users face in developing a shared understanding during collaborative troubleshooting through textual conversations and reimagine how online Q&A platforms could enhance peer-to-peer instructional support among screen reader users.