This page has links to demonstrations of some of the audio widgets that have been designed and evaluated within the group. Each widget has been implemented as a Java Applet in Java 1.1.

There is a seperate page for each widget where the problems with the visual only widget and the reasons the sounds used solve these problems are outlined. There is also a brief summary of the evaluation of the widget along with any results. As these widgets are only demos, their implementation may not be entirely consistent with the implementation of the evaluated widgets. Any such issues will also be highlighted.

The sounds used in these demos are Sun .au files - the sounds Java can currently handle. Unfortunately this means that the quality is not that high. When listening to the sounds please remember that the volume of the sounds is generally intended to be low - just above the threshold level. One way to set this level is to move the mouse over the audio button and adjust the volume until the sound is just above threshold level. Remember that this sound fades away!

audio buttons

These buttons are designed to improve the feedback given to users when they make an action slip error. Experimental evaluation showed that users preferred the audio button to the standard graphical button, with error recovery times improving significantly. The users did not find the sounds used annoying.

• Audio Button implemented in Java 1.1.

audio pull down menus

As with the audio buttons described above, these menus are designed to improve the feedback given to users when they make an action slip error. Experimental evaluation showed that the workload experienced by the users was significantly decreased, error recovery times again improved significantly and users preferred the audio menus to the standard graphical menu. As with the audio buttons, users did not find the sounds used annoying.

• Audio Menu implemented in Java 1.1.

audio progress bars

The audio progress bar was designed to give users continuous feedback on the state of the task being undertaken whilst freeing the users visual focus for other tasks. Experimental evaluation showed that the workload experienced by the users was significantly decreased, and the time taken to perform the task was also reduced. Again, users did not find the sounds used annoying.

• Audio Progress Bar implemented in Java 1.1.

audio drag and drop

The audio drag and drop widget was designed to improve the feedback given to users when they are dragging a source icon onto a target. The sounds used reinforce the visual feedback which is often obscured by the source icon or the cursor. Experimental evaluation showed that the workload experienced by the users and the effort expended were both significantly decreased. The time taken to perform the experimental tasks was also significantly reduced.

• Audio Drag & Drop implemented in Java 1.1.

toolkit of resource sensitive widgets

• Audio Toolkit demo and downloads