Request for Participation and Student Research Study

Hello, I hope this email  finds you well,

We are undergraduate students from the York/Sheridan Program in Design at York University in Toronto. We are currently conceptualizing a smart device that would assist the deaf community as part of a prototyping course (YSDN 3006).

To ensure our product addresses the needs of the deaf community, we have created a digital questionnaire in the hopes of distributing it to the deaf and/or hard of hearing members in your association. Whoever wishes to participate in our questionnaire will remain anonymous and complete a consent form before the questionnaire begins.

Here is the link to our Google Form questionnaire: https://forms.gle/BNLt29ki33mKyj2o8

We will be asking these questions:

1. What is your level of hearing?
2. Do you use any assistive devices?
3. If yes, which one? What do you like and dislike about this device? If no, are there any you want to use?
4. What is your stance on cochlear implants and/or hearing aids?
5. How do you communicate with hearing individuals? (hearing aids, sign language, pen and paper, etc.)
6. Do you experience any challenges in communicating with hearing individuals?

.      If yes, what are some of these challenges?

6. Do you experience challenges with environmental awareness or navigation?

.      Are there specific environments or scenarios that are challenging for you and why? (hospitals, school/university, workplace, interviews, airports,  etc.)

7. Has Covid-19 safety measures impacted the way you communicate with others or navigate your environments (social distancing, masks, etc)?
8. Would a device that (1) translates your sign language to speech/text display (2) translates someone else’s speech to text be useful to you when communicating with hearing people?
9. What do you wish to see more in current-day technology that would assist in communication?

Please let us know if conducting our questionnaire is possible. If you have questions about the research in general or about your role in the study, please feel free to contact me at poon18@my.yorku.ca.

Researchers’ Names: Anna Asgaraly (annadjr@my.yorku.ca ), Lulu Li (looluli@my.yorku.ca), Christina Poon (poon18@my.yorku.ca), Chelsea Shum (cheliek@my.yorku.ca).

Thank you for your time,

Christina Poon

Design student at York University and Sheridan College