Beyond being human: The (in)accessibility consequences of modeling VAPAs after human-human conversation

Abstract

Voice-Activated Personal Assistants (VAPAs) like Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant have rapidly become pervasive, with users spanning from the youngest young to the oldest old of our society. However, little is known about the nascent VAPA interaction paradigm: what are the fundamental metaphors and guidelines for design, and how do they constrain potential uses and users? This poster begins to answer these questions through a qualitative document review of VAPA design guidelines published by Amazon and Google. Initial results show that human-human conversation is considered the gold standard of interaction. We present an argument that troubles this assumption by adopting a lens of accessible interface design for blind individuals. We advocate VAPA design that moves beyond being human.