A New Audio Testing Method with Document
Structure Tables for the Dyslexic and the Newly Blind
Mamoru Fujiyoshi1 , Akio Fujiyoshi2 , and Toshiaki Aomatsu3
1

Research Division, the National Center for University Entrance Examinations
2-19-23 Komaba, Meguro, Tokyo, 153-8501, Japanfujiyosi@rd.dnc.ac.jp
2

Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Ibaraki University
4-12-1 Nakanarusawa, Hitachi, Ibaraki, 316-8511, Japanfujiyosi@mx.ibaraki.ac.jp
3

National School for the Blind of Tsukuba University
3-27-6 Mejirodai, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 112-8684, Japanaomatsu@nsfb.tsukuba.ac.jp

Abstract
A new audio testing method with document structure tables was developed for thedyslexic and the newly blind, who have diﬃculties with reading in braille or print. Since
documents in the National Center Test for University Admissions are very long andhave very complicated document structure, we needed to develop a new audio testing
method for the National Center Test. The new audio tests can be administrated onlywith a digital audio player with 2-dimensional code reader and sheets of paper onwhich document structure tables and corresponding invisible 2-dimensional code havebeen printed.

1Introduction

It has been diﬃcult for the dyslexic and the newly blind, who have diﬃculties with reading in
braille or print, to take the National Center Test for University Admissions since audio tests
have not been administrated yet. The National Center Test is the joint achievement test foradmissions into all national and local public universities as well as many private universities
in Japan. Every year, about 550,000 students take the National Center Test. As for testtakers with disabilities, special arrangements regarding test media such as large print test
and braille-format test have been administered [6]. There are diﬃculties in administrating
ordinary types of audio tests for the National Center Test because the documents are very
long and the document structure very complicated. This study introduces a new audio
testing method for the dyslexic and the newly blind.
Ordinarily, audio tests are administrated by means of readers [4], audio cassettes [2, 7, 8]
or computers [1]. The simplest procedure is to recruit readers and have them read out atest booklet to a test-taker directly, but it is not easy to ﬁnd enough well-trained readers
for each test-taker. And for fairness and security reason, it might be necessary to supervise
such readers by another person. Audio cassettes make it easy for test-takers to listen to thetest sequentially, but it is inconvenient to go directly to a particular section of the test unlessrewinding and fast-forwarding can be done easily. A computer test is also inappropriate fortests written in Japanese even with advanced screen-reader software for the blind becauseof the ambiguity of the reading of Kanji in Japanese sentences. Screen-reader software cannot always convert Japanese sentences into correct Japanese speech.
For audio tests for the National Center Test, the utilization of DAISY (Digital AudioAccessible Information System) [? ? ] and Table PC [5] has been studied. DAISY [3] is a

Figure 1: An image of administration of the new audio testing method
world standard audio system for people with visual disabilities, taking the place of audio
cassettes. DAISY oﬀers audio tests in CD quality, and test-takers can listen to the testfrom any point, such as from an underlined or blank part, without delay. They can alsouse the talk-speed-control function, by which the speech sound can be adjusted from 1/2
to 3 times normal speed. However, DAISY is not convenient enough for tests which havecomplicated document structure. Tablet PC has been identiﬁed as appropriate test media
for audio tests [5]. However, there are diﬃculties in administration because prevention ofmachine trouble cannot be ensured.
We developed a new audio testing method with document structure tables. In Fig. 1, animage of administration of the new audio testing method is shown. The new audio tests canbe administrated only with a digital audio player with 2-dimensional code reader and sheetsof paper on which document structure tables and corresponding invisible 2-dimensional code
have been printed. For the dyslexic, the document structure tables are printed as ordinary
layout characters, while, for the newly blind, they are printed as braille layout characters.
This paper is organized as follows: Section 2 contains a summary of the method; Section
3 provides an experimental evaluation; and Section 4 is the conclusion.

2The New Audio Testing Method

The new audio tests can be administrated only with a digital audio player and sheets of
document structure tables. An invisible 2-dimensional code system and a digital audio
player with 2-dimensional code reader enable us to develop the new audio testing method.

2.1

Document Structure Tables

Document structure tables are sheets of paper on which the document structure of eachproblem is illustrated. The document structure and corresponding invisible 2-dimensional

Figure 2: An example of the document structure table printed on a paper
codes are printed on a white paper by an LED printer (OKI Data Corporation). For the
newly blind, the braille document structure is also embossed overlappingly on the paper bya braille printer (ESA721; JTR Corporation).
Fig. 2 is an example of a document structure table. Each document structure tableof a problem can be arranged within a sheet of paper. In Fig. 2, the ﬁrst line shows thesubject name ‘Gen-Dai Sha-Kai K’ and the problem number ‘Dai 4 Mon’. The upper partshows the document structure of the theme document of the problem. Each line ‘(1)’-‘(8)’corresponds to a paragraph in the theme document. The symbol ‘Bun’ represents a sentence
in a paragraph, and the symbols ‘a’-‘g’ represent underlined parts of the theme document.
The lower part shows the document structure of the questions of the problem. Each line
‘Toi 1’-‘Toi 7’ corresponds to a question. The numbers ‘20’-‘26’ represent answer items, andthe circled symbols ‘1’-‘8’ represent multiple-choice answers for an answer item.
On the same paper of a document structure table, invisible 2-dimensional codes can be
printed overlappingly. For an evaluation experiment, we employ ‘GridOnput’, an invisible
2-dimensional code system developed by Gridmark Solutions Co.,Ltd. Fig. 3 is an image of
dot pattern of GridOnput. Dots are arranged at intervals of about 0.25mm. The size of acode is about 2mm square.

2.2IC Player with 2-Dimensional Code Reader

As a reading device for the new audio testing method, we employ ‘Speaking Pen’ developed
by Gridmark Solutions Co.,Ltd. Speaking Pen has a 2-dimensional code reader at its top.

Figure 3: An image of dot pattern of GridOnput
When a 2-dimensional code is scanned with Speaking Pen, the corresponding digital soundwill be reproduced. We can listen the sound through a headphone or built-in speaker. The
sound volume can be adjusted with its buttons mounted at the front side. The sound datais stored in a SD memory card. 1G byte is enough to store all sound data of 1-year amountof the National Center Test.

3

Evaluation Experiment

In order to evaluate the new audio testing method, an experiment was conducted by comparing the new audio test with three diﬀerent speaking speeds and the braille-format test.

3.1

MethodThe experimental design was a repeated 4x4 Graeco-Latin square method because we could
not use the same problem in diﬀerent test media for the same person. The image of theexperimental design for the Graeco-Latin square method is shown on Table 1. The subjects
are 16 students from a high school for the blind (some are graduates of a high school forthe blind), who are familiar with both braille and audio learning materials. There were 4subject groups, i.e., the subjects were evenly divided into 4 subgroups. There were 4 test
media: the braille-format test, the audio test of normal (×1.0) speaking speed, the audio
test of ×1.5 speaking speed, and the audio test of ×2.0 speaking speed.
Four problems were prepared from tests in ‘Contemporary Social Studies’ previously
used in the National Center Test. The allotment of marks, number of characters, andnumber of braille cells are shown on Table 2.
The test procedure is administered without time limits. The answers are written inbraille. The behavior of subjects is observed by test monitors, and the answer-process timeof subjects was recorded by the monitors using stop watches.

Table 1: Image of the experimental design for the Graeco-Latin square method
Subect Groups
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
BrailleAudio ×1.0 Audio ×1.5 Audio ×2.0
1
Problem 1
Problem 3
Problem 4
Problem 2
Audio ×1.0
BrailleAudio ×2.0 Audio ×1.5
2
Problem 2
Problem 4
Problem 3
Problem 1
Order
Audio ×1.5 Audio ×2.0
BrailleAudio ×1.0
3
Problem 3
Problem 1
Problem 2
Problem 4
Audio ×2.0 Audio ×1.5 Audio ×1.0
Braille4Problem 4
Problem 2
Problem 1
Problem 3
Table 2: Allotment of marks, number of characters, and number of braille cells
Marks Characters Braille Cells
Problem 1
52,255
4,866
Problem 2
5
2,000
4,543
Problem 3
5
1,796
3,996
Problem 4
5
2,410
5,247
Total
20
8,461
26,190

3.2

ResultThe score distributions of the four test media were almost same. There were no signiﬁcantdiﬀerence among the braille-format test, the audio test of normal speaking speed and theaudio test of ×2.0 speaking speed. However, the score of the audio test of ×1.5 speaking
speed was signiﬁcantly lower than the other test media. The Box-and-whiskers plots inFig. 4 represent the score distribution of each test media. The vertical lines in the middleof the box plots indicate the median. The ‘+’ symbols in the boxes are the mean.
The distribution of the answering speed of the four test media were also almost same.
The answering speed of the audio tests of ×2.0 and ×1.5 speaking speed was a little fasterthan the braille-format test but there were no signiﬁcant diﬀerence. Indeed, there was asigniﬁcant diﬀerence between the answering speed of the braille-format test and the audio
tests of normal speaking speed. However, the diﬀerence was only 2% in median between
them. The Box-and-whiskers plots in Fig. 4 represent the distribution of the answering
speed of each test media.
We found that the answering speed becomes 10% or 13% faster if the audio test of ×1.5
or ×2.0 speaking speed is used comparing to the normal speaking speed.

4Conclusion

The new audio testing method with document structure tables enables the dyslexic and thenewly blind to take the National Center Test for University Admissions since the administration of the new audio test is easy and test-takers can handle problems with complicateddocument structure. We can administrate the new audio test only with a digital audio
player with 2-dimensional code reader and sheets of paper on which document structure
tables and corresponding invisible 2-dimensional code have been printed, and test-takers

Singed-Rank Test
Audio ×1.0
BrailleAudio ×2.0
Audio ×1.505
Score (marks)

Figure 4: Box-and-whisker plots for the score
Singed-Rank Test
Audio ×2.0
Audio ×1.5
BrailleAudio ×1.00250
Answering Speed (characters/minute)

Figure 5: Box-and-whisker plots for the answering speed
can start reading problems and questions at any point of their preference. If we print
2-dimensional codes on ﬁgures, we can set problems with ﬁgures.
As a result of evaluation experiment, the new audio test is almost equivalent to brailleformat test in score and answering speed.

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administered testing. American Printing House for the Blind, Kentucky (2003)[2] Allman, C. B.: Test access: making tests accessible for students with visual impairments: A guide for test publishers, test developers, and state assessment personnel,
2nd ed. American Printing House for the Blind, Kentucky (2004)
DAISY 2.02 Speciﬁcation.
[3] DAISY Consortium:
publications/specifications/daisy 202.html (2001)

http://www.daisy.org/

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