Auditory Displays for Accessible Fantasy Sports
Jared M. Batterman, Jonathan H. Schuett, Bruce N. Walker · 2013 · Proceedings of the 15th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (Assets '13) · doi:10.1145/2513383.2513397
Summary
This short paper addresses the inaccessibility of online fantasy sports platforms for visually impaired users and presents an accessible fantasy football system built around auditory display techniques. Fantasy sports are a major social and recreational activity with over 32 million players in the US and Canada and a multi-billion dollar economic impact, yet the platforms remain largely inaccessible because they rely on CSS image replacement instead of text, pop-over windows, Flash content, and inaccessible tab interfaces. The authors designed their system based on feedback from current fantasy sports users gathered through think-aloud walkthroughs, which revealed that player status information (injuries, lineup changes) was of utmost importance and that users employed diverse statistical strategies requiring flexible data access. The system maintains a familiar spreadsheet layout but augments it with multiple auditory display techniques: earcons (brief auditory icons — in this case, a referee whistle to alert about injured players), spearcons (algorithmically compressed speech used for navigating player names and menu items), general text-to-speech for detailed player statistics, and auditory graphs that map statistical data values to pitch and time to convey performance trends. Spearcons were specifically chosen over earcons for navigation because research has shown they increase both speed and accuracy when locating items and improve learning rates.
Key findings
The think-aloud walkthroughs revealed that the most critical information for fantasy users is player status alerts (injuries, suspensions), followed by the ability to compare player statistics across different time periods. The system addresses common accessibility barriers in fantasy sports platforms: the Move Player function, which typically requires navigating through an entire roster listening for eligible positions, was replaced with an auditory dropdown menu showing only eligible players for that position. Team roster navigation was enhanced with arrow key support for column-and-row movement, replacing the tab-key-only navigation of typical platforms. Auditory graphs were incorporated to allow users to compare player performance trends over time — a feature sighted users access through visual graphs on mainstream platforms. The authors note important open design questions around data valence in sonification: sports statistics have both positive valence (more rushing yards is better) and negative valence (more interceptions is worse), and it is unclear whether higher pitch should consistently represent "more" or whether it should represent "better," which would require mapping pitch direction differently depending on the statistic type.
Relevance
This paper highlights an important but underexplored area of accessibility: recreational and social activities. Fantasy sports are a significant vehicle for social connection and community participation, and their inaccessibility excludes visually impaired people from a shared cultural experience enjoyed by millions. The work demonstrates that accessibility extends beyond productivity tools and essential services — equal access to leisure activities matters for social inclusion and quality of life. The auditory display techniques described (earcons, spearcons, auditory graphs, TTS) form a toolkit applicable to many data-rich interfaces beyond sports. The open question about sonification valence mapping is relevant to any accessible data visualization effort: how do you sonify data where the meaning of "high" and "low" varies by context? For practitioners, the paper reinforces that accessible alternatives must provide equivalent functionality, not just basic access — fantasy sports users need to compare trends and make strategic decisions, not merely read player names.
Tags: auditory display · sonification · blind users · visual impairment · sports accessibility · earcons · spearcons · auditory graphs · screen readers · recreation · social inclusion