Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing Perspectives on using Automatic Speech Recognition in Conversation

TL;DR

This paper investigates the high error rates of commercial speech recognition systems for deaf and hard of hearing individuals, highlighting the need for improved technology or alternative solutions to make speech-controlled devices accessible.

Contribution

The study provides empirical evidence of the disparity in speech recognition accuracy between deaf and hearing speech, emphasizing accessibility challenges for DHH users.

Findings

Deaf speech has approximately 78% word error rate in commercial systems.

Hearing speech has about 18% word error rate in the same systems.

Current speech-controlled interfaces are not usable by DHH people.

Abstract

Many personal devices have transitioned from visual-controlled interfaces to speech-controlled interfaces to reduce costs and interactive friction, supported by the rapid growth in capabilities of speech-controlled interfaces, e.g., Amazon Echo or Apple's Siri. A consequence is that people who are deaf or hard of hearing (DHH) may be unable to use these speech-controlled devices. We show that deaf speech has a high error rate compared to hearing speech, in commercial speech-controlled interfaces. Deaf speech had approximately a 78% word error rate (WER) compared to a hearing speech 18% WER. Our findings show that current speech-controlled interfaces are not usable by DHH people. Based on our findings, significant advances in speech recognition software or alternative approaches will be needed for deaf use of speech-controlled interfaces. We show that current speech-controlled interfaces are not usable by DHH people.