SignQUOTE: A Remote Testing Facility for Eliciting Signed Qualitative Feedback

Sign synthesis is still an evolving technology and improving it requires the elicitation of qualitative feedback from users. Current options for acquiring qualitative feedback are limited. Face-toface tests conducted in sign language are expensive. On the other hand, remote tests do not use the preferred language of the test participants. A new tool, SignQUOTE, (Signed Qualitative Usability Online Testing Environment) is a configurable, crossplatform remote testing system based entirely on sign language. It includes an innovative method for capturing qualitative feedback in sign language via webcam. In a comparison study, participants viewed animations of American Sign Language and gave suggestions for improvement. The authors conducted a study using SignQUOTE that presented stimuli identical to those used in a previously-conducted face-to-face study. When comparing the two approaches, the authors found results that are consistent with previous comparison studies of remote and face-to-face testing. SignQUOTE comes with a TestDesigner that allows researchers to customize tests. The software is available as open source.