Telephone talk: effects of two access methods on phone call success.

The slower and unnatural timing of speech inherent to speech-generating devices (SGDs) can be a barrier to successful aided telephone calls. The timing of message delivery when using an SGD may vary depending on the type of access method used. We measured the difference in the success rate of telephone calls made with an SGD either using switch scanning or direct selection with eye gaze. The scripted calls, asking for directions, were placed to 100 randomly selected businesses. Analysis showed a statistically significant difference in the success rate between the two conditions, with eye gaze access resulting in more successful calls. Findings from this study suggest that people who use SGDs for phone calls may improve the timing of message delivery by using eye gaze access compared to switch scanning.