ClassVoice FM Sync Prototype:
Redesigning Classroom Accessibility
(includes wireframes & high-fidelity prototype)
Role: UX Researcher & Designer
Teammate: O. Ashraf
THE CHALLENGE
Hard-of-hearing students often struggle to keep up in class because they can’t clearly hear the teacher or their classmates during group discussions. This can leave the student feeling disconnected from the conversation.
THE SOLUTION
ClassVoice FM Sync can help this challenge by turning student Chromebooks into microphones, allowing teachers to stream clear, direct audio straight to a student’s FM receiver so they never miss a word from their teacher or other students in the classroom.
HOW WE RESEARCHED:
We used a mixed-methods research approach to figure out what would actually work in a real classroom. We sent out surveys and asked open-ended questions to the people who know best: teachers, audiologists, and educational consultants. Our main goal was to gather both qualitative and quantitative data so we could make the Chrome extension super user-friendly and ensure it fit naturally into a regular school day.
PERSONA & PROBLEM STATEMENTS:
BUILDING THE BLUEPRINT: WIREFRAMES
We used Figma to design the interface and map out the user flow. We basically needed to design two different experiences:
TEACHER DASHBOARD -
This is the control center where teachers can see their classes, sync a D/HH student's hearing aids to specific peers' Chromebooks, and easily mute or unmute everyone when it's time to listen up.
Screen #1: Teacher login screen
Screen #2: Loading screen
Screen #3: Teacher classroom (tile / card layout)
Screen #4: Omer's FM Receiver is ready for syncing - status page
Screen #5: Syncing in progress status page
Screen #6: Syncing established status page. The teacher has enabled the audio from Malik, Amanda, and Brandon's Chromebook screen so that Omer can hear what they are saying in the group/class discussion. The teacher can MUTE ALL students that have been enabled by clicking on the MUTE ALL button.
STUDENT DASHBOARD -
On the student side, deaf/hard-of-hearing (D/HH) students can hop into their active classes, ask the teacher for permission to sync up with their classmates' Chromebooks' audio, and follow along with live text transcriptions.
Screen #1: Student login screen
Screen #2: Loading screen
Screen #3: Student classroom (tile / card layout). Students cannot JOIN a class unless that class is in session (enabled by the classroom teacher on the Teacher Dashboard).
Screen #4: Omer's FM Receiver is ready for syncing. He has to click the REQUEST SYNC button. The teacher will receive the request and approve or deny it.
Screen #5: Omer's FM Receiver is syncing.
Screen #6: Omer's FM Receiver has successfully been synced. He can now hear the teacher through her/his Chromebook. The teacher has also turned on the audio device on Malik, Amanda, and Brandon's Chromebook so that Omer can hear what they are saying in a group/classroom discussion.
Screen #7: Omer can read the live captions occurring in the conversations during class (only those who have their Chromebook enabled for syncing to Omer's FM Receiver.) He can also click on the ENGLISH dropdown button on the top right of the screen to change the language of the live captions. [See image below.]
Screen #8: Omer can request to END his sync. A Closed Captions (CC) and PRINT buttons were added on the top right of the screen.
Screen #9: Omer can choose to print the transcript of the classroom session.
USER FLOW
HOW CLASSVOICE FM SYNC WORKS
ClassVoice FM Sync is a Chrome extension that turns standard school-issued Chromebooks into an accessible audio network for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
It works by utilizing the built-in microphones on the students' Chromebooks to route their voices directly into a deaf/hard-of-hearing (D/HH) student's master FM receiver or hearing aids.
To keep the audio crystal clear and cut out distracting background noise, the teacher acts as the control center, allowing them to easily sync, mute, or unmute specific students' microphones during class discussions or group work.
The student using the FM receiver can view live captions. They can also change the language of the captions and then later on print the transcripts from the classroom session.
USER FLOW (STUDENT DASHBOARD)
USER FLOW (TEACHER DASHBOARD)
LIVE PROTOTYPE CREATED ON ADALO
USABILITY TESTING (TEACHER VIEW)
Think-Aloud Cognitive Walkthrough
![FireShot Capture 522 - ClassVoice FM Sync - [omer-ashrafs-team.adalo.com].png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/818e46_43f675c5e06645f6b494ce622bbe384c~mv2.png/v1/crop/x_0,y_0,w_2874,h_1385/fill/w_513,h_247,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/FireShot%20Capture%20522%20-%20ClassVoice%20FM%20Sync%20-%20%5Bomer-ashrafs-team_adalo_com%5D.png)
Task 1. Log in to the system: Open the ClassVoice FM Sync Chrome extension and log in using your teacher credentials.
Task 2: Navigate to a specific class: Locate and select the "Environmental Science / Period 2" card from your main courses dashboard.
Task 3: Establish a connection: Locate the student requiring audio assistance (Omer Ashraf) and initiate the syncing process to connect their FM receiver.
Task 4: Manage classroom audio: Use the global control buttons at the top of the dashboard to simultaneously mute all student microphones and reset the audio sync.
USABILITY TESTING (STUDENT VIEW)
Think-Aloud Cognitive Walkthrough
Task 1: Log in to the system: Open the ClassVoice FM Sync Chrome extension and log in using your student credentials.
Task 2: Join an active class: Locate the "Environmental Science / Period 2" course card, which should indicate the class is currently in session, and join the dashboard.
Task 3: Request audio sync: Send a request to the teacher to synchronize your FM receiver with the classroom audio.
Task 4: Access live transcription: Once synced, activate the live captions to view a real-time transcript of the ongoing classroom discussion.
Task 5: Change caption language: Access the language settings within the live captions and change the display language to Spanish.
Task 6: Print transcript: Use the print function to generate a hard copy of the live captions for note-taking purposes.
Task 7: Disconnect from sync: Request to end the audio sync session from your dashboard.
INSIGHTS FROM USER TESTING
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Educators loved that they could control exactly which Chromebooks connected to the FM receiver. It meant they could filter out all that distracting background noise and only transmit the audio that actually mattered to the conversation.
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The live subtitles were a huge hit, but users told us they needed a bit more. They specifically asked for a quick way to print out the full transcript right from the extension so students could use them as actual study notes.
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We quickly learned that just having English wasn't going to cut it. Feedback showed a massive need for live captions and interface instructions in multiple languages to make sure we were truly supporting every student in a diverse classroom.
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One of the biggest wins was utilizing hardware the schools already owned. Reviewers pointed out that routing audio through standard school-issued Chromebooks totally eliminated the need for classrooms to buy loads of expensive, clunky physical microphones.
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Teachers are incredibly busy, so the tech has to be easy to pick up. Survey respondents consistently praised the extension for being highly user-friendly and for fitting seamlessly into their day-to-day lessons without a steep learning curve.
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The data really spoke for itself on this one. Every single audiologist, teacher, and educational consultant we surveyed agreed that the tool boosted student engagement and overall learning outcomes, and a solid 57.9% gave its impact an "Excellent" rating.
VALUE FLOW MAP
