When I get the app are there specific things you want me to do?

Yes, we will be sending you a series of tasks we would like you to try with your smart speaker and the CELA app. These will be simple things like searching for a specific book or starting and stopping a book in progress. These series of tasks will allow us to assess the actions we expect users to need to read their books and help standardize the evaluation process.

Will the app have the same functionality as I would get if I accessed my account on the website?

While our goal is to eventually have a fully featured service, for this pilot we are we are only able to test a specific set of functions. Your feedback will help guide future priorities for this project.

Is the full CELA collection available for this pilot?

We are working to offer a broad selection of French and English human-narrated audio books in the CELA collection. There are a few areas of the collection that will not be available for the pilot:

• Magazines
• Audible titles 
• Bookshare titles
• Some newly added CELA human-narrated audio titles may not be available through the search

We are working on making these titles available in the future.

Will the books on my bookshelf be available during the pilot?

CELA human-narrated titles in Direct to Player DAISY Audio that you place on your bookshelf will be available during the pilot. Books on your bookshelf that are Audible and BookShare titles, magazines, and any titles that aren't in Direct to Player DAISY Audio format will not be available. Any titles that you added to your bookshelf before 2019 will be unavailable for the pilot. We will work towards making these titles available in the future.

What are some of the ways I will be able to find books using the smart speaker?

You will be able to browse a list of books including the Top 5 books of the month for adults, teens, and kids. You will also be able to browse select categories like Mysteries and crime stories, Biographies, Romance, General fiction, Science fiction, Self-help, and History. You will also be able to search our catalogue using title or author. You will also be able to read books placed on your Direct to Player bookshelf.

Will my search preferences apply when I am using the smart speaker?

Unfortunately, that functionality is not available to us at this time; the search function has been simplified for this pilot. Users will be able to search by title and author, but those search results cannot be filtered.

Is there anything else I should know about searching using the smart speaker?

Searching with voice assistant technology in any situation can be more challenging as pronunciation, accents, and similar sounding words can produce unexpected results. We recommend you try to search using both title and author if that information is available to you.

Can I ask the smart speaker to give me more information about a book I am interested in?

Yes, book descriptions are available. However, please note that these can be quite long, and once you begin listening to a book description you will not be able to stop it halfway through without closing the app.

What functions can I use when listening to books using the smart speaker?

You will be able to return to a book you were recently reading, start, stop, pause, move ahead by track (often this is chapter), and adjust the volume. Due to limitations of the Google and Amazon platforms, it is not yet possible to adjust the reading speed or navigate through a book using headings.

Will the smart speaker sync to my other devices?

As with other devices, that functionality is not available. If you read your book on one device, such as a DAISY player, other devices such as the smart speaker or your EasyReader app will not know your current position in the book.

Can I manage my account using the smart speaker?

No, you will need to continue to manage your account on our website or by emailing or calling the Contact Centre.

How will the evaluation be done?

We will evaluate in a variety of ways. Our Peer Trainers are capturing feedback as they support our pilot participants through email and phone calls.

We will also be issuing a survey using an online survey platform to all pilot participants during the final week of March. This survey will ask for feedback on a variety of aspects of the service. You will have approximately 1 week to complete survey.  We will also invite all participants to a forum in late March to discuss their experiences with the smart speaker app.

When will we know the results of the pilot?

The smart speaker pilot concludes in April. At that time, we will be evaluating the feedback we have received. As soon as we are able, we will be reporting back to pilot participants about our findings.