I am working on a survey which requires the participant to listen to an embedded audio. I would like to know if I can obtain their device volume while on a specific page,
or, even better, if it is possible to know the absolute volume range of the audio output on each participant's device while playing the embedded audio.
If you want to test that respondent is able to hear, you can add one screener question with some sound and ask question like which sound is this (say guitar, piano...).
Thanks @bansalpeeyush29 But the issue is not whether respondents are able to hear, which can be easily sorted out with a screener.
The key is that I need to know how volume level affects their responses. So their device volume information during the audio play would be crucial for my study. I could ask them to set their device volume to let's say 50% during the study. But it would be better if I could double-check whether they cooperated or not.
Hello
@chunkyu_lee
I guess that won't be possible as any browser made by Microsoft/Google/Apple/Mozilla/Opera doesn't allow this to avoid exploits through File.IO and limit developer's access to user's machines.
This is something you'd have to do in a controlled environment in order to trust your data is valid. For example, do you have any sort of physical location that you can control, like computer lab at universities or a conference room in a company?
Depending on the population requirements you have, you could even try doing this in some sort of public (or willing private domain), like park (or mall/coffee shop).
The only way you would be able to trust your data is to verify the volume levels before and after each response session. This is not an element I would trust to self-reported data.
@Akdashboard Thank you for the suggestion. Yes I will be running a lab experiment but I'd have to wait for mid-semester to recruit undergrad participants. I was trying to do a pretest online but you're right the validity would be really low. I guess I'll just give up the pretest.
