WorldDAB, the global industry forum for DAB+ digital radio, has published updated guidelines for automotive manufacturers and broadcasters, aimed at ensuring the best possible in-car digital radio user experience (UX). The new version builds on extensive research and collaboration across the digital radio ecosystem.
Produced by WorldDAB’s In-car User Experience Group, the guidelines provide essential recommendations on how digital radio should be presented and accessed in vehicles. Formed in 2016, the group brings together leading car manufacturers, broadcasters, and in-car technology providers with a shared goal: to place the user at the centre of digital radio design in the car.
Following work by the WorldDAB Technical Committee, the latest version of the guidelines features several updates, including recommendations that the service list navigation should always be positioned at the current station or last listened station, and should be ordered as alphabetical, then numerical, then punctuation characters. It also covers how to deal with very long service lists as more countries roll out DAB+ services and more choice is available.
The guidelines are free to download from the WorldDAB website at: https://www.worlddab.org/automotive/user-experience-guidelines
WorldDAB also offers a Help Point for automotive sector queries via its website.
The UX guidelines document remains live, with further updates based on feedback received from stakeholders and partners. For users in North America, NABA – the North American Broadcasters Association – has produced a set of UX Guidelines based on an earlier version of the WorldDAB document.
WorldDAB’s Automotive Project Manager, Rosemary Smith, said:
“We know listeners love radio, and in-car digital listening continues to grow in markets around the world. The new updates to our guidelines demonstrate our commitment to ensure collaboration between the broadcasters and the automotive sector to ensure that DAB+ digital radio always offers listeners the best possible user experience, as they tune in to their favourite digital stations.”
The publication of the latest guidance follows the annual WorldDAB Automotive event, held in June in Madrid, Spain, which saw public and private broadcasters join forces to deliver a unified message to the automotive sector that broadcast radio must remain prominent in the evolving in-car environment.
WorldDAB also publishes important research into listening in the car, demonstrating that radio remains an essential part of the in-car experience, and is the most listened-to audio platform in the car. The “Dashboard Dialogue” study is a major survey of recent and prospective car buyers conducted by Edison Research in 2023. The research was conducted across France, Germany and the UK and found that 91% of recent and prospective car buyers said it was important that their recent or next vehicle has DAB/DAB+ or FM radio.
(Pics: WorldDAB)
