Catálogo de publicaciones - libros

Presentation of graphical information is key problem during teaching of visually impaired children. The developed system is devoted for investigation of graphical information by blind user using a digitiser. SVG language with additional elements is used for describing of maps. Non-speech sounds are used to transfer information about colour. Alerting sound signals is issued near two regions boundary.

This paper presents the Document Processing for Accessibility Workshop that is held at CEN/ISSS and summarizes its findings so far. It focuses on standards and initiatives that have been elaborated and concern document management and accessibility issues especially for the publishing industry. The paper provides also an outline of the work to be done and invites interested parties to take an active role in shaping the workshop.

Due to limitations of conventional text-based closed captions, expressions of paralinguistic and emotive information contained in the dialogue of television and film content are often missing. We present a framework for enhancing captions that uses animation and a set of standard properties to express five basic emotions. Using an action research method, the framework was developed from a designer’s interpretation and rendering of animated text captions for two content examples.

We proposed our integrated system for scientific documents including mathematical formulae with speech output interface [1], named “ChattyInfty.” This system consists of recognizer, editor and speech interface for scientific documents. Using this system, visually impaired people can read printed scientific documents with speech output. In this paper, we propose a new additional function of this system, which recognizes PDF documents. Using this function, visually impaired people can also read PDF documents including mathematical formulae with ChattyInfty. If PDF documents have embedded text, our PDF recognition engine does not only recognize PDF documents as page images but also utilizes the text information to verify its recognition results, to improve the recognition results. Recent commercial OCR software usually provides PDF output. Combining it with our PDF reader, users can get integrated recognition results of any such commercial OCR with Infty’s results of mathematical formulae. This system also provides simple interface customized for visually impaired people. It enables them to read scientific document (as image files / PDF) in minimum steps of key operation.

We propose an “oblique” listening system in the English language for the blind and visually impaired by controlling the speed of Text-to-Speech based on parts of speech in which the important parts are synthesized ’relatively’ slower while the unimportant at the maximum speed. In the system evaluation experiment, English natives with vision impairments were required to listen to three short passages of Text-to-Speech at the three types of speed and answer the questions of comprehension after the base-line speed was calculated from the measured maximum speed of recognizing ’a word’ and that of recognizing ’a sentence’ for each subject. We controlled the Text-to-Speech speed: base-line, ’oblique listening’ speed, and simple high speed, by which the duration is equal to the one by our system but without any speed variation. The results show that the “oblique” listening system is better than a simple high speed system even though not exceeding the base-line.

In this paper, we describe an approach to generate semantic descriptions of entities in city maps so that they can be presented through accessible interfaces. The solution we present processes bitmap images containing city map excerpts. Regions of interest in these images are extracted automatically based on colour information and subsequently their geometric properties are determined. The result of this process is a structured description of these regions based on the Geography Markup Language (GML), an XML based format for the description of GIS data. This description can later serve as an input to innovative presentations of spatial structures using haptic and auditory interfaces.

This paper proposes a model for Accessible Information Networks based on the experience of the “Serveur Hélène” project and on-going research within the European Specific Support Action EUAIN. It outlines the main components of the model, that should support contractual policies with publishers, as well as technical tools for improving the accessibility of the files provided.

As rich media moves further into our daily lives, whether at home, work, or on the go, lack of accessibility in mainstream content and end-user devices remains a challenge. Digital Talking Books are an example of how accessible content that merges text, audio, and structure, can be delivered on specialized portable devices for use by those with print disabilities. Mainstream media formats and standards are evolving that allow structural and meta information to be included in multimedia, yet authors may not utilize such capabilities and playback systems may not expose them even if present. Music playlists, as found on ubiquitous media devices such as MP3 players, offer conceptual similarities to talking book navigation but lack accessibility. With the growing presence of multimedia enabled mobile phones and devices, and increased availability of mobile audio and video, the accessibility of the content and user interface becomes a critical issue.

Traditionally, libraries serving persons who are blind or print disabled have had to create accessible, specially formatted materials and distribute these products to their patrons. As new technologies evolve, there is the vision of a time when materials published for the mainstream can be made accessible to persons with disabilities at the same time and at no greater cost than the versions targeted for the mainstream consumer.

This paper and presentation will both provide you with an update on the “traditional” activities, and reveal the essential roles that many libraries for the blind are playing in the standards, open source software, and the consumer products arena that will lead to that vision of the future.

The serial nature of speech technology seriously reduces the efficiency of blind individuals accessing web-based documents. Locating and manoeuvring to the required information can often be slow and laborious. This paper describes WebTree, a rather simple, yet highly customisable tree structured interface to web based documents, which provides page summaries based on the tree-like arrangement of the mark-up. The user dynamically controls how much of the document’s tree hierarchy is to be exposed on a (virtual) screen at any given time. Thus, entire element sub-trees may be efficiently traversed with minimal difficulty. Methods for incorporating non-hierarchical elements (such as tables), are also discussed. In addition, an alternative search mechanism, which allows for the restriction of the search to specific mark-up elements, is examined. Finally, this paper includes the initial findings from user evaluation tests and provides some additional recommendations to increase the usability of the interface.