DRAFT: Letter to AT Vendors

Audience: AT vendors and developers

Subject: Pronunciation in HTML

The Pronunciation Task Force
<https://www.w3.org/WAI/APA/task-forces/pronunciation/> identified multiple
possible solutions for improving pronunciation on the web. We would like
your opinions about two strategies on our way to choosing our preferred
solution.

We aim to give authors control over pronunciation in HTML. Many
technologies will benefit from this innovation including smart speakers,
read aloud tools, and assistive technology (AT). Smart speakers harvest
text and markup from the web but also have an SSML
<https://www.w3.org/TR/speech-synthesis11/> interface. Read aloud tools may
use the Web Speech API <https://wicg.github.io/speech-api/#tts-section>,
also based on SSML. When it comes to AT, we're presented with two possible
strategies:

   1. Encourage AT to parse the SSML-based pronunciation information in the
   same manner as other technologies.
   2. Work with standards groups and browser vendors to add pronunciation
   information to the accessibility tree (AxTree).

Please let us know which approach you prefer for your products and the
users you serve. If you have any questions for our group, use our public
email: public-pronunciation@w3.org.