[media] Give HTML A Say - InformationWeek Daily

** New Consortium To Give HTML A Say

A group of technology leaders are collaborating to develop a new 
Web language that would let people input and access data on 
various wireless devices via speech. Cisco Systems, Comverse, 
Intel, Microsoft, Philips Speech Processing, and SpeechWorks 
International have co-founded Salt Forum to create speech 
application language tags.

Salt members intend to extend the capabilities of HTML, xHTML, 
and eventually XML. Doing so would allow people to combine speech 
with audio and visual input and output on wireless devices, says 
Steve Chambers, a VP at Speechworks International. By using Salt 
tags, the forum leaders claim, developers would be able to embed 
speech into existing HTML, xHTML, and XML pages without having to 
rewrite apps. Businesses would be able to use their existing Web 
investments and expertise, and they wouldn't need to create 
discrete speech apps. 

The forum founders expect to make the specification publicly 
available in March or April 2002. They say they'll submit it to a 
standards body, such as the World Wide Web Consortium or the 
Internet Engineering Task Force, by midyear. 

"This Salt initiative could be a part of the evolution in the 
industry to establish voice middleware and architecture to 
support voice as an additional point of interaction," says Meta 
analyst Earl Perkin. That's something longtime voiceXML proponent 
IBM would welcome. "IBM is frustrated because it can't get the 
industry to realize that voiceXML goes beyond integrating speech 
with the Internet," Perkins says. IBM is not included among the 
founding members of Salt. - Tischelle George

For more information on the consortium, go to
http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eEnW0BoVyT0V20TM80AY

Get more background on voice advances. Read
Technically Speaking
http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eEnW0BoVyT0V20SpK0AR

Oracle Adding Voice Access To Products
http://update.informationweek.com/cgi-bin4/flo?y=eEnW0BoVyT0V20Qnr0A1


Kathleen Anderson, Chair
State of Connecticut
CMAC Web Site Accessibility Committee
email: kathleen.anderson@po.state.ct.us
phone: (860) 702-3355
URL: http://www.cmac.state.ct.us/access/

Received on Tuesday, 16 October 2001 08:09:52 UTC