Re: Seeking speech synthesizer min/max capabilities

Harvey Bingham wrote:
> 
> National Information Standards Organization
> Digital Talking Book Standards Committee
> Document Navigation Features List
> Status of this Document: This document is in draft status. Please send any
> comments to Michael Moodie at mmoo@loc.gov.
> Draft 4 -- December 29, 1999
> 
> Extract pertinent to our recent discussions.

Thanks for this information Harvey! 

I would note that the navigation techniques already
appear in the Techniques Document [1] under checkpoint 7.6.(though
they have been edited down).

 - Ian
  
[1] http://www.w3.org/WAI/UA/WD-UAAG10-TECHS-20000610/#gl-navigation
 
> http://www.loc.gov/nls/niso/navigation.htm
> 
> 1. Basic Navigation
> Many of the navigation features which should be available in a digital
> talking book of the advanced variety will of necessity correspond to the
> navigation features available in today's personal computers. Blind people
> who are sophisticated users of screen access technology, word processors,
> or book reading software have already been exposed to many of the
> navigation features discussed here. Moreover, for purposes of discussion,
> it is assumed that users of the advanced digital talking book text
> navigation features possess a high degree of technological sophistication.
> 
> 1.1 Basic Movement Through Text
> The advanced digital talking book should provide the ability for the user
> to move through text one character, word, line, sentence, paragraph, or
> page (corresponding to the printed page, if present) at a time. In
> addition, the user should be able to jump to a specific page in the book
> (e.g., go to print page 55) and any specific line or paragraph on that page.
> The user should be able to read the entire publication--from beginning to
> end--without having to jump up and down a hierarchical tree structure
> (e.g., moving in and out of the Table of Contents to go to the next chapter).
> Another basic movement function that needs to be provided is time. The user
> should be able to move back and forth through the book using either a small
> (ten seconds, for example) or a large (e.g., ten minutes) time slice
> specified by the user.
> 
> 1.2 More Sophisticated Movement
> The user needs to have the ability to "jump" to specific chapters,
> sections, headings, and other segments of the digital talking book. For
> example, there should be functions such as "Go to next chapter," "Go to
> next subheading," "Go to next section," "Go to Chapter 5, Section 1," etc.
> This feature may be linked to a hierarchical, collapsible "Navigation
> Control Center" (discussed later), but then again, the user should have the
> ability to jump to a specific part of the book if its number or title is
> already known.
> 
> 2. Fast Forward and Fast Reverse
> It would be useful to have a simple tape-recorder-type navigation feature
> (cue and review function). For example, there could be a slider-like
> control or push buttons that would allow the user to fast-forward or
> fast-reverse through the book at a high speed. As the text was traversed,
> speech could be generated at a high speed using some form of time scale
> modification. Readers can learn much about the structure of the text that
> is passing. For example, lists can be detected as a series of short,
> staccato bursts. Paragraphs, chapter headings, etc. could be indicated by
> strategically-generated tones. Thus, an individual could just zip forward
> or backward through the book rather than typing commands to accomplish the
> same tasks. For some individuals, this interface would be much simpler and
> easier to use. It might also be much more useful in a document that is long
> and does not have particularly good titling or sectioning.
> An alternative method of allowing the user to skim a document would be to
> have the playback device read the types of text elements that are passed.
> For example, the user might hear, "part, chapter, section, paragraph,
> paragraph,..., section, paragraph, paragraph,..., table, paragraph,
> paragraph,..., sidebar, etc."
> It is recommended that the fast forward and reverse feature allow the book
> to be traversed anywhere from 10-25 times the normal or real-time reading
> speed.
> 
> 3. Reading at Variable Speeds
> It should be possible to read the digital talking book at speeds that are
> faster than or slower than the normal listening rate. This variable speed
> feature is necessary to enable playback at a speed that is comfortable and
> efficient for a wide range of readers. Three times the normal "real-time"
> rate should be possible, and the slowest speed should be around 1/3 the
> real-time reading rate.
> The device should offer the user the option of "Time-Scale Modification"
> (TSM), that is, the capability to maintain constant pitch while the
> playback speed is varied. This feature should be optional, however, so that
> the user can choose to have the pitch change as the playback speed changes.
> The TSM system should not produce audible chopping, burble, or
> reverberation and should not skip over significant units of sound at high
> playback speeds.
> 
> Regards/Harvey Bingham

-- 
Ian Jacobs (jacobs@w3.org)   http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs
Tel:                         +1 831 457-2842
Cell:                        +1 917 450-8783

Received on Friday, 7 July 2000 19:51:59 UTC