Proposal for a new SC on speech synthesis language control

The original content of the received message has been manually edited.

This proposal is in response to a public comment received from Alan 
Smith (original text below).  He did not propose a level, so I am 
proposing level AA. Note that I changed the example that Alan proposed 
to make it more obviously related to reading web content and not 
providing translation capability.

1.6.5 Synthesized Language: If synthesized speech is produced, the user 
can change the language with a direct command or a sequential command of 
three or less steps. (Level AA)

Intent of Success Criterion 1.6.5: Multi-lingual users of synthesized 
speech need the ability to quickly change the language of the speech 
synthesizer to respond to changing content.  Much web content lacks the 
appropriate language indication or has an incorrect language attribute, 
so that the user needs a convenient mechanism to change the language.

Example of Success Criterion 1.6.5:
Hosea is blind, he speaks Spanish but his instructors only speak 
English. Hosea keeps a floating control on his mobile device that allows 
one touch access to his configuration so he can quickly change the 
language the speech synthesizer reads. He is reading class-related 
material on the internet in Spanish, but must refer to an explanatory 
reference link in English. Since the reference link is not properly 
coded with a language attribute, his speech synthesizer does not 
recognize the language change. Hosea uses the floating control to 
quickly switch to English for the reference, then back to Spanish when 
he returns to the main article he was reading.

Related References of Success Criterion 1.6.5:
W3C Internationalization resources 
<http://www.w3.org/International/resources>

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: Next steps for being a mobile accessibility volunteer
From: Smith, Alan <address removed by request>
To: 'Jeanne Spellman' <jeanne@w3.org>
CC: 'Shawn Henry' <shawn@w3.org>, 'Kim Patch' <kim@redstartsystems.com>

Jeanne,

As I promised, I would get back to you by Friday on my review of the 
Examples of Success flagged with the $$.

Overall they looked well thought out and cover their respective topic in 
a very clear and understandable way.

The main item that I felt was completely overlooked and in light of the 
international aspect of your work, there should be a section in 1.6 
covering the ability to quickly and easily switch speech synthesis language.
Example: 1.6.5 Synthesized Language: If synthesized speech is produced, 
the language should be able to be changed.
Example of Success Criterion 1.6.5:
Hosea is blind, he speaks Spanish but his instructors do not, they speak 
English. Hosea keeps a floating control on his mobile device that allows 
one touch access to his configuration so he can quickly change the 
language the speech synthesizer reads. He finds class related material 
on the internet in Spanish but needs to share it with his instructor who 
does not speak Spanish. If he needs to share information with his 
parents, and he is in English mode for some other school work, he can 
quickly switch to his parent's native language - which is Spanish - to 
share it with them.

Other minor general items:
1.8.5 and 1.8.6 have the same $$Ally text and they should be slightly 
different
2.5.2 has "inpu" which should be "input"

Other than that, I believe the document is in good order.

Thank you for the opportunity to assist.

Sincerely,

Alan



-----Original Message-----
From: Jeanne Spellman [jeanne@w3.org<mailto:jeanne@w3.org>]
Sent: Thursday, May 16, 2013 08:15 AM Eastern Standard Time
To: Smith, Alan
Cc: Shawn Henry; 'Kim Patch'
Subject: Re: Next steps for being a mobile accessibility volunteer


Hi Alan,

I am trying to put together a meeting where mobile accessibility experts
could brainstorm helping the User Agent Accessibility Guidelines working
group identify mobile apps that demonstrate one or more of the UAAG
success criteria. It would also be helpful to get your comments on the
examples of mobile accessibility that are in the "Implementing UAAG 2.0"
support document.   Because this part of the project doesn't have an
imminent deadline, it has been slipping.

I have cc'd Kim, who is been the evangelist for this part of the
project, so she would have your contact information.  I also wanted
Shawn to know that I have responded, so she would know that I have
responded at least.

You should hear from Kim or I in the next two weeks.  We have a lot that
has to be done by the end of the month, so I hope we can take a deep
breath and think strategically after that.  :)

Regards,

jeanne

On 5/16/2013 8:00 AM, Smith, Alan wrote:
> Jeanne,
>
> Shawn mention that you would possibility be contacting me as he replied to my interest in volunteering for working on mobile accessibility.
>
> As it has been two weeks since this email and I have not had any other contacts from either him or you I did not want this to slip through the cracks.
>
> Please let me know the best way to contact you to discuss how I may be of assistance in in this endeavor.
>
> Thank you.
>
> Alan
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Shawn Henry [mailto:shawn@w3.org]
> Sent: Wednesday, May 01, 2013 8:34 AM
> To: Smith, Alan; 'wai@w3.org'; Jeanne Spellman
> Subject: Re: mobile accessibility volunteer
>
> Hi Alan,
>
> Great! We'll be in touch soon.
>
> Probably Jeanne Spellman (<http://www.w3.org/People/jeanne/>) will give you a call to talk through opportunities to contribute.
>
> All the best,
> ~Shawn
>
>
> -----
> Shawn Lawton Henry
> W3C Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI)
> Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
> e-mail: shawn@w3.org
> phone: +1.617.395.7664
> about: http://www.w3.org/People/Shawn/
>
>
>
> On 5/1/2013 7:29 AM, Smith, Alan wrote:
>> Good morning,
>>
>> I got my start in computing some 30 years ago by working on
>> Human-Computer interaction with Engineering computers and was an
>> industry consultant for user interface design for many years.
>>
>> My career has focused on software and usability testing since then and
>> recently I started testing iPad apps for accessibility.
>>
>> I've been working on iPad and Android text to voice analysis and
>> testing for mobile apps and would love to be involved in your efforts.
>>
>> My time is flexible and I can make myself available as your needs
>> would require.
>>
>> Alan Smith

[Edited to redact Alan Smith's personal information.]

--
_______________________________
Jeanne Spellman
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
jeanne@w3.org

Received on Friday, 14 June 2013 15:26:06 UTC