TEXT -TO- SPEECH
Making Speech Adaptive

What makes speech synthesizers and screen readers adaptive? Here you will find some adaptations. But you won't find them all in one application. It is up to you to pick and choose.

In text -to- speech, screen reader and synthesizer, voice quality is judged first by personal preference. Varying from product -to- product and person -to- person. Reguardless of personal "voice" preference the critical concerns are:

A. Is it understandable, and
B. Was it understood.

1. Volume, Pitch, and Rate: is it adjustable ?
Volume and pitch can alter speech properties, but may not change quality. Greater quality comes with computer power and the ability to use 8 bit, 16 bit, and 32 bit, speech fonts and sound cards. Rate is important because the spoken word is slower than normal sight reading. While you can speed sight reading, there is an "understand - ability - limit" to speed listening.

2. Mono - Male or Multi Voice: Is it changeable ?
Synthesized voices cover the whole human spectrum from child, to adult, to senior citizen. Starting with mono - male, many speech programs now offer an alternative female voice. It is all a matter of personal preference and understandability.

3. Multi - Lingual: Are they changeable ? This feature has been added by the manufacturers to expand their foreign, domestic and education markets.

4. Keyboard Input Access: Is it fully functional by keyboard command, without a mouse ? Can you "Click it" without a mouse -to- click ? "Point -and- shoot" mouse movements are problems for both the visually and physically impaired. The test is to operate the program without a mouse.

5. Keyboard Output: Can it feed back keystroke input letter -for- letter as it accurses ? This is an important feature to prevent common keyboard input errors. [e.g. hitting the wrong key and typing the wrong letter].

6. Read root and file directories: Can it read file name lists in any directory -or- can it read file name lists in a designated directory ? Since these are text readers, the visually impaired need to know where to get the text to read.

7. Identify and read Windows' Help screen text.

8. Does it have its' own audio help file to play in background ? "Talking" you through operations proceedures.

9. Identify and read drop menue box text. There is nothing more frustrating than to have a drop box pop-up and you can not read the text.

10. Read a variety of word processor format text files: MS Word, MS Write, MS Notepad, Wordperfect, Wordstar, PCWrite, Professional - Write and HTML web files.

11. Bypass the Windows' Clipboard text file manipulation. DDE vs. DDL processing.

• Drag and drop.
  
• Clip and paste.
  
• Hightlight, etc.

12. User controlled reading:

• Page by page.
  
• Paragraph by paragraph.
  
• Sentence by sentence.
  
• Word by word.
  
• Letter by letter.
  
• Word right, word left.
  
• Letter right, letter left.
  
• Line up, line down.
  
• Sentence up, sentence down.
  
• Paragraph up, paragraph down.
  
• Page up, page down.
  
• Page top, page bottom.

13. Auto tracking text on screen.

• Cursor tracking.
  
• Highlight tracking.
  
• Magnification tracking.
  
• Verbal location tracking.
  
• Tracking by letter, word, line or sentence.
  

14. Pre-made or user-made, template formats for applications. Spreadsheets, Word Processors, Spell and Grammer Check, Web Browsers, IRC - Chat, etc.

15. "User Friendly Face" for traditional Windows' Clipboard Screen text readers. Presenting a usefull function on opening, operating, and closing.

• Such as an appointment secretary to hold messages, read messages, hold appointment times and read time message reminders, or
  
• A user programmable "point and shoot", on screen word and phrase board, for individuals with hearing impairment and physical limitation.

Read screen text files and directories. Hold, read, and auto - dial phone numbers. As well as monitor computer system operation status, report problems, and launch programs, etc.

The Final proof for all speech synthesizers and screen readers is to determine to what degree the program is automated or semi - automated to be:

A. operative by physically impaired users,
B. operative by low vision impaired users, and
C. operative by blind users.

As noted above, every application has some. But you won't find them all in one. It is up to you to pick and choose.

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GO ON TO
TINYTALK AND THE JAWS
Of Text -To- Speech Synthesizer Control

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GO ON TO
TEXT -TO- SPEECH

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GOOD HUNTING AND ENJOY!
SUPERADAPTOID.

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