VoiceXML:
A Publishing Standard for Accessibility
(Continued
from Part 1)
Accessibility
Through VoiceXML
VDF
is a solution to the problems mentioned above. Although
accessibility publishing using Braille has a large following,
less than 10 percent of the visually impaired actually
read Braille. In addition, printing to Braille is expensive
for even the simplest types of documents. Other accessibility
initiatives such as DAISY (Digital Talking Books) have
still not provided a true means of publishing to a readily
accessible format. While DAISY provides a simple means
of listening to a book via a physical reading device,
it does not address the many who want accessibility
via a telephone speech interface. Government agencies
that support accessibility are still trying to solve
the problem of using one format to provide accessibility
to all persons.
The
advent of VoiceXML overcomes the barriers for providing
universal accessibility. The solution to accessibility
was hidden within the VoiceXML language itself! The
VDF uses advanced techniques in dialog management to
grant the maximum control when playing back content
via a speech interface. The voice user interface built
into each VDF document delivers a complete navigational
guide for moving around within any size document as
well as for controlling the playback speed and many
useful features that mimic the tools usually provided
within a graphical user interface.
VoiceXML
provides an attractive solution for meeting accessibility
requirements described in Section 508 and the American
Disabilities Act and here is why:
Universal
Accessibility
True
accessibility means providing access to all people with
disabilities. VoiceXML provides an alternative method
for publishing accessible documents by empowering the
visually impaired and the disabled as well as the sighted.
The versatility of the VoiceXML language also allows
users to press touch-tone (or keypad) buttons in place
of voice commands in case the user is in a noisy environment
or the user cannot speak clearly.
Easy
Availability
A
publisher can make VDF documents available to any user
in numerous ways. Typically, a publisher would use a
voice portal (a type of information gateway), which
houses the VDF documents in the same manner that a library
houses books. Essentially, a voice portal enacts a menu
that offers choices of voice applications to the user.
Each VDF document is a genuine VoiceXML application
that a user can access through a speech interface device
such as the telephone. Callers who want to connect to
the latest best-seller or product manual for instance
would dial a phone number, say the publication they
would like to hear, and begin listening and interacting
with information.
VDF
documents are accessible through a telephony network
or on any computing device with speech access via a
desktop based VoiceXML interpreter. Publishers can distribute
VDF documents in the same manner as any other file format,
hence making the documents reusable across any computing
platform. The VDF format is very portable. The publisher
may choose to distribute the document via email or CD-ROM
if providing a telephone number is not an option.
Open
Architecture
VoiceXML
documents are based on open industry standards, unlike
the proprietary and closed IVR platforms. Publishers
using VoiceXML as the format for distributing publications
may choose the best in class voice browser or platform
that suites their users' needs. Unlike other proprietary
document formats that limit the user to one vendor,
VDF documents can run on all VoiceXML platforms.
Secure
Publishing
The
telephone provides the ultimate security. Users cannot
download voice-enabled publications unless publishers
distribute them on external mediums such as CD-ROMs.
Since VDF documents are static W3C Compliant VoiceXML
files, publishers can reuse their investment in web
security using VoiceXML to provide a myriad of standard
web based security options.
VoiceXML
Document Format
The
VoiceXML Document Format makes electronic documents
accessible and navigable over any telephone or a speech-enabled
computer via a VoiceXML gateway. The power of VDF lies
in on-the-fly creation of a navigational guide customized
for the document. This navigational guide reads the
document's text aloud to the user, starting at the beginning
and continuing to the very end. Meanwhile, the user
can say voice commands or use the phone dial pad at
any time as a media controller to pinpoint a location
within the document, change the playback speed, and
adjust the volume as the text is read back. For example,
users may say commands such as Jump Four Paragraphs,
Repeat Sentence, Back Three Sections, Speed Up, Louder
and many more. With VDF documents, users can also command
the voice browser to spell words, pause and continue,
copy and paste text to a clipboard, and even forward
the text from the clipboard to a contact via email.
A whole library of documents, books, articles, or magazines
could very quickly be converted into VDF documents to
be accessed by phone or a computing device. All this
is at a fraction of the cost of what it will take to
produce content in Braille or other formats.
If
the user ever gets lost in the VDF document, then s/he
can say "Where am I?" and the document will
announce the user's location in the document. The user
can always receive help if needed simply by saying Help
or Tutorial. All of the voice commands are designed
using natural speech technology in order to assure the
most eloquent and intuitive voice user interface possible
using VoiceXML.
Conclusion
The
VoiceXML language is a powerful enabler in providing
pervasive accessibility solutions, which is one of many
attractive reasons for its use as the standard accessibility
format. The flexibility of the VoiceXML language, coupled
with a simplified deployment alternative such as the
telephone, proves that VoiceXML is a clear winner over
the Braille and DAISY formats. Speech is the most natural
interface known to man. When we are taught other ways
to communicate that differ from this natural ability
we all share, it becomes increasingly difficult to effectively
convey information to all people. The VoiceXML Document
Format is a powerful medium that gives the listener
complete control in playing back content and manipulating
information via a voice only interface. Today, VoiceXML
solves the issue of publishing to a standard accessibility
format that reaches all types of people, not just the
visually impaired. Bundled with other useful voice portal
services, the VoiceXML language is very quickly becoming
a versatile, readily available, and universally acceptable
way to audibly present your most important information
and compelling content via simple, natural, and intuitive
voice commands.
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The VoiceXML Forum is a program of the
IEEE
Industry Standards and Technology Organization
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