Yesterday, I got a notice on my phone that someone had posted pictures and it
told me that it was a smiling face with open eyes so this has already started
being put into place.
Kurt
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-philly-comp-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of David Goldfield
Sent: Thursday, October 15, 2015 12:32 PM
To: blind-philly-comp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-philly-comp] Facebook Developing Photo Recognition Capability
From Global Accessibility News ..
Facebook’s new tool could help users with vision disabilities ‘see’ the photos
shared on site OCTOBER 14, 2015 BY AQURESHI Other than aiming to connect the
1.5 billion people all over the world through its social networking site,
Facebook also wants users with vision disabilities have an equal and enjoyable
experience as others while using the site.
Facebook’s new accessibility team, led by Jeff Wieland, aims to help people
with vision disabilities see images on the social site thereby truly
contributing to the idea of connecting the world.
A report on Tech Crunch notes that currently people with vision disabilities
who have access to screen readers can only listen to what people are writing on
Facebook, but there’s no way to help them experience the visual content- the
millions of photos shared on the site every day.
Facebook’s first blind engineer, Matt King, says that for people like himself
it is difficult to figure out the visual part of the news feed.
People with disabilities might be able to know what people are commenting on a
photo or liking or sharing it but not know what the image actually is.
That’s why Facebook is currently working on an artificial intelligence-based
object recognition tool to help users who are blind get an idea of what’s in
all of the photos people share on Facebook.
The new tool with object recognition tells user about an image. If it is an
image with a caption ‘Ready for picture day of first grade,’ without the tool,
the reader would only read out the text. However, the tool explains that the
image may contain, colon, one or more people, child.
The prototype technology is basically aimed at breaking down the elements of
any particular photo so as to make it engaging even to those with disabilities.
King says, “ The level of engagement that’s possible, the amount of enjoyment I
can get — that’s like going from zero per cent to at least
50 per cent of what you might get,” King said.
However, before getting onto engaging with photos on social media, the hurdle
is getting people comfortable with screen readers, which King wants to make
simpler for those with disabilities.
The accessibility team is optimistic of releasing the tool by end of the year
to either web or iOS platform.
Source: IBN
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