Re: A question on Screen Reader Speed Standards
- From: Andreas Stefik <stefika@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 9 Dec 2009 12:48:37 -0600
James,
All of our settings are internal to when they are using Sappy, so they
shouldn't affect personal settings. And we're also trying to garner the case
when no screen reader is present, or when there is a screen reader present,
but it doesn't do anything sensible (Voice over and NetBeans don't get along
very well, for example).
Point well taken, though, we're definitely trying not to squash everyone's
settings, and by default, Sappy just uses whatever system settings have
already been set. So, if the user never changes them manually, they won't
even notice that our tool is there. It should "just work" as the apple folks
like to say.
Stefik
On Wed, Dec 9, 2009 at 12:45 PM, Andreas Stefik <stefika@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Yaa, I think so, thanks.
>
> So, one thing I was considering doing is basically making speed a number
> from 0 to 1, where 1 is the max and 0 is the min, which is done quite a bit
> in audio processing. Then, on each platform, we'll translate those numbers
> into something that particular voice/platform understands. Sounds like,
> since there is already so much disparity, having that sort of system
> wouldn't harm anything.
>
> Anyway, does that sound like a sensible approach?
>
> Stefik
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 9, 2009 at 12:17 PM, qubit <lauraeaves@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>> Andreas, not only do all screen readers have different numbers for
>> speed, but different synthesizers used by the screen reader speak at
>> different rates for the same numbers. I have never understood the meaning
>> of jaws' speed numbers. The scale has changed over the history of jaws, and
>> as I said, the synth is where the rubber meets the road so to speak. All I
>> do is set up the speed as fast as it can go and still be completely
>> intelligible, while fast enough to be comfortable. (You said you are
>> sighted; When blind using one of these things, you start out at a slow
>> comfortable speed, but learn fast that you really need speed or listening
>> can take all day -- so you speed it up little by little, till the other
>> people in the room wonder what on earth you are listening to. There are
>> also verbosity settings, such as the amount of punctuation to include, which
>> of course slows down the word count as the stream is filled with syllables
>> for the punctuation. Different people have different preferences for these
>> types of settings.
>> So, I would say, if you do insert a speed number, it should be something
>> like "slow, medium, fast" or something subjective like that.
>> Is that what you are looking for?
>> --le
>>
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> *From:* Alex Hall <mehgcap@xxxxxxxxx>
>> *To:* programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, December 09, 2009 11:48 AM
>> *Subject:* Re: A question on Screen Reader Speed Standards
>>
>> Most screen readers have either a scripting language, which can speak
>> through the user's preferences saved by the reader, or an API to make the
>> reader speak a string, again according to the reader's settings. You then
>> have SAPI, which has its own API.
>>
>>
>> Have a great day,
>> Alex
>> New email address: mehgcap@xxxxxxxxx
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> *From:* Andreas Stefik <stefika@xxxxxxxxx>
>> *To:* programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> *Sent:* Wednesday, December 09, 2009 12:26
>> *Subject:* A question on Screen Reader Speed Standards
>>
>> Hi folks,
>>
>> I'm working right now on trying to build up our cross platform speech
>> engines for the Sappy project and am trying, specifically, to get NetBeans
>> to store custom preferences related to screen reader speed. On Mac, we
>> basically just pass a flag to the TTS engine with a number, which, I
>> suspect, is words per minute, although I'm not completely sure. On PC,
>> things appear to be quite different and I'm not sure about all of the open
>> source, and other, solutions out there (insert your favorite technology
>> here).
>>
>> My question is, what would people suggest for standardizing the numbers
>> for speed of reading we use for screen readers across all platforms? For
>> example, does each screen reader everywhere measure speed in a different
>> way? Should just put everything in words per minute and not worry about it,
>> translating any screen reader that doesn't comply through some kind of
>> calculation (if possible?)? Should we just standardize through some
>> arbitrary metric, like 0 is the slowest and 1 is the fastest, then test
>> everywhere to make sure those settings are "reasonable" and that the user's
>> system preferences are not disturbed?
>>
>> To be clear, remember that our tool has to, ultimately, be compatible with
>> every kind of screen reader, and should still work for the blind even if no
>> screen reader is present (or if the screen reader doesn't work well at all).
>> That's why I am asking,
>>
>> Thoughts are welcome,
>>
>> Stefik
>>
>>
>
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