Re: A question on Screen Reader Speed Standards
- From: Jim Bauer <holdsworthfan@xxxxxx>
- To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:08:20 -0600
Also, some screen readers (at least the Windows flavor) offer APIs.
You might be shooting for a more generic approach, but you could speak
NetBeans-specific messages with the screen readers that do make APIs
available.
Andreas Stefik <stefika@xxxxxxxxx> wrote on 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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