Automatically Structuring Text for Audio Learning

Abstract

Abstract. In recent years podcasting has been in great demand as a recreation and a learning tool. In this paper we describe the design and implementation of a system for automatically converting documents to structured audio. Our prototype is a Web-based service for preparing structured audio material to download on portable mp3 players. The on-line service is especially designed to aid users with special needs, such as the visually impaired. Ultimately, this would enhance comprehension for all.

Educational Impact of Structured Podcasts on Blind Users

“…The system we developed is web-based [8]: blind users can interact (via screen reader) with the Web interfaces thanks to the accessible features obtained by applying appropriate design criteria of the Web Content Accessible Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) [14] as well as WAI-ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) [15] attributes. Our Web system receives a document in input (.doc, .rtf, .txt), and in output provides a set of audio files that reflects the document's internal structure (one file for each document section).…”

“…In [8] we proposed a Web-based Text-To-Speech system for automatic generation of a set of structured audio podcasts from a single source document. The system takes a document as input, and generates as output a set of podcasts that reflects the content structure (one mp3 file for each document section), ready to be downloaded and uploaded on an mp3 player.…”

“…We discuss and analyze results collected through this designed and implemented Web user test. After discussing related work, we briefly present the Web-based Text-To-Speech (TTS) system [8] for automatic generation of a set of structured audio podcasts, a description of the user test, analysis of collected data, and some concluding remarks along with indications for future work.…”

Structured audio podcasts via web text-to-speech system

“…A preliminary system prototype is described in [6]. The novel contribution of this paper is: 1) description of the system parsing algorithm; 2) statistics of document conversion; 3) the new UIs which include user preferences and new WAI-ARIA elements (file tree, regions) [12] (The ARIA -Accessible Rich Internet Applications -suite developed by the Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) group of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) defines a way to make Web content and applications more accessible to people who rely on screen readers or cannot use a mouse [12]); 4) new features for enriching audio content structure (tones are inserted into podcasts for delivering info in bold/highlighted text).…”

“…Recently introduced in distance learning, podcasting is a flexible tool that adapts to users' habits and facilitates acquisition of knowledge anywhere, anytime, at any pace [6]. Numerous studies have shown the effectiveness of podcasting: many people learn better by listening to educational material than by accessing written learning objects [1], [4], [7], [9].…”