DIGITAL TALKING BOOKS FOR
MATH SCIENCE
Presenter(s)
Dave Schleppenbach
gh, LLC
1305 Cumberland Avenue, Suite 105
West Lafayette IN 47906
Day Phone: 765-775-3776
Fax: 765-775-2501
Email: engage@gh—accessibility.com
This
paper is a summary of research currently underway to develop a standard for the
production of Digital Talking Book versions of Math and Science Books (using
MathSpeak), and a software player (the gh PLAYER’) module that can properly
render the math and science both aurally and visually. Specifically, several mathematics
textbooks, one science textbook, and a standardized test involving math and
science have been prepared in this format by gh and tested among print disabled
students in a variety of settings.
Several
key topics are pursued in this paper, including Information-Based Technologies
(IT), Human/Computer Interactions, and Universal Design/Universal Access. This
area encompasses hardware and software platforms that empower individuals who
have disabilities, enhancing their capabilities in the fields of mathematics,
science, and engineering both in the classroom and on the job. Obviously the
development of a method to teach math and science independently to students who
cannot read the ordinary print materials is a vital and much—needed concept
along these lines. In addition, the core principle of the gh PLAYER is
Universal Design, meaning that all students, regardless of disability, have
access to the Math and Science content provided.
This
project is significant as the first attempt by an organization to adapt core
science and mathematics curricula into the ANSI/NISO Digital Talking Book
format for use by all
print disabled students. Additionally, this is the first effort to incorporate
MathSpeak into DTB’s and the DAISY/NISO DTB standard.
There
is a strong need for better math and science education among print disabled students.
Currently, secondary school age students are in large part unable to receive
accessible instructional materials in mathematics and science. The natural
result of this lack of materials is a general deficit in knowledge and skills
and in math and science by students who are print disabled. This lack of
accessible instructional materials has unfairly limited students who are print
disabled in that they often lack the opportunity to study math and science.
Because of a lack of access to science and math instructional materials the
print disabled are ultimately unable to seek employment in the growing high
tech job sector. The unemployment rate among the working age adults who are
print disabled is over 74% (AFB Sept./Oct. JVIB Kirchner & Schneidler,
1997). If print disabled individuals have an equal opportunity to study
mathematics and science, many new career opportunities will be opened
up to this class of individuals that were previously not viable options.
The
ultimate goal of this project is to provide print disabled high school students
an opportunity to learn mathematics and science. To further this goal, gh is
developing a module for the gh PLAYER capable of interpreting MathSpeak and
rendering both visually and aurally the information encoded therein. This
MathSpeak—compliant software player will be a key commercialization outcome of
the project. Although the MathSpeak specification itself is intended to be an
open specification, there are some aspects of this project which are
proprietary, including the gh PLAYER itself, which has unique parsing and
rendering features so as to make a viable and competitive commercial product.
Additionally,
by working with Dr. Nemeth, gh is continuing to refine and codify the MathSpeak
specification, incorporating the use of both VoiceXML and MathML in the
execution of the desired outcome. The eventual result will be a robust
specification for spoken math, which will be introduced as a potential addition
into both the National File Format standards for K—12 Instructional Materials,
and both the ANSI/NISO and DAISY specifications for Digital Talking Books. gh
is also committed to is making MathSpeak available as an open specification for
anyone to build from.
The
cornerstone technology of the project is the gh PLAYER. The gh PLAYER integrates
six types of accessible media — eBraille, eLarge Print, Digital Talking Books,
Foreign Language, Captioning, and Sign Language - allowing a broad range of
people access to information sources from textbooks and publications to
training manuals.
The
gh PLAYER allows everyone to have access to print materials. Because the player
supports six types of accessible media developed for a variety of needs, this
all-in-one reading source proves to be useful for people with disabilities as
well as those without, making the technology useful as a mainstream
application. Whether a reader needs electronic Braille or a Digital Talking
Book, it’s a simple matter to select the appropriate interface, open the book
from the c-library and begin reading.
The
gh PLAYER is also very cost—effective as a solution for print disabled
students. Because all six media types spawn from the same XML code base, and
are produced by the Media Conversion Prooess, the school only has to buy one
book for everybody. And since it’s alt on one CD and the reader can just use an
existing PC, there’s no need to buy any new equipment - let alone six different
types of books. Furthermore, the electronic file format eliminates the cost of
printing and distribution, thus saving the school even more money.
Finally,
the gh PLAYER utilizes an electronic media file format which defines
portability. When the reader wants to take the book to class or work late at
home, they can. There’s no clunky hardware or cumbersome stacks of books to
carry. It’s just a CD and it’s just that convenient.
The
core technology of the gh PLAYER and all of its six media centers around three
primary technologies that are put to work behind the scenes to generate its
inherent horsepower.
First,
gh utilizes the Media Conversion Process to create the accessible media. Simply
put, this is how gh makes the media accessible. It’s a flexible and unique
XML-based process that takes a variety of inaccessible print or electronic text
formats and produces the desired accessible media — whether it is eBRL, DTBs,
eLP, or others. It starts with sending the book to gh and ends with a rich and
powerful accessible media on a single CD.
Second,
and perhaps most important, the most revolutionary concept of the gh PLAYER is
the idea of synchronized multimedia where audio, video, text and images play
precisely in concert with each other. For instance, the reader can follow the
highlighting of each word in a Digital Talking Book while listening to the
corresponding audio speech output. The reader can even show an image while
voicing a descriptive narrative. A person who is deaf may watch an animated
interpretation in sign language while following the text captioning.
Synchronized multimedia even provides the power to display English text with
Spanish audio. This is a central feature of the ANSI/NISO Digital Talking Book
standard and is a key reason why DTB’s are such an effective solution for print
disabled students.
Finally,
gh PLAYER utilizes a unique concept in the media file format itself known as
semantic markup. When there is a need to convey context—sensitive meaning in a
document, semantic markup allows the document author and reader to extract the
same meaning from the book or test. All gh PLAYER media is designed to utilize
semantic markup, which allows words, phrases, and other structures to be marked
with meaning as well as format. Now foreign languages can be displayed in
Subject/Predicate/Object format, Braille translation can be exact, and even
American Sign Language can be displayed with true prosody. Semantic Markup
allows readers to easily switch between disparate formats at the touch of a
button.
Although
the gh PLAYER technology and the DTB media type have already been developed by
gh, there is an incomplete portion of the ANSI/NISO and DAISY 3.0 standards
that limits the utility of these solutions. This incompleteness is that Math
and Science information is not currently addressed as part of the DTB solution.
gh has developed, in conjunction with Dr. Abraham Nemeth, a technological
solution for voicing mathematical and scientific information called MathSpeak.
This work is an extension of the basic MathSpeak grammar and lexicon originally
developed by Dr. Nemeth for use by a human reader. The basic principle of
MathSpeak is that print mathematics can be rendered aurally in parallel with
both the print and Braille versions of the text. The sample books and test
converted for this project demonstrate the ease of use and power of the
MathSpeak standard.
In sum,
gh is working hard to ensure a bright future for students with print
disabilities. y developing new technological solutions for the aural rendering
of math, gh hopes to
provide better access to math and science for students with disabilities. Over
the course of this ongoing research project gh has had the opportunity to work
with numerous students and to witness positive impact on the lives of disabled
students — an impact that will hopefully carry forth for years yet to come.
Go to previous article
Go to next article
Return to 2006 Table of Contents