that's the thing. it's not just for accessibility. anything not already narrated is a fair target for TTS. i don't have time to sit down and read books. all reading is done on the go, while getting around or doing daily routines at home. i have a small book that i am reading now, which should take a few hours to finish, but in the time i manage to get done reading it i will probably have listened to two or three audio books.
oh, and it's also a boon for those who can't afford to buy audiobooks.
Accessibility is generally framed around providing accomodations to people with disabilities, but at its core it's about more people being able to access things they otherwise couldn't. By this metric we agree
You don't choose to spend your time reading books. You probably roll your eyes when someone tells you they don't have time for some activity you deem valuable. This is the 'no time to exercise' debate in a different shape.
They are also different activities, with audio it's easier to listen to more but retention is usually lower. Not casting any elitist "you need to read" bullshit by the way, but find it odd to define it in terms of lack of time, and I really like both mediums.
People use screen readers for accessibility. I would not expect anyone to be able to "look for and find" your mp3... I would instead expect them to use the tool they normally use for accessibility.
The real question is "what tools are they already using and how can I make sure those tools are providing higher quality output?". There are standards in browsers for these kinds of things (ways to hint navigation via accessibility tools for example).
Yeah, for accessibility purposes on things that aren't already narrated, this is kind of thing is huge.
that's the thing. it's not just for accessibility. anything not already narrated is a fair target for TTS. i don't have time to sit down and read books. all reading is done on the go, while getting around or doing daily routines at home. i have a small book that i am reading now, which should take a few hours to finish, but in the time i manage to get done reading it i will probably have listened to two or three audio books.
oh, and it's also a boon for those who can't afford to buy audiobooks.
Accessibility is generally framed around providing accomodations to people with disabilities, but at its core it's about more people being able to access things they otherwise couldn't. By this metric we agree
You don't choose to spend your time reading books. You probably roll your eyes when someone tells you they don't have time for some activity you deem valuable. This is the 'no time to exercise' debate in a different shape.
They are also different activities, with audio it's easier to listen to more but retention is usually lower. Not casting any elitist "you need to read" bullshit by the way, but find it odd to define it in terms of lack of time, and I really like both mediums.
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I was just thinking about automatically slapping an mp3 on every blog post, just an accessibility nicety.
Can someone with low vision tell me if this would be useful to them? It may be that specialist tools already do this better.
People use screen readers for accessibility. I would not expect anyone to be able to "look for and find" your mp3... I would instead expect them to use the tool they normally use for accessibility.
The real question is "what tools are they already using and how can I make sure those tools are providing higher quality output?". There are standards in browsers for these kinds of things (ways to hint navigation via accessibility tools for example).
1 reply →