Assessment voice synthesizers for reading in digital books

Authors

  • Sérvulo Fernandes da Silva Neto Universidade Federal da Paraíba - UFPB
  • Wagner Junqueira de Araújo Universidade Federal da Paraíba - UFPB

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/biblios.2013.106

Keywords:

Digital Book, Accessibility, Voice synthesizers, Digital Inclusion, Information Technology and Communication

Abstract

The digital accessibility shows ways to information access in digital media that assist people with different types of disabilities to a better interaction with the computer independent of its limitations. Of these tools are composed by voice synthesizers, that supposedly simplifying their access to any recorded knowledge through digital technologies. However such tools have emerged originally in countries foreign language. Which brings us to the following research problem: the voice synthesizers are appropriate for reading digital books in the Portuguese language? The objective of this study was to analyze and classify different software tools voice synthesizers in combination with software digital book readers to support accessibility to e-books in Portuguese. Through literature review were identified applications software voice synthesizers, composing the sample analyzed in this work. We used a simplified version of the method of Multiple Criteria Decision Support - MMDA, to assess these. In the research 12 were considered readers of e-books and 11 software voice synthesizer, tested with six formats of e-books (E-pub, PDF, HTML, DOC, TXT, and Mobi). In accordance with the results, the software Virtual Vision achieved the highest score. Relative to formats, it was found that the PDF has measured a better score when summed the results of the three synthesizers. In the studied universe contacted that many synthesizers simply cannot be used because they did not support the Portuguese language.

Author Biographies

Sérvulo Fernandes da Silva Neto, Universidade Federal da Paraíba - UFPB

Graduado em Biblioteconomia pela Universidade Federal da Paraíba - UFPB, membro do grupo de pesquisa GTiC-UFPB.

Wagner Junqueira de Araújo, Universidade Federal da Paraíba - UFPB

Doutor em Ciência da Informação pela Universidade de Brasília (2009), mestre em Ciência da Informação - UNB (2001), especialista em Sistemas de Informação (1995) e Bacharel em Ciência da Computação pela Universidade do Oeste Paulista (1993). Professor do Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciência da Informação - PPGCI-UFPB. Professor Adjunto - II do Departamento de Ciência da Informação da Universidade Federal da Paraíba - UFPB.

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Published

2013-07-04

How to Cite

Silva Neto, S. F. da, & Araújo, W. J. de. (2013). Assessment voice synthesizers for reading in digital books. Biblios Journal of Librarianship and Information Science, (51), 78–90. https://doi.org/10.5195/biblios.2013.106

Issue

No. 51 (2013)

Section

Review

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