I have separated this out from the WP:SPOKEN discussions because I think it's worth discussing in depth. I have started the discussion because I believe the Spoken Wikipedia could become the basis for an easy to use free encyclopedia for the blind, partially sighted and people with other reading difficulties. This could be done with some simple software, but I'm not a good enough coder to make it, though I do have some ideas for how it may work.
I will open these ideas to review by the Spoken Wikipedia project, and any free software developers and relevant computer accesibility groups.
Wikipedia is a collaboratively written encyclopedia, and the largest encyclopedia in the world. The Spoken Wikipedia is project for reading Wikipedia articles aloud. The project was not specifically started for the benefit of those unable to read the encyclopedia, though its members accommodate these users. The project was started in April 2005 and as of June 28th it has around 100 articles recorded, and adds several new recordings each week.
Notification of new recordings is placed in a special file called an RSS feed, which includes information about the recording, and a link to the audio file. People can subscribe to the RSS feed with several different kinds of software. One type will display the information on each recording, with a link, in a webpage. Others may display the info so that it looks like an email. Another type, in this case the most interesting, will automatically download the audio file, and some programmes will even transfer the file to a portable MP3 player like an iPod. This is called podcasting.
Podcasting is very new technology, and as far as I am aware there is no podcasting software optimised for the blind. This page is essentially a request for comments on creating an open source podcast programme optimised for the blind and partially sighted. The Spoken Wikipedia project is pretty unique and I think very could be very useful for blind people, therefore I'd hope any such podcasting software would be especially developed with Wikipedia in mind.
This software could be relatively simple. It need not have a Graphical User Interface, though one could be added to extend the software to other users. Information on podcasted items can be stored in a database, perhaps using XML files, and the database updated from the RSS feed everytime the software is launched. The software can come with spoken menus, and where neccesary use external screen readers, for functions such as reading the metadata about entries, and describing the new items on the RSS feed. The software could perhaps use speach recognition for things such as searching for and choosing articles and menu items. For simplicity the software could send the audio file to an external player, of which there are many simple open source examples.
I have separated this out from the WP:SPOKEN discussions because I think it's worth discussing in depth. I have started the discussion because I believe the Spoken Wikipedia could become the basis for an easy to use free encyclopedia for the blind, partially sighted and people with other reading difficulties. This could be done with some simple software, but I'm not a good enough coder to make it, though I do have some ideas for how it may work.
I will open these ideas to review by the Spoken Wikipedia project, and any free software developers and relevant computer accesibility groups.
Wikipedia is a collaboratively written encyclopedia, and the largest encyclopedia in the world. The Spoken Wikipedia is project for reading Wikipedia articles aloud. The project was not specifically started for the benefit of those unable to read the encyclopedia, though its members accommodate these users. The project was started in April 2005 and as of June 28th it has around 100 articles recorded, and adds several new recordings each week.
Notification of new recordings is placed in a special file called an RSS feed, which includes information about the recording, and a link to the audio file. People can subscribe to the RSS feed with several different kinds of software. One type will display the information on each recording, with a link, in a webpage. Others may display the info so that it looks like an email. Another type, in this case the most interesting, will automatically download the audio file, and some programmes will even transfer the file to a portable MP3 player like an iPod. This is called podcasting.
Podcasting is very new technology, and as far as I am aware there is no podcasting software optimised for the blind. This page is essentially a request for comments on creating an open source podcast programme optimised for the blind and partially sighted. The Spoken Wikipedia project is pretty unique and I think very could be very useful for blind people, therefore I'd hope any such podcasting software would be especially developed with Wikipedia in mind.
This software could be relatively simple. It need not have a Graphical User Interface, though one could be added to extend the software to other users. Information on podcasted items can be stored in a database, perhaps using XML files, and the database updated from the RSS feed everytime the software is launched. The software can come with spoken menus, and where neccesary use external screen readers, for functions such as reading the metadata about entries, and describing the new items on the RSS feed. The software could perhaps use speach recognition for things such as searching for and choosing articles and menu items. For simplicity the software could send the audio file to an external player, of which there are many simple open source examples.