Speech as Interface in Web Applications for Visually Challenged

This book addresses to some of the important issues, challenges and approaches related to web accessibility in context of visually impaired users. Speech is a convenient medium of interaction for visually challenged users, Internet accessibility for them is made possible by providing an alternative speech-based interface for human-computer interaction. Problems associated with speech based web interfaces are manifold. Most of the web content available today has been designed for the visual interface via graphical browsers. Screen Readers have been the primary tool for using internet by visually impaired. Unfortunately, most of the popular and workable screen readers are proprietary and bear a heavy price tag. Thus, Design and development of powerful yet affordable speech based interfaces would be certainly helpful in enhancing the overall Quality of Life of visually challenged.