Digital Talking Books for Math and Science
David Schleppenbach (engage@gh-accessibility.com)
gh, LLC
1305 Cumberland Ave.
West Lafayette, IN 47906
www.gh-accessibility.com
This paper is an update about 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 and science textbooks and the Nemeth Braille Code for Mathematics and
Science reference book 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 e-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 Process™, the school only has to buy one book for
everybody. And since it's all 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 XMLbased 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. By 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.