| Abstract: | Whilst graphical user interfaces (GUI) have gained much popularity in recent years, the need of the visually impaired to use applications in a non-visual environment is great. This paper promotes the provision of interfaces that allow users to access most of the functionality of existing GUIs using speech. This has been achieved by the design of a speech control tool that incorporates speech recognition and synthesis into existing packaged software, such as Teletext, the Internet or a word processor. The tool developed has taken the menu structure as a means of demonstrating what is accessible by the use of speech input and output. The tool provides the facility to dump screen text into clipboard and read it out loud. Adapting existing GUI applications in this way requires successful integration of speech, which in turn requires a profound understanding of the medium and the development of human engineering techniques. |
