A new Word plug-in called “Save as DAISY” will allow users to convert OpenXML documents into a format structured to help the blind navigate text…
“A new plug-in will enable Microsoft Word users to save Open XML-based documents into Daisy XML format, designed to make the content accessible to blind or visually impaired users…”
Barcelona — Microsoft has joined forces with the non-profit Digital Accessible Information System (DAISY) Consortium are working together to create a text-to-audio translation plug-in for visually impaired users of Open XML-enabled Microsoft Word documents, the company announced Tuesday.
The two are launching an open source development project on SourceForge to create a Word plug-in called “Save as DAISY” that will allow users to convert OpenXML documents into DAISY XML, a format for reading and publishing multimedia content from text.
“DAISY enhances the reading experience to most closely approximate how sighted people read print,” Jim Marks, who is director of services for students with disabilities at the University of Montana and went blind during college himself, said in a statement. “I am incredibly impressed with Microsoft’s leadership on this.”
“It revolutionizes information consumption,” said Julie Howell, director of accessibility at Fortune Cookie, a digital design agency. “Currently to get through a massive amount of linear audio is like reading the Yellow Pages from start to finish to finding what you are looking for.”
Howell said the key to making DAISY a success was to raise public awareness of the standard: “To use DAISY, you need a DAISY player. The next steps to ensure that the largest number of people benefit from it is to get the DAISY-playing technology onto products available on the high street.” Although the DAISY format was sometimes used in school textbooks, she said, the majority of visually-impaired people lost their sight after the age of 45, and they also needed to be able to access documents in DAISY format.
Microsoft Office and Windows Vista already offer some text-to-speech capability, but the blind do not only need to hear the words. They need to navigate formatted pages to experience bolded text, a complicated list or a new page, and Microsoft does not today offer such capabilities. Save as DAISY will help make that happen by through a new Word toolbar.
The DAISY XML format is structured to help the blind navigate text via page numbers and headings and use indexes and references that are embedded into documents. Additional software is needed, however, since DAISY XML is only a file format, and not an application designed to actually navigate the text itself.
Visually-impaired users can access web-based information through screen readers, screen magnifiers, Braille printers and text-to-speech synthesizers. But it is much harder for users to navigate complex page layouts because accessibility tools are usually unable to differentiate between different elements of the text, such as headings, tables of contents, indices and glossaries. For the visually impaired user, the text becomes an undifferentiated mess.
“This is a great opportunity for us. Even among the disabled community, Office is the primary application used by blind people for word processing. What we can really offer with Daisy is an exponential increase in content, like from academia, and ease of use that they have never had before,” Shaffner said.
The project is being hosted on SourceForge, with the first beta code expected by early next year and release by March 2008, Shaffner said, noting that the plug-in will work with all Word documents created with Office XP, Office 2003 and the current Office 2007.
DAISY XML eventually may not help only the blind, but the sighted as well. Marcus Gilling, international technical coordinator for the DAISY Consortium, said in an interview that the use cases for DAISY XML are expanding greatly, to the point where it may have potential in language training or even for interactive books on tape.
Microsoft is taking Save as DAISY open source to bring in community expertise, but is not even the first accessibility tool that Microsoft has handled this way. There is a SharePoint accessibility toolkit currently in development on Microsoft’s own open source site, CodePlex.
The ability to create Daisy content from millions of Open XML-based documents using this translator for Microsoft Office Word would benefit publishers, governments, corporations, educators and, “most important … everyone who loves to read,” said George Kerscher, secretary general of the Daisy Consortium.
While Microsoft would be driving the development of the basic converter, it would be an open process, with the company looking for feedback from the community and users from the disabled community as it started to develop beta versions.
“We are designing this specifically for the Open XML format, but the code will be on SourceForge, so this is a completely open project. We will most likely build it on the .Net 3.0 framework, which means that even though it is designed for Open XML, you can see it working on any Open XML implementation on Linux. Anyone else can also take it and use it for their purposes, he said.
“Once we get past the initial architecture and move further down the path, we will start looking to the community to extend this, add features, provide additional support and make it richer. There will also be additional versions of the tool going forward, based on the feedback we get from the SourceForge project.”
Founded in 1996, the Zurich, Switzerland-based DAISY Consortium is responsible for maintaining an XML-based standard for converting text (originally library books) to speech. The group developed the standard in connection with the Library of Congress’ National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped and other groups.
The consortium’s membership consists of international associations for the visually impaired and libraries for the blind. Corporate supporters include Microsoft, PC media player Plextor and audio products manufacturer Telex.
Microsoft also anticipates doing further work with Daisy beyond this project and, will be looking to explore scenarios such as moving this into the PowerPoint world or adding features to the existing translator, Shaffner said.
The move has been welcomed by Charlene Gaynor, CEO of the Association of Educational Publishers, who said the Open XML-to-Daisy XML translator will support an “outstanding critical need for individuals with print disabilities, but it will also help us fulfill our commitment to improve the learning experience for those students served neither by text-only nor audio-only books today.”
Even without being a full featured app, Word’s ubiquity means Save as DAISY could help bring substantial new content to the blind, who already use technology like screen readers, Braille displays and text-to-speech synthesizers to work with computers.