Artefact 4: Evaluation

My fourth artefact looked deeper into navigation and the effect of voice control. Speech recognition provides an additional element which can help aid accessibility. My original route involved testing the navigation on users by creating a prototype; instead I have created voice controlled navigation as a prototype.

The structure for naming the links came from using the name of the navigation link in the speech recognition box; this provided an easy method for testing the links later on.

As I have limited skills within Android application SDK, I constructed the application using just HTML5, CSS3 and JavaScript. The speech API worked using Flash to control the microphone and to capture the voice sound. This was passed through JavaScript into the website, providing commands to certain HTML tags (e.g. ) creating an effective way to match the speed to that of a normal application.

I hosted the website on a local server to allow for greater speed upon testing. The website was tested through a browser (Firefox) which ran from a server (Wamp). I planned out several actions to perform e.g. testing links, which I planned using certain ‘words’ specified in the code that would be used to navigate around the website. This resulted in making several videos which was recorded using CamStudio.

The results from analysing the video concluded that sometimes links had to be repeated twice for the navigating to work. Other problems were that the scroll feature didn’t work and zooming in didn’t increase content size e.g. text size. Overall, the navigation experience of using voice was successful upon navigating. But I’m not going to continue to use speech recognition in my artefact as an additional element in the navigation. This is due to the lack of data currently out there in supporting the development of my application.

Artefact 4: Analysing

To analyse my artefact i recorded myself using the speechapi by talking to the browser to make the pages navigate as it would do on a hand-held device. Below is the videos of me doing this...

Video 1: Navigation

This video I'm talking to the browser to make it navigate across using tags within the HTML code (scrollable navigation from previous artefact).




Video 2: Paragraph

This video is extending upon using speechapi to read out paragraph number back to the end-user using an automated voice.





Video 3: Scroll

This video uses the extra features in javascript to help users scroll up and down using voice only.




Video 4: Example

This video is a mix off all the above features using navigation mixed with paragraph readings.

Artefact 4: Idea

For my 4th artefact I'm going to use Speechapi as the basis for creating the links. My artefact is supposed to be based upon creating an android app but as i have only 2 weeks to create this I had to find an alternative way. My idea is to simulate the website app as it would appear on a mobile phone. This can be done through an Android SDK which will run on Windows Vista. The reason why i can use a PC is due to the fact that i can talk through the PCs microphone (instead of a phone) and use the mouse in replacement for touchscreen.

To analyse this i will be recording me using the website through screen capture software (CamStudio). This is capable of recording my voice to show me navigating through various links. The speechapi also offers additional features (e.g. speech-to-text) which i will be also testing alongside the navigation.

Artefact 4: Research 2

Upon looking into speech controlled links i fount a website called (http://www.becauseclickingisso90s.com). This website is controlled not only via voice, it uses a webcam as a way for users to use movements e.g. hands to navigate around. This video gave me more inspiration to use the links within my artefact.

Here is a video showing Andreas Lutz website 'Because clicking is so 90s!'

ANDREAS LUTZ - Because clicking is so 90s! from Andreas Lutz on Vimeo.

Artefact 4: Research

One of the resources i have found is at (www.speechapi.com).

They use a combination of;

• Speech API server
• Use an array of coding languages for Speechapi; # Javascript

# Java
# PHP
# Python
# Ruby
# HTTP API
# Command Line Inteface (using Java Libraries)

• Use HTTP Protocols
• Provide Flash, Javascript and applet api's for browser side recognition

The javascript API has three modes. Basic, Advanced and Automatic. Basic mode is the best way to get started. It provides a simple set of methods and callbacks that you can use in your web pages. Advanced mode integrates nicely with modern javascript tool kits like jquery. In advanced mode you design the grammar segments that will create events, and you write the javascript callbacks that will process those events. Automatic mode allows you to add basic speech processing to your web page with minimal amount of code. You indicate which html tags you want to speech enabled and add some grammar hints to those tags.

The speechapi can be monitored using a 'developer ID' which will record all commands that run through the website.

Artefact 4: Plan

My last artefact was the effects design had upon various navigational menus on hand-held devices. The results concurred that the 'Scrollable' (across) navigation was the popular choice for end-users. This however was surprising and before testing this i want to bring in some of my research document via exploring accessibility. My research prior to this shown that there is a huge gap between disabilities not being able to use websites/apps. My idea is to bring 'speech recognition' to the navigation through voice controlled links.