New TTS service aims to boost accessibility

Category: Accessibility

July 17th 08, 08:49

A new text-to-speech (TTS) conversion service could help to significantly improve website accessibility and help businesses make the most of their text-based assets.

This is according to UK firm Textic, whose Talklets Web 2.0 offering is unlike similar solutions in that it is the first TTS application to make use of a commercial software as a service platform.

Talklets can be deployed by inserting several lines of code into specific web pages, which links this content to the Textic server platform and converts the text into a streaming audio file dynamically.

According to Textic, web users can choose to store this audio information in an mp3 file for future reference, while businesses can develop "brand-specific voices".

Paul Ayres, chief executive of Textic, said the Talklets TTS service could be used for both accessibility and revenue maximisation purposes.

"Something like 80 per cent of the data consumed on the web is text and it's only available now if you're in front of a readable screen or if it's printed," he remarked.

"Talklets is designed to extract that text and deliver it in a form that meets the increasing demand for anytime, anywhere, any device access to information."

According to the European commission, TTS solutions could be one way in which webmasters can take into account the needs of a growing ageing population, as well as those of disabled web users.

This news story was brought to you by Bluhalo, a leading UK digital agency.

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