short-paper

Enhancing the accessibility of e-learning platforms through synthetic speech

Authors:

Spyros Raptis,

Panos KakoulidisAuthors Info & Claims

PCI '16: Proceedings of the 20th Pan-Hellenic Conference on Informatics

Article No.: 37, Pages 1 - 4

https://doi.org/10.1145/3003733.3003763

Published: 10 November 2016 Publication History

Get Access

Abstract

This paper describes the design and development considerations for the adaptation of an accessibility enhancement tool to the Open eClass e-learning platform. The tool aims to improve the accessibility of the platform for the visually challenged students. It employs state-of-the-art text-to-speech technology to convert the online educational content into high-intelligibility, near-natural synthetic speech. Furthermore, it provides simple functionalities to support the navigation through the platform by means of easy-to-use navigation keys. The accessibility tool has been deployed to the Open eClass platform of the Technological Educational Institution (TEI) of Athens and it is in full operation.

References

[1]

Mani, M. N. G. "The role of integrated education for blind children." Community Eye Health 11.27 (1998): 41--42.

Google Scholar

[2]

Skourlas C., Tsolakidis A., Belsis P., Vassis D., Kampouraki A., Kakoulidis P., Giannakopoulos G. A. "Integration of institutional repositories and e-learning platforms for supporting disabled students in the higher education context." Library Review 65.3 (2016): 136--159.

Crossref

Google Scholar

[3]

Giannoulis N., Kagia A., Kakoulidis P., Rikkou C. & Skourlas C. "Personalized Adaptive Networked Learning for Disabled Students & Social Networking for the Inclusion of students - The Multimedu tool. " Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 73, 451--455 (2013).

Crossref

Google Scholar

[4]

Tsiakoulis P., Karabetsos S., Chalamandaris A. & Raptis S. An Overview of the ILSP Unit Selection Text-to-Speech Synthesis System. Artificial Intelligence: Methods and Applications 370-383 (2014)

Google Scholar

[5]

Raptis S., Chalamandaris A., Tsiakoulis P. & Karabetsos S. Open Web-Based Text-to-Speech Services for the Citizens. HCI International 2014 - Posters' Extended Abstracts 249-252 (2014)

Google Scholar

[6]

King S. "Measuring a decade of progress in text-to-speech." Loquens 1.1 (2014): e006.

Crossref

Google Scholar

[7]

Avouris, Nikolaos, Vassilis Komis, and John Garofalakis. "Opening up university courseware: Lessons learned." Proceedings EDULEARN (2015): 7585--7589.

Google Scholar

[8]

Open eClass Platform, http://www.openeclass.org/

Google Scholar

[9]

Parmar, A. Paper Review on Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM): Framework for E-learning Standard. 2012 Second International Conference on Advanced Computing & Communication Technologies (2012)

Digital Library

Google Scholar

[10]

INNOETICS, www.innoetics.com

Google Scholar

[11]

Fuller M., Bradley A. & Healey M. "Incorporating disabled students within an inclusive higher education environment." Disability & Society 19, 455--468 (2004)

Crossref

Google Scholar

[12]

R. Beal C., Shaw E., "An Online Math Problem Solving System for Middle School Students who are Blind. " MERLOT Journal of Online Learning and Teaching, Vol. 5, No. 4, 630 (2009)

Google Scholar

Cited By

View all

Batanero-Ochaita CDe-Marcos LRivera LHolvikivi JHilera JTortosa S(2021)Improving Accessibility in Online Education: Comparative Analysis of Attitudes of Blind and Deaf Students Toward an Adapted Learning PlatformIEEE Access10.1109/ACCESS.2021.30950419(99968-99982)Online publication date: 2021
https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3095041
Leria LBenitez PFraga F(2021)Assistive technology in large-scale assessments for students with visual impairments: A systematic review and recommendations based on the Brazilian realityEducation and Information Technologies10.1007/s10639-020-10419-6Online publication date: 14-Jan-2021
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10419-6

Enhancing the accessibility of e-learning platforms through synthetic speech
1. Applied computing

Recommendations

Applications in accessibility of text-to-speech synthesis for South African languages: initial system integration and user engagement
SAICSIT '17: Proceedings of the South African Institute of Computer Scientists and Information Technologists

Persons with certain disabilities face barriers to information access and interpersonal communication. Assistive technologies provide workaround solutions to these problems. Augmentative and alternative communication systems aid the person with little ...
E-learning and accessibility: An exploration of the potential role of generic pedagogical tools

This paper reviews a range of accessibility tools and evaluates how successful they have been in helping teachers in higher education and further education develop accessible e-learning materials and activities for disabled learners. It is argued that ...
User Centered Model to Provide Accessible e-Learning Systems
ICALT '10: Proceedings of the 2010 10th IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies

In recent years, two major developments have been made. In one hand, E-learning has advanced in a remarkable manner, empowering education and creating very sophisticated environments. In the other hand, more importance has been attached to accessibility ...

Comments

Information & Contributors

Information

Published In

PCI '16: Proceedings of the 20th Pan-Hellenic Conference on Informatics

November 2016

449 pages

ISBN:9781450347891

DOI:10.1145/3003733

Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]

In-Cooperation

Greek Com Soc: Greek Computer Society
TEI: Technological Educational Institution of Athens

Publisher

Association for Computing Machinery

New York, NY, United States

Publication History

Published: 10 November 2016

Permissions

Request permissions for this article.

Request Permissions

Check for updates

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Short-paper
Research
Refereed limited

Conference

PCI '16

PCI '16: 20th Pan-Hellenic Conference on Informatics

November 10 - 12, 2016

Patras, Greece

Acceptance Rates

Overall Acceptance Rate 190 of 390 submissions, 49%

Contributors

Other Metrics

View Article Metrics

Bibliometrics & Citations

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

2
Total Citations
View Citations
78
Total Downloads

Downloads (Last 12 months)12
Downloads (Last 6 weeks)0

Reflects downloads up to 05 Mar 2025

Other Metrics

View Author Metrics

Citations

Cited By

View all

Batanero-Ochaita CDe-Marcos LRivera LHolvikivi JHilera JTortosa S(2021)Improving Accessibility in Online Education: Comparative Analysis of Attitudes of Blind and Deaf Students Toward an Adapted Learning PlatformIEEE Access10.1109/ACCESS.2021.30950419(99968-99982)Online publication date: 2021
https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3095041
Leria LBenitez PFraga F(2021)Assistive technology in large-scale assessments for students with visual impairments: A systematic review and recommendations based on the Brazilian realityEducation and Information Technologies10.1007/s10639-020-10419-6Online publication date: 14-Jan-2021
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10639-020-10419-6

View Options

Login options

Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.

Full Access

Get this Publication

View options

PDF

View or Download as a PDF file.

PDF

eReader

View online with eReader.

eReader

Abstract

References

Cited By

Recommendations

Applications in accessibility of text-to-speech synthesis for South African languages: initial system integration and user engagement

E-learning and accessibility: An exploration of the potential role of generic pedagogical tools

User Centered Model to Provide Accessible e-Learning Systems

Comments

Information

Published In

In-Cooperation

Publisher

Publication History

Permissions

Check for updates

Author Tags

Qualifiers

Conference

Acceptance Rates

Contributors

Other Metrics

Bibliometrics

Article Metrics

Other Metrics

Citations

Cited By

Login options

Full Access

View options

PDF

eReader

Share

Share this Publication link

Share on social media

Affiliations