A Software Framework to Create 3D Browser-Based Speech Enabled Applications

The advances in automatic speech recognition have pushed the humancomputer interface researchers to adopt speech as one mean of input data. It is natural to humans, and complements very well other input interfaces. However, integrating an automatic speech recognizer into a complex system (such as a 3D visualization system or a Virtual Reality system) can be a difficult and time consuming task. In this paper we present our approach to the problem, a software framework requiringminimum additional coding from the application developer. The framework combines voice commands with existing interaction code, automating the task of creating a new speech grammar (to be used by the recognizer). A new listener component for theXj3D was created, which makes transparent to the user the integration between the 3D browser and the recognizer. We believe this is a desirable feature for virtual reality system developers, and also to be used as a rapid prototyping tool when experimenting with speech technology

Cognitive disabilities and web accessibility: a survey into the Brazilian web development community

Cognitive disabilities include a diversity of conditions related to cognitive functions, such as reading, understanding, learning, solving problems, memorization and speaking. They differ largely from each other, making them a heterogeneous complex set of disabilities. Although the awareness about cognitive disabilities has been increasing in the last few years, it is still less than necessary compared to other disabilities. The need for an investigation about this issue is part of the agenda of the Challenge 2 (Accessibility and Digital Inclusion) from GranDIHC-Br. This paper describes the results of an online exploratory survey conducted with 105 web development professionals from different sectors to understand their knowledge and barriers regarding accessibility for people with cognitive disabilities. The results evidenced three biases that potentially prevent those professionals from approaching cogni-tive disabilities: strong organizational barriers; difficulty to understand user needs related to cognitive disabilities; a knowledge gap about web accessibility principles and guidelines. Our results confirmed that web development professionals are unaware about cognitive disabilities mostly by a lack of knowledge about them, even if they understand web accessibility in a technical level. Therefore, we suggest that applied research studies focus on how to fill this knowledge gap before providing tools, artifacts or frameworks