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ACTIVITIES :: eTen :: Projects :: Projects of the Month :: RoboBraille

June 2007 Project of the Month: RoboBraille

A Pan European Email Agent for Braille and Text-to-Speech Translation

Issues being addressed

As society becomes increasingly dependent on literacy, the problem of textual information inaccessible to print-impaired people is likely to grow. The RoboBraille service attempts to resolve this universal problem as it makes textual information accessible to people who would otherwise find it inaccessible due to disability or reading problems; the blind, partially sighed, dyslexic and others who find it difficult to read.

Before the RoboBraille service was launched, the conversion of electronic documents into contracted Braille or speech was either handled de-centrally by individuals using complex and expensive software installed on their computers or handled through centralised production facilities. With the help of the Danish RoboBraille translation service, the situation has significantly improved.

RoboBraille is an email-based service converting written documents to and from contracted Braille and to synthetic speech. The RoboBraille consortium is currently validating the service; verifying its commercial viability and user acceptance in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Portugal and Cyprus. The service is available free of charge to all non-commercial users.

Objectives of the project

The project aims at helping those with visual impairments or reading difficulties to access written information and it prevents them therefore from being excluded from the Information Society.

During the eTEN project, the RoboBraille service will be adapted into four additional languages (Braille and text-to-speech support for British English, Italian, Greek and Portuguese) before running pilots in each of the countries with a combined target of 900 sample users. The pilot phase is divided into two parts, and the consortium will use the results from the first part as well as any feedback from the mid-term workshop to further adapt the service to meet the needs of the users.

In addition to Denmark, five EU member states have so far joined the RoboBraille Consortium, and negotiations are currently being carried out in order to include three additional countries. Negotiations are progressing and interested parties - preferably in Germany (or a German-speaking country), France, Spain, a Baltic country and a Nordic country - are welcome to contact the project at this stage.

Pilot tests are being run, and a market validation has taken place in order to analyse the market possibilities for RoboBraille in the partner countries. A business plan/deployment report has been drawn up on the conditions for initial deployment of the service.

Apart from making the service available to non-commercial users, the aim is to raise the interest of commercial users and sponsors in the service and thus make it a sustainable service once the eTEN supported project phase is terminated.

Services

RoboBraille is capable of translating documents (word, html, rtf and text files) to and from contracted Braille as well as into synthetic speech. Furthermore, the service is capable of splitting up files into smaller parts, which is required if they are to be read on certain Braille devices. The primary target group of the RoboBraille service is the blind and partially sighted. The secondary target group are people with dyslexia and other reading impairments as well as parents, teachers and other professionals related to these groups.

Achievements

So far, RoboBraille has provided Braille solutions for the following languages: Danish, English, Italian and Portuguese. Greek Braille will be added in the near future. Speech solutions are available in all five languages. The first phase of the pilot test has been conducted with great success, and the second phase will be initiated shortly.

The initial response from end-users as well as from potential commercial users has been very positive, and the RoboBraille service has received considerable publicity, mainly through national TV and radio broadcastings in the United Kingdom as well as in Denmark. For instance, RoboBraille project was presented on BBC News web site giving an overview of the Electronic Braille System and it has also been invited to participate in the annual Festival of Research in Denmark. RoboBraille was also twice featured in BBC Radio 4 in the InTouch programme in February and March with some 3-400,000 listeners, and in April in the European InSight radio channel; a pan European radio channel broadcasting especially for the blind and partially sighted in Europe. They have also been on regional and national news (TV) in Denmark, and had editorial coverage in a number of broad sheet newspapers in Denmark. Most recently, the project was interviewed for the National Irish radio (RTE Radio 1) for the Audioscope programme; this is due to be broadcast on 9 June. The prominent French organization for the blind, AVH, has decided to donate French speech synthesizers to the RoboBraille service. Similarly, the Lithuanian organization for the blind has donated Lithuanian speech synthesizers.

Partners

The following organisations are partners in the RoboBraille Consortium:

• Synscenter Refsnæs, Danish Centre for Visual Impairment, Children and Youth (Synscenter Refsnæs) – Denmark (co-ordinator): A nation-wide service and support organisation for the blind and partially sighted children and youth.
• ANS Associazione Nazionale Subvedenti, ONLUS (ANS) – Italy (partner): A private Support organisation for families, teachers, educators and social operators on different areas related to visual disability.
• National Council for the Blind of Ireland (NCBI) – Ireland (partner): Interest organisation for the visually impaired.
• The National Association of Housing for the Visually Impaired (NAHVI) – Ireland (partner): School and Housing Association for the Visually Impaired
• Royal National College for the Blind (RNC) – United Kingdom (partner): College for the blind and partially sighted.
• Pagkypria Organozi Tyflon (POT) – Cyprus (partner): Interest organisation for the visually impaired.
• Centro de Inovacao para Deficientes (CIDEF) – Portugal (partner): Rehabilitation centre that provides and develops aids to disabled.

Reference Data