SpeakPipe
As I continued to work on my blog last week, another accessibility concern arose. What if some my readers are unable to type a response or question to my content? In our web 2.0 environment, we want to be inclusive and have everyone access the tools and information we share. I did some research, one of my rabbit hole adventures. I found a number of voice or dictation type tools. I ultimately decided on the SpeakPipe widget for its ease of use for a reader - just click and speak. I'm going to admit that it took a little while for me to figure out how to embed it in the blog. I read the directions on the SpeakPipe website and wasn't quite successful on a number of tries. Then, I did what I usually do; I turned to Youtube. Is Youtube informational or instructional? I stopped myself from going down that rabbit hole, but I made a note to myself to come back to this question before the EME6414 ends.
I installed the feature and gave it a practice run. I said, " Sophia, come here. I want to see you see!" (I'm such a nerd.) I played it back to make sure it worked. Indeed, it did! I imagined hearing the voice of my readers and thought how the effect of speech/sound could more easily help me build community. For the reader with accessibility issues the voicemail option provides inclusion in the discussion, and for me the reader becomes more of a "person" when I can hear his/her voice. Readers can listen to their recording before sending it. (I make mistakes constantly, so I understand.) The widget also allows them to record messages as many times as they want, so they can practice before sending it to me. I can send a voice response back to the reader as well. That's just awesome!!!! I hope some of my classmates and readers will try a voice response widget on their blogs to increase accessibility options.
Looking Ahead
My classmate, Bruce, shared a provocative Youtube video that got me thinking of something I started years ago. I plan to highlight that tomorrow. Thank you for reading and leave me some feedback! Use the voice option. Just look for the microphone on the right-hand side of the page, click and speak. :)
Sophia -- just curious since this is about accessibility -- does SpeakPipe convert to written text? Or once you've chosen to use it, are you operating in an audio-only world?
ReplyDeleteIt's audio only. This week we're talking about Context Collapse. On my FB I have a friend, a public speaker so there's no issue in giving his name, Hector Picard, who has no arms. I included this widget as I thought of accessibility issues for all people who are in my networks. My FB and Twitter networks seldom overlap but students who took this class last summer posted in FB about their blogs. I might do so as well. I haven't found the "perfect" widget yet that does everything and it might not yet exist but I'm hoping to cover accessibility in as many ways as possible in case my contacts decide to click the link. Thanks so much for your question. Keep them coming.
DeleteWow, SpeakPipe looks like a great feature for a blog! One of my responsibilities at work is to make documents compliant in order to be able to be read by screen readers, and every time I work on a document I think about the importance of things being accessible for all. I'm glad you posted about this because it gives me a new tool and perspective on how we can communicate in different ways.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Ashley! I'm glad you find this feature useful! I hope you incorporate it into your blog.
ReplyDelete