Designing Effective Speech Interfaces

Speech Technology and Universal Design

Speech technology can be used as an assistive technology, but it also has application for universal design. Consider a multi-modal GUI application. A person without a disability who may need to work in a hands-free manner for a specific task can use a multi-modal GUI application. A person with a visual or physical disability might use the application to perform the same task. There are many examples of universal design that employ speech user interfaces.

One early implementation of speech technology was a “smart house.” Like the Hal2000 project described in chapter 7, this is a speech interface that lets users control most home electronic systems, such as lights, security, heating, and cooling. While this is a universal design concept for those who can afford it, it's also a blessing for people with severe physical disabilities. This technology allows such people to enjoy a level of independent living that would not be possible without speech recognition technology. As the baby boomer population ages, this technology may become more prevalent.

In addition to speech recognition, speech synthesis has implications for universal design and assistive technology. Consider a computer user whose voice may be unintelligible due to a disability such as cerebral palsy. They may be able to use text-to-speech technology to communicate verbally with others. If such applications were commonplace, even temporarily disabled users such as a person with laryngitis ...