Textic's founding mission was to improve accessibility to written content on the Internet. In achieving this with the development of the Talklets technology, the company has also created a service that is a breakthrough in speech-enabling websites, with the potential to transform the way in which companies interact with visitors to their websites, both within and beyond the accessibility remit.
Accessibility and compliance issues remain at the heart of the Textic Talklets service. It is estimated that between 20% and 40% of the global Internet population are unable to interact efficiently with what is a largely text-based mass medium. This user community may be:
This population is forecast to grow to 1.8 billion users by 2011.
Recent legislation, best practice, inclusion and accessibility initiatives have sought to provide these disenfranchised users with tools and coping strategies that enable organisations to make reasonable adjustments to accommodate their needs. The needs of an individual with dyslexia differ profoundly from those of an individual who may be blind, however.
In developing text-to-speech technology that is delivered over the internet as a service, not only has Textic built a tool that enables employers, educators and publishers to be implicitly compliant with best practice and the law, but Talklets provides a common denominator for everyone using the Internet whether they are disabled or not.
The breakthrough that Textic has achieved is to deliver speech on websites as a service and not a product. Websites using the Talklets technology are explicitly compliant as featuring a ‘reasonable adjustment’ under the terms of the Disability Discrimination Act 2005 (DDA), unlike other solutions which are merely implicitly compliant as they require a download and installation process first. Under the DDA, all companies are required to make reasonable adjustments to provide products and services to all groups of disadvantaged users. A downloadable application puts the onus on the user, and puts into question the DDA compliance.
Furthermore, the act of downloading can be highly difficult and intimidating for the very people for whom the software is designed.
If you have concerns about website compliance or improving the accessibility of your website content, please contact the Textic team who will be able to provide you with expert advice and guidance.
